Countersign

Stewart Motha
  • 5.0 (9)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE

COUNTERSIGN is a podcast hosted by Stewart Motha, Professor of Law at Birkbeck. Stewart and guests discuss books, films, and other materials from across disciplines which open new perspectives on law, difference, and plural existence.

  1. 3 NOV

    A Burden of Unmourned Deaths

    Discussing student protests, killing of protesters, and deployment of the National Guard - Naeem Mohaiemen and I discuss his latest film, 'Through a Mirror, Darkly'. The archival footage concerns the killing of students in May 1970 at Kent State, and Jackson Mississippi, while the U.S pursues the Vietnam War whose dead are barely memorialised in the West. We consider resonances of this violence with the present moment, and what political conjunctures enable the emergence of new meanings from past events; and reflect on the imminent election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor of NYC.

    1h 6m

  2. 27 MAR

    The Tyranny of the Deal: Race, Contract, and the Spirit of the Law

    What are the origins and implications of hyper-transactional thinking coming out of Trump 2.0? I discuss this and other issues with the eminent critical race theorist and legal scholar Patricia J. Williams whose latest book, The Miracle of the Black Leg: Notes on Race, Human Bodies, and the Spirit of the Law (2024) examines the tension between rights in contract and constitutions. At a time when a hyper-contractarian mentality has taken over diplomacy, eroded the rules-based international order, and rolled back the gains of the Civil Rights Movement -we consider the implications through histories of racialisation and the afterlives of slavery.

    1h 4m

  3. 12 FEB

    'When the trees have gone' - Veraibari and the Pacific at the International Court of Justice

    Discussion with international lawyers, Alofipo So'oalo Fleur Ramsay and Watna Mori, on the impacts of climate destruction on the Village of Veraibari, Kikori Delta, Papua New Guinea. Veraibari is emblematic of wider devastation impacting small island communities and States in the Pacific and elsewhere as a result of climate change and biodiversity destruction. The International Court of Justice has been tasked with issuing an Advisory Opinion on the obligations and responsibilities of States in relation to climate change. We discuss what is at stake in the ICJ decision, and the varying positions adopted by States most responsible for GHG emissions compared with those most affected by their actions and omissions.

    1h 4m

  4. 05/12/2024

    'The Wall': Human/Animal Ethics for Catastrophic Times

    Discussing Marlen Haushofer's novel The Wall (1963) with Anna Richards (Birkbeck). What does it mean to survive a catastrophic event? How can we navigate the barrier between human and non-human animals?

    46 min

  5. 05/08/2024

    Animals as Food: Violence, Labour, Capital

    Discussing two books by Dinesh Wadiwel on animals as food: The War Against Animals (Brill, 2015); and Animals and Capital (Edinburgh University Press, 2023). Wadiwel examines animal agriculture as sovereign violence; and the structural place of animal labour in capitalist modes of value generation and reproduction. What are the political and ecological implications of treating animals as food? What are the grounds for stopping the cruelty and torture meted out to animals?

    1h 7m

  6. 26/01/2024

    Animals, Vivisection, and a Row with Darwin

    Discussing Alison Stone's book ‘Frances Power Cobbe’ regarding the 19th C philosopher and feminist who developed a moral theory on the status and treatment of animals; founded anti-vivisection societies; and reconciled her Victorian Christian ideas with Darwin's theory of evolution. How is the relative status and value of animals to humans to be judged? What do emotions have to do with morality? What is the relationship between culture and norms?

    1h 6m

  7. 11/12/2023

    What we talk about when we talk about genocide

    Discussing the concept of genocide with international human rights lawyer and social theorist, Vasuki Nesiah (NYU Gallatin). Is genocide event or process? How do we move from idea of genocide as apex crime in international criminal law to appreciating its role in the structural process of world-making? We discuss the implications of her analysis for thinking through the war in Gaza. For more details visit: https://countersignisapodcast.com

    48 min

  8. 23/05/2023

    What is the Matter with New Materialism?

    Discussing Richard A. Lee's The Thought of Matter: Materialism, Conceptuality and the Transcendence of Immanence (2016). Thought and matter are distinct, separate. The explosion of new materialisms emphasise the agency of things without a critical philosophy that can sustain ethical and normative commitments. How does philosophical materialism allow the otherness of thought to emerge?

    1h 11m
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
9 Ratings

About

COUNTERSIGN is a podcast hosted by Stewart Motha, Professor of Law at Birkbeck. Stewart and guests discuss books, films, and other materials from across disciplines which open new perspectives on law, difference, and plural existence.

Information

  • Creator
    Stewart Motha
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2025
  • Episodes
    24
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Stewart Motha
  • Show Website
    Countersign

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