Political Essay Group
The Political Essay is a reading group and seminar series devoted to exploring the essay as a political form in a modern context. We’re interested in the ‘theory-essay’, in the essay as political criticism, in questions of style, and in the essay’s contexts and its audiences. We particularly want to explore a cluster of late-20th century writers who use the essay to write about politics in a way that allows them to escape the parameters of other forms, including John Berger, Edward Said and Fredric Jameson. But we’re also hoping to create a space in which it’s possible to read a wide range of essays in different ways, bringing together people from various disciplines. We don’t want to study the essay in the abstract but rather to see what happens when we let a form speak–and we want to gradually explore modern formulations of the essay such as video essays and Substack newsletters.
We hold reading groups to explore specific essays and are organising a seminar series on the political essay. For the seminar series, we’ll invite a range of people from inside and outside the academy to respond to some of the essays we read themselves, hoping to provide a space for the use of the essay as a form within the academy as well as for reflection on the essay itself.
Convenors:
Philippa Monk (Faculty of History, Corpus Christi College, 2nd year)
Michael O’Connor (Department of Politics and International Relations, Corpus Christi College, 2nd year)
Miyo Peck-Suzuki (Department of Politics and International Relations, Nuffield College, 2nd year)
Maya Gavin (Department of Politics and International Relations, Christ Church, 2nd year)
Joseph Ward (Department of Politics and International Relations, Corpus Christi College, 2nd year)
Sophie West (Faculty of History, Christ Church, 1st year)
If you would like to join our network or speak at one of our events, please email politicalessay@torch.ox.ac.uk.
