Ernesto Blanes-MartinezAssistant Professor

I am currently working on a book project that examines the work of Vietnamese Francophone philosopher Tran-Duc-Thao and argues for the crucial role of anticolonial experience in understanding the connection between Marxism and phenomenology in France during the late 1940s and early 50s. The book engages in a reflection on the phenomenological dimensions of political subjectivation by interrogating phenomenological notions such as alterity, intersubjectivity, affectivity and embodiment from the perspective of anticolonialism and a materialist conception of meaning. I have also forthcoming articles on anticolonial phenomenology and Caribbean philosophy.

My research focuses on the connections between Husserlian phenomenology and political philosophy and concentrates on the critical reception of Husserl’s work in France during the 1940s and 50s. I am especially interested in the historical context in which the project of a synthesis with Marxism arises, and I study the ontological and dialectical interpretations of phenomenology that enabled innovations in twentieth century French thought. I also trace the ways in which political experience provides a guiding thread to establish connections between what otherwise appear as incompatible conceptions of subjectivity in distinct philosophical traditions. In addition to my work in phenomenology, I have research interests in Caribbean and Latin American philosophy, and in the philosophy of law.