Donatella Ester Di Cesare (

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, 29 April 1956) is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

political philosopher Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, l ...

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

, and

editorial An editorial, or leading article (UK) or leader (UK) is an article written by the senior editorial people or publisher of a newspaper, magazine, or any other written document, often unsigned. Australian and major United States newspapers, suc ...

ist. She currently serves as

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

theoretical philosophy The modern division of philosophy into theoretical philosophy and practical philosophyImmanuel Kant, ''Lectures on Ethics'', Cambridge University Press, 2001, p. 41 ("On Universal Practical Philosophy"). Original text: Immanuel Kant, ''Kant’s Ges ...

at the

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a Public university, public research university l ...

. Di Cesare collaborates with various Italian newspapers and magazines, including ''

L'Espresso ''L'Espresso'' () is an Italian weekly news magazine. It is one of the two most prominent Italian weeklies; the other is ''Panorama''. Since 2022 it has been published by BFC Media. History and profile One of Italy's foremost newsmagazines, ''l ...

'' and '' il manifesto''. Her books and essays have been translated into English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Serbian, Croatian, Polish, Finnish, Norwegian, Turkish, and Chinese.

Biography

Di Cesare was born in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

on 29 April 1956 to a family of

Italian Jews Italian Jews ( it, Ebrei Italiani, he, יהודים איטלקים ''Yehudim Italkim'') or Roman Jews ( it, Ebrei Romani, he, יהודים רומים ''Yehudim Romim'') can be used in a broad sense to mean all Jews living in or with roots in I ...

. In the first stage of her studies, Di Cesare studied mostly in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, firstly at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

, then at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

, where she was the last student of

Hans-Georg Gadamer Hans-Georg Gadamer (; ; February 11, 1900 – March 13, 2002) was a German philosopher of the continental tradition, best known for his 1960 ''magnum opus'', '' Truth and Method'' (''Wahrheit und Methode''), on hermeneutics. Life Family an ...

. At Heidelberg, she focused on the study of

phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (philosophy), a branch of philosophy which studies subjective experiences and a ...

and philosophical hermeneutics. She offered her own perspective on these two disciplines, which is close to

Jacques Derrida Jacques Derrida (; ; born Jackie Élie Derrida; See also . 15 July 1930 – 9 October 2004) was an Algerian-born French philosopher. He developed the philosophy of deconstruction, which he utilized in numerous texts, and which was developed t ...

deconstruction The term deconstruction refers to approaches to understanding the relationship between text and meaning. It was introduced by the philosopher Jacques Derrida, who defined it as a turn away from Platonism's ideas of "true" forms and essences w ...

. Those studies would have been included in many of her essays that were published subsequently, and two books: ''Utopia of Understanding'' (

SUNY Press The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by c ...

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, 2013) and ''Gadamer'' (

Indiana University Press Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes 140 ...

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Indiana, Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside ...

, 2013). After the publication of

Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centur ...

's '' Schwarze Hefte'', she wrote the book ''Heidegger and the Jews: The Black Notebooks'' (Polity Press,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

and

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, 2018) on Heidegger's philosophical thought and his political affiliation with Nazism. The question about the

violence Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or Power (social and p ...

and the human condition victim of extreme violence was an ulterior step in her research. Hence, this more recent field of research is developed thoroughly in the volume ''Torture'' (Polity Press, Cambridge and Boston, 2018). In the book ''Terror and Modernity'' (Polity Press, Cambridge and Boston, 2019), the political and ethical questions in the era of

globalization Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...

have pushed her to investigate the current phenomenon of

Islamic terrorism Islamic terrorism (also known as Islamist terrorism or radical Islamic terrorism) refers to terrorist acts with religious motivations carried out by fundamentalist militant Islamists and Islamic extremists. Incidents and fatalities f ...

jihadism Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...

, and the attempts to establish a global caliphate, evaluated within the socio-political context of what she labelled as "phobocracy" and the "global civil war". In 2017, it can be observed a political turn in the development of her thought, when she resumed the topic of

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

, previously addressed in the essays she dedicated to the

political theology Political theology is a term which has been used in discussion of the ways in which theological concepts or ways of thinking relate to politics. The term ''political theology'' is often used to denote religious thought about political principled qu ...

Baruch Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, b ...

. The momentous conflict between

the State A state is a centralized political organization that imposes and enforces rules over a population within a territory. There is no undisputed definition of a state. One widely used definition comes from the German sociologist Max Weber: a "stat ...

and migrants is the central theme of her book ''Resident Foreigners: A Philosophy of Migration'' (Polity Press, Cambridge and Boston, 2020), which was awarded with the prizes Pozzale prize for essays 2018 and the Sila prize for economy and society 2018. The political-philosophical questions about the strangeness and the myth of identity are instead the topics of the book ''Marranos: The Other of the Other'' (Polity Press, Cambridge and Boston, 2020). Recently, she offered a summary of her philosophical positions in the book ''Sulla vocazione politica della filosofia'' (Bollati Boringhieri,

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, 2018). The book was awarded with the prize Mimesis Filosofia 2019. She is member of the Scientific Committee of the ''Internationale Wittgenstein-Gesellschaft'' and ''Wittgenstein-Studien''. From 2011 to 2015, she was vice president of the ''Martin Heidegger-Gesellschaft'', from which she has resigned on 3 March 2015, after the publication of ''Schwarze Hefte''. She is also member of the ''Associazione Italiana Walter Benjamin''. Since 2016, she is the editor of the book series ''Filosofia per il XXI secolo'' for the publishing house Mimesis. Since 2018 she is member of the ''Consiglio Scientifico e Strategico'' of the ''CIR Onlus'' (Consiglio Italiano per I Rifugiati). She was visiting professor at several universities: Stiftung-University of Hildesheim (Germany) 2003; Albert-Ludwig Universität in Freiburg (Germany) 2005; Kulturwissenschaftliches Forschungskolleg in Cologne (Germany) 2007. During the winter semester of 2007, she was Distinguished Visiting Professor of Arts and Humanities at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

(USA). In 2012, she was Visiting Professor at Department of Languages and Literatures at

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , pro ...

(USA). On the winter semester of 2006, she was Brockington Visitor at Queen's University (Canada). In 2017, she held a teaching position for one year at the

Scuola Normale Superiore The Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa (commonly known in Italy as "la Normale") is a public university in Pisa and Florence, Tuscany, Italy, currently attended by about 600 undergraduate and postgraduate (PhD) students. It was founded in 1810 wi ...

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

Bibliography

In English

* ''Resident Foreigners: A Philosophy of Migration'', Polity Press, Cambridge and Boston, 2020. * ''Terror and Modernity, Polity Press'', Cambridge and Boston, 2019. * ''Torture'', Polity Press, Cambridge and Boston, 2018. * ''Heidegger and the Jews: The Black Notebooks'', Polity Press, Cambridge and Boston, 2018. * ''Gadamer'', Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 2013. * ''Utopia of Understanding. Between Babel and Auschwitz'', SUNY Press, Albany, 2012.

In Italian

* ''Virus sovrano? L’asfissia capitalistica'', Bollati Boringhieri, Torino 2020. * ''Sulla vocazione politica della filosofia'', Bollati Boringhieri, Torino 2018. * ''Marrani'', Einaudi, Torino 2018. * ''Terrore e modernità'', Einaudi, Torino 2017. * ''Stranieri residenti. Una filosofia della migrazione'', Bollati Boringhieri, Torino 2017. * ''Tortura'', Bollati Boringhieri, Torino 2016. * ''Heidegger & Sons. Eredità e futuro di un filosofo'', Bollati Boringhieri, Torino 2015. * ''Heidegger e gli ebrei. I "Quaderni neri"'', Bollati Boringhieri, Torino 2014. * ''Se Auschwitz è nulla. Contro il negazionismo'', Il melangolo, Genova 2012. * ''Grammatica dei tempi messianici'', ª ed. Albo Versorio, Milano 2008Giuntina, Firenze 2011. * ''Gadamer'', Il Mulino, Bologna 2007. * ''Ermeneutica della finitezza'', Guerini & Associati, Milano 2004. * ''Utopia del comprendere'', il nuovo melangolo, Genova 2003. * ''Il complotto al potere'', Giulio Einaudi editore, Turin 2021

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Di Cesare, Donatella 1956 births 20th-century Italian educators 20th-century Italian essayists 20th-century Italian Jews 20th-century Italian writers 20th-century Italian philosophers 21st-century Italian educators 21st-century Italian Jews 21st-century Italian writers 21st-century Italian philosophers Critics of Islamism Deconstruction Derrida scholars Italian expatriates in West Germany Gadamer scholars Heidegger scholars Heidelberg University alumni Hermeneutists Italian expatriates in Canada Italian expatriates in Germany Italian expatriates in the United States Italian political philosophers Italian political writers Jewish educators Jewish Italian writers Jewish philosophers Levinas scholars Living people Phenomenologists Philosophers of war Philosophy academics Academic staff of the Sapienza University of Rome Academic staff of the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa Social philosophers University of Tübingen alumni Walter Benjamin scholars Writers about activism and social change Writers about globalization Writers from Rome Writers on antisemitism Writers on the Middle East