Rahel Jaeggi (born July 19, 1967) is a professor of practical philosophy and social philosophy at the

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

. Her research areas are in social philosophy,

political philosophy 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 ...

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...

philosophical anthropology Philosophical anthropology, sometimes called anthropological philosophy, is a discipline dealing with questions of metaphysics and phenomenology of the human person. History Ancient Christian writers: Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo wa ...

social ontology Social ontology is a domain-specific branch of ontology (philosophy) which studies the nature and properties of the social world. Social ontology deals with examining the various entities in the world arising from social interaction. Notable conte ...

, and

critical theory A critical theory is any approach to social philosophy that focuses on society and culture to reveal, critique and challenge power structures. With roots in sociology and literary criticism, it argues that social problems stem more from soci ...

. Since February 2018 she has been the head of the Berlin campus of the newly founded International Center for Humanities and Social Change.

Biography

Rahel Jaeggi is the daughter of Swiss sociologist

Urs Jaeggi Urs Jaeggi (23 June 1931 in Solothurn – 13 February 2021 in Berlin) was a Swiss sociologist, painter, and author from Solothurn, Switzerland. From 1964 to 1993, he was a Professor of Sociology and Social Philosophy in Bern, Bochum, New York, ...

and Austrian psychoanalyst and author Eva Jaeggi. Prior to working as a research assistant to Prof. Dr.

Axel Honneth Axel Honneth (; ; born 18 July 1949) is a German philosopher who is the Professor for Social Philosophy at Goethe University Frankfurt and the Jack B. Weinstein Professor of the Humanities in the department of philosophy at Columbia University. ...

(1996-2001) at the Philosophical Institute of the University of Frankfurt (Chair of Social Philosophy) and at the

Institute for Social Research The Institute for Social Research (german: Institut für Sozialforschung, IfS) is a research organization for sociology and continental philosophy, best known as the institutional home of the Frankfurt School and critical theory. Currently a part ...

, Jaeggi studied at the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...

(1990 - 1996). She completed her studies with a thesis (''Magistra Artium'') on the political philosophy of

Hannah Arendt Hannah Arendt (, , ; 14 October 1906 – 4 December 1975) was a political philosopher, author, and Holocaust survivor. She is widely considered to be one of the most influential political theorists of the 20th century. Arendt was born ...

. In 1999 she was a visiting scholar at the New School for Social Research, New York. She wrote her doctoral thesis on the concept of Marx's theory of alienation, alienation (''Freiheit und Indifferenz – Versuch einer Rekonstruktion des Entfremdungsbegriffs'', 2002). Research and teaching positions brought her to Yale University in New Haven, the The New School for Social Research, New School for Social Research in New York City, and the University of Frankfurt. She wrote her habilitation thesis on the theme ''Critique of Forms of Life'' at the Goethe University Frankfurt, University of Frankfurt. Since 2009 she has been the chair of practical philosophy and social philosophy at the

. During the academic year of 2015–2016, Jaeggi was Theodor Heuss Visiting Professor in Philosophy at The New School for Social Research in New York City, New York . In 2017 and 2018 she co-organized (with The New School's Alice Crary) the ''Kritische Theorie in Berlin'' Summer School (Progress, Regression, and Social Change) in Berlin, Germany. Together with Daniel Loick, Jaeggi was the main organizer of the international conference "Re-thinking Marx", which took place from 20 to 22 May 2011 at the Humboldt-University of Berlin. During the conference 50 well-known scholars, including the philosopher Étienne Balibar, the sociologist Saskia Sassen, the political scientist Wendy Brown (political theorist), Wendy Brown and the social philosopher Axel Honneth discussed topics such as freedom, justice, exploitation and alienation. Jaeggi receives funding from the Humanities & Social Change International Foundation (established by the businessman and politician of SPD Erck Rickmers (German politician), Erck Rickmers) to conduct a research project on the ''Crisis of Capitalism and Democracy''. In May 2018, together with Sabine Hark, Kristina Lepold and Thomas Seibert, she hosted the international conference ''Emancipation'', which took place at the Technical University Berlin.Emancipation
25. - 27.5.2018 Haus der Kulturen der Welt; Humboldt University; Technical University Berlin. ''Critical Theory in Berlin''.

Selected works in English

Books

''Alienation''
New York: Columbia University Press, 2014.
''Capitalism: A Conversation in Critical Theory''
(with Nancy Fraser). Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2018.
''Critique of Forms of Life''
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2018. About Rahel Jaeggi:
''From Alienation to Forms of Life - The Critical Theory of Rahel Jaeggi''
(edited by Amy Allen (philosopher), Amy Allen and Eduardo Mendieta). Penn State Series in Critical Theory. The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2018.

Essays

"What (if Anything) Is Wrong with Capitalism"
Working Paper 01/2013 of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG–Forschungskolleg Postwachstumsgesellschaften, Friedrich-Schiller University, Jena, 2013.
"What is a (good) Institution?"
in: ''Social Philosophy and Critique'', Rainer Forst, Martin Hartmann, Rahel Jaeggi and Martin Saar (ed.), 2009.
"Re-Thinking Ideology"
in: ''New Waves in Political Philosophy'', Christopher Zurn, Boujdewijn de Bruijn (ed.), 2008. * "No Individual Can Do Anything Against It: Adorno's Minima Moralia as a Critique of Forms of Life" in: ''Dialectic of Freedom'',

(ed.), Suhrkamp, 2005.
"Solidarity and Indifference"
in: ''Solidarity and Care in the European Union'', R. Termeulen and R. Houtepen (ed.), Kluwer, 2001.
"The Market's Price"
in: ''Constellations'', volume 8, nº 3, 2001.

References

External links

Official website of the Humboldt-University of Berlin

Website of Critical Theory in Berlin
events of the Practical Philosophy and Social Philosophy chair of the

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaeggi, Rahel 21st-century Swiss philosophers 1967 births Continental philosophers Frankfurt School Critical theorists Free University of Berlin alumni Academic staff of Goethe University Frankfurt Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin Living people People from Bern Political philosophers Social philosophers Swiss ethicists Swiss political philosophers Swiss writers in German The New School faculty Swiss women philosophers