Faculty Member, School of Language and Literature
Political Philosophy, Psychoanalysis and Discourse Theory
About
School of Language and Literature
King's College
University of Aberdeen
Aberdeen
AB24 3UB
Scotland
United Kingdom
E-mail: a.mura@abdn.ac.uk
Biography
Andrea Mura is a visiting fellow at the Centre for Citizenship, Civil Society and Rule of Law (http://www.abdn.ac.uk/cisrul) and member of the Centre for Modern Thought at Aberdeen University. He also acts as Research Fellow at the Department of Politics and International Relations and contributes to the research team for the 'Interdisciplinary Approaches to Violence' (IDAV) programme (http://www.abdn.ac.uk/idav/about).
His academic track record includes a PhD at Loughborough University, a MA at the University of Exeter, a MSc at the University of Rome, and other vocational and training courses in Lacanian psychoanalysis at the Italian Institute of Freudian Analysis and Research, and in Arabic langauge and culture at both the University of Exeter and the Italian Institute of African and Oriental Studies (IsIAO).
Research Interests
His research interests lie in the intersection between Psychoanalysis and Philosophy, with particular attention to the psychoanalytical factors accounting for the salience, depth and longevity of ideological identifications.
His research has particularly focused on the ‘critical’ dimension of globalisation as a traumatic process of dislocation of ‘modern’ social space allowing for the emergence of a ‘transmodern’ symbolic scenario.
This interest has been accompanied by a cross-cultural examination of the way notions of modernity and high modernity have been developed in the Islamic arena, leading to distinct articulations of forms sovereignty, community and territoriality.
Current Research
Recent research has included working on:
(i) When conflict melts into air – A critical study of violence
In the framework of the ‘Interdisciplinary Approaches to Violence’ (IDAV) programme, Andrea is currently pursuing a psychoanalytical study of ‘violence’ asking whether Lacanian theory upsets traditional meanings of this category and if so, to what effect. Part of the inquiry asks whether a post-ideological world, while entailing a de-mobilisation of conflict (the multicultural idea of a peaceful global order ‘with each part in its allocated place’), has de facto promoted un-symbolisable violence. Outbursts in French banlieus (2005), riots in the UK (2011), and other events are examined so as to provide a psychoanalytical re-conceptualisation of this central analytical category.
(ii) European and Middle Eastern ‘reflections’ over the Universal (Mirror)
In the attempt to pursue a cross-cultural dialogue between continental and Islamic political thought, a second research project examines how intellectual traditions in both Europe and the Arabic-Islamic world contributed to the philosophical, political and religious conceptualisation of ‘universalism’, exploring similarities, differences and mutual influences. A major research target is to compare the way that both Islamic and European political theory have increasing draw on the symbolic relevance of ‘universalism’ in constructing new ideas of community, power, and antagonism through which to face some of the key factors of globalisation (e.g., trans-individuality, multitude/empire, trans-humanism).
Teaching Responsibilities
His teaching activities cover mainly the history of Western political thought, critical theory, and psychoanalysis, ideology and discourse analysis; He also has teaching background in Middle Eastern Studies and is currently teaching courses in the areas of Political Theory and Critical Human Rights Studies.
Contact Information
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