Federico Campagna – författare

What can survive the end of the world?In Otherworlds, philosopher Federico Campagna constructs extraordinary stories and alternative histories of the Mediterranean, nexus of migrations and odysseys, ruins and romances, to depict a world in which the imagination is the only engine of survival.Chapter by chapter, Campagna chronicles the existential challenges posed by history and the inventive and radical responses of people facing the ruin of their world. From the earliest myths with which the inhabitants of the kingdoms around the Mediterranean constructed a shared social reality, the stories of the Mediterranean are dominated by cataclysm and collapse in which fugitive fragments become the building blocks of resilience and renewal. Alexander the Great’s cataclysmic conquests seed a cycle of existential romances; pagan philosophers fleeing the fall of Rome give rise to new visions of reality; translators across the Islamic world, Iberia and Italy use stories to bridge the gap between cultures at war and pirates, slaves, renegades and publishers expand the imaginative horizons of human possibility through modernity and beyond.In Campagna’s lyrical, novel and expansive work – part history, part philosophy, part love letter to a heritage of seasonal migration and searches for belonging – the challenges of disintegration and destruction are time and again met with the creation of new and radical realities. As rich and various as the philosophy, myths, literature and art of the Mediterranean itself, Otherworlds traces the tales of these attempts to reinvent the world – and reveals how, at the most dramatic and decisive junctures of Mediterranean history, it was the ability to set sail for these other worlds which prevailed

Our secular society seems to have finally found its new God: Work. As technological progress makes human labor superfluous, and over-production destroys both the economy and the planet, Work remains stronger than ever as a mantra of universal submission. This book develops a fully-fledged theory of radical atheism, advocating a disrespectful, opportunist squandering of obedience. By replacing hope and faith with adventure, The Last Night of our lives might finally become the first morning of an autonomous future.

We take for granted that only certain kind of things exist – electrons but not angels, passports but not nymphs. This is what we understand as ‘reality’. But in fact, ‘reality’ varies with each era of the world, in turn shaping the field of what is possible to do, think and imagine. Our contemporary age has embraced a troubling and painful form of reality: Technic. Under Technic, the foundations of reality begin to crumble, shrinking the field of the possible and freezing our lives in an anguished state of paralysis. Technic and Magic shows that the way out of the present deadlock lies much deeper than debates on politics or economics. By drawing from an array of Northern and Southern sources – spanning from Heidegger, Junger and Stirner’s philosophies, through Pessoa’s poetry, to Advaita Vedanta, Bhartrhari, Ibn Arabi, Suhrawardi and Mulla Sadra’s theosophies – Magic is presented as an alternative system of reality to Technic. While Technic attempts to capture the world through an ‘absolute language’, Magic centres its reconstruction of the world around the notion of the ‘ineffable’ that lies at the heart of existence. Technic and Magic is an original philosophical work, and a timely cultural intervention. It disturbs our understanding of the structure of reality, while restoring it in a new form. This is possibly the most radical act: if we wish to change our world, first we have to change the idea of ‘reality’ that defines it.

*Shortlisted for the Bread and Roses Prize, 2013* From the pens of major figures of the anti-austerity movement, comes the first radical, collective manifesto of the new decade. From participatory democracy to media reform, from direct action to communal living, What Are We Fighting For is a bold look at alternatives to the economic, social and political travesty of contemporary capitalism. Chapters from Owen Jones, David Graeber, John Holloway, Nina Power, Mark Fisher, Franco Berardi Bifo and Marina Sitrin show a multifaceted but collective desire for a better world. Anarchists, communists, feminists and autonomists come together to inspire us to think beyond neoliberalism.

We take for granted that only certain kind of things exist – electrons but not angels, passports but not nymphs. This is what we understand as ‘reality’. But in fact, ‘reality’ varies with each era of the world, in turn shaping the field of what is possible to do, think and imagine. Our contemporary age has embraced a troubling and painful form of reality: Technic. Under Technic, the foundations of reality begin to crumble, shrinking the field of the possible and freezing our lives in an anguished state of paralysis. Technic and Magic shows that the way out of the present deadlock lies much deeper than debates on politics or economics. By drawing from an array of Northern and Southern sources – spanning from Heidegger, Junger and Stirner’s philosophies, through Pessoa’s poetry, to Advaita Vedanta, Bhartrhari, Ibn Arabi, Suhrawardi and Mulla Sadra’s theosophies – Magic is presented as an alternative system of reality to Technic. While Technic attempts to capture the world through an ‘absolute language’, Magic centres its reconstruction of the world around the notion of the ‘ineffable’ that lies at the heart of existence. Technic and Magic is an original philosophical work, and a timely cultural intervention. It disturbs our understanding of the structure of reality, while restoring it in a new form. This is possibly the most radical act: if we wish to change our world, first we have to change the idea of ‘reality’ that defines it.

We take for granted that only certain kind of things exist – electrons but not angels, passports but not nymphs. This is what we understand as ''reality''. But in fact, ''reality'' varies with each era of the world, in turn shaping the field of what is possible to do, think and imagine. Our contemporary age has embraced a troubling and painful form of reality: Technic. Under Technic, the foundations of reality begin to crumble, shrinking the field of the possible and freezing our lives in an anguished state of paralysis. Technic and Magic shows that the way out of the present deadlock lies much deeper than debates on politics or economics. By drawing from an array of Northern and Southern sources – spanning from Heidegger, Junger and Stirner''s philosophies, through Pessoa''s poetry, to Advaita Vedanta, Bhartrhari, Ibn Arabi, Suhrawardi and Mulla Sadra''s theosophies – Magic is presented as an alternative system of reality to Technic. While Technic attempts to capture the world through an ''absolute language'', Magic centres its reconstruction of the world around the notion of the ''ineffable'' that lies at the heart of existence. Technic and Magic is an original philosophical work, and a timely cultural intervention. It disturbs our understanding of the structure of reality, while restoring it in a new form. This is possibly the most radical act: if we wish to change our world, first we have to change the idea of ''reality'' that defines it.

We take for granted that only certain kind of things exist – electrons but not angels, passports but not nymphs. This is what we understand as ''reality''. But in fact, ''reality'' varies with each era of the world, in turn shaping the field of what is possible to do, think and imagine. Our contemporary age has embraced a troubling and painful form of reality: Technic. Under Technic, the foundations of reality begin to crumble, shrinking the field of the possible and freezing our lives in an anguished state of paralysis. Technic and Magic shows that the way out of the present deadlock lies much deeper than debates on politics or economics. By drawing from an array of Northern and Southern sources – spanning from Heidegger, Junger and Stirner''s philosophies, through Pessoa''s poetry, to Advaita Vedanta, Bhartrhari, Ibn Arabi, Suhrawardi and Mulla Sadra''s theosophies – Magic is presented as an alternative system of reality to Technic. While Technic attempts to capture the world through an ''absolute language'', Magic centres its reconstruction of the world around the notion of the ''ineffable'' that lies at the heart of existence. Technic and Magic is an original philosophical work, and a timely cultural intervention. It disturbs our understanding of the structure of reality, while restoring it in a new form. This is possibly the most radical act: if we wish to change our world, first we have to change the idea of ''reality'' that defines it.

Selected as one of The Tablet’s Books of the Year 2021Throughout history, different civilisations have given rise to many alternative worlds. Each of them was the enactment of a unique story about the structure of reality, the rhythm of time and the range of what it is possible to think and to do in the course of a life. Cosmological stories, however, are fragile things. As soon as they lose their ring of truth and their significance for living, the worlds that they brought into existence disintegrate. New and alien worlds emerge from their ruins.Federico Campagna explores the twilight of our contemporary notion of reality, and the fading of the cosmological story that belonged to the civilisation of Westernised Modernity. How are we to face the challenge of leaving a fertile cultural legacy to those who will come after the end of our future? How can we help the creation of new worlds out of the ruins of our own?

Selected as one of The Tablet’s Books of the Year 2021Throughout history, different civilisations have given rise to many alternative worlds. Each of them was the enactment of a unique story about the structure of reality, the rhythm of time and the range of what it is possible to think and to do in the course of a life. Cosmological stories, however, are fragile things. As soon as they lose their ring of truth and their significance for living, the worlds that they brought into existence disintegrate. New and alien worlds emerge from their ruins.Federico Campagna explores the twilight of our contemporary notion of reality, and the fading of the cosmological story that belonged to the civilisation of Westernised Modernity. How are we to face the challenge of leaving a fertile cultural legacy to those who will come after the end of our future? How can we help the creation of new worlds out of the ruins of our own?

Selected as one of The Tablet''s Books of the Year 2021Throughout history, different civilisations have given rise to many alternative worlds. Each of them was the enactment of a unique story about the structure of reality, the rhythm of time and the range of what it is possible to think and to do in the course of a life. Cosmological stories, however, are fragile things. As soon as they lose their ring of truth and their significance for living, the worlds that they brought into existence disintegrate. New and alien worlds emerge from their ruins.Federico Campagna explores the twilight of our contemporary notion of reality, and the fading of the cosmological story that belonged to the civilisation of Westernised Modernity. How are we to face the challenge of leaving a fertile cultural legacy to those who will come after the end of our future? How can we help the creation of new worlds out of the ruins of our own?

Selected as one of The Tablet''s Books of the Year 2021Throughout history, different civilisations have given rise to many alternative worlds. Each of them was the enactment of a unique story about the structure of reality, the rhythm of time and the range of what it is possible to think and to do in the course of a life. Cosmological stories, however, are fragile things. As soon as they lose their ring of truth and their significance for living, the worlds that they brought into existence disintegrate. New and alien worlds emerge from their ruins.Federico Campagna explores the twilight of our contemporary notion of reality, and the fading of the cosmological story that belonged to the civilisation of Westernised Modernity. How are we to face the challenge of leaving a fertile cultural legacy to those who will come after the end of our future? How can we help the creation of new worlds out of the ruins of our own?

What can survive the end of the world?In Otherworlds, philosopher Federico Campagna constructs extraordinary stories and alternative histories of the Mediterranean, nexus of migrations and odysseys, ruins and romances, to depict a world in which the imagination is the only engine of survival.Chapter by chapter, Campagna chronicles the existential challenges posed by history and the inventive and radical responses of people facing the ruin of their world. From the earliest myths with which the inhabitants of the kingdoms around the Mediterranean constructed a shared social reality, the stories of the Mediterranean are dominated by cataclysm and collapse in which fugitive fragments become the building blocks of resilience and renewal. Alexander the Great’s cataclysmic conquests seed a cycle of existential romances; pagan philosophers fleeing the fall of Rome give rise to new visions of reality; translators across the Islamic world, Iberia and Italy use stories to bridge the gap between cultures at war and pirates, slaves, renegades and publishers expand the imaginative horizons of human possibility through modernity and beyond.In Campagna’s lyrical, novel and expansive work – part history, part philosophy, part love letter to a heritage of seasonal migration and searches for belonging – the challenges of disintegration and destruction are time and again met with the creation of new and radical realities. As rich and various as the philosophy, myths, literature and art of the Mediterranean itself, Otherworlds traces the tales of these attempts to reinvent the world – and reveals how, at the most dramatic and decisive junctures of Mediterranean history, it was the ability to set sail for these other worlds which prevailed

What can survive the end of the world?In Otherworlds, philosopher Federico Campagna constructs extraordinary stories and alternative histories of the Mediterranean, nexus of migrations and odysseys, ruins and romances, to depict a world in which the imagination is the only engine of survival.Chapter by chapter, Campagna chronicles the existential challenges posed by history and the inventive and radical responses of people facing the ruin of their world. From the earliest myths with which the inhabitants of the kingdoms around the Mediterranean constructed a shared social reality, the stories of the Mediterranean are dominated by cataclysm and collapse in which fugitive fragments become the building blocks of resilience and renewal. Alexander the Great''s cataclysmic conquests seed a cycle of existential romances; pagan philosophers fleeing the fall of Rome give rise to new visions of reality; translators across the Islamic world, Iberia and Italy use stories to bridge the gap between cultures at war and pirates, slaves, renegades and publishers expand the imaginative horizons of human possibility through modernity and beyond.In Campagna''s lyrical, novel and expansive work – part history, part philosophy, part love letter to a heritage of seasonal migration and searches for belonging – the challenges of disintegration and destruction are time and again met with the creation of new and radical realities. As rich and various as the philosophy, myths, literature and art of the Mediterranean itself, Otherworlds traces the tales of these attempts to reinvent the world – and reveals how, at the most dramatic and decisive junctures of Mediterranean history, it was the ability to set sail for these other worlds which prevailed

What can survive the end of the world?In Otherworlds, philosopher Federico Campagna constructs extraordinary stories and alternative histories of the Mediterranean, nexus of migrations and odysseys, ruins and romances, to depict a world in which the imagination is the only engine of survival.Chapter by chapter, Campagna chronicles the existential challenges posed by history and the inventive and radical responses of people facing the ruin of their world. From the earliest myths with which the inhabitants of the kingdoms around the Mediterranean constructed a shared social reality, the stories of the Mediterranean are dominated by cataclysm and collapse in which fugitive fragments become the building blocks of resilience and renewal. Alexander the Great''s cataclysmic conquests seed a cycle of existential romances; pagan philosophers fleeing the fall of Rome give rise to new visions of reality; translators across the Islamic world, Iberia and Italy use stories to bridge the gap between cultures at war and pirates, slaves, renegades and publishers expand the imaginative horizons of human possibility through modernity and beyond.In Campagna''s lyrical, novel and expansive work – part history, part philosophy, part love letter to a heritage of seasonal migration and searches for belonging – the challenges of disintegration and destruction are time and again met with the creation of new and radical realities. As rich and various as the philosophy, myths, literature and art of the Mediterranean itself, Otherworlds traces the tales of these attempts to reinvent the world – and reveals how, at the most dramatic and decisive junctures of Mediterranean history, it was the ability to set sail for these other worlds which prevailed

What if you were marooned amidst an endless ocean, forced to construct a world capable of protecting and sustaining you?In How to Build a World, Federico Campagna invites the reader to join him in a sustained thought experiment, reimagining the most fundamental questions of philosophy, metaphysics and politics as we create our own worlds. From situating our creation amid the rubble of previous ideologies to selecting the ontological foundations, raising the metaphysical walls and building the social and political moorings where one world can touch another, this uniquely accessible book lays bare the philosophical architecture which structures reality – and opens up the possibility of its reimagining.Drawing on city planning, computer-generated environments and the shared play worlds of videogames and RPGs as well as the greatest minds in the history of global philosophy, Campagna reveals how every one of us is engaged in creation amidst catastrophe. Elegant, erudite and engaging, How to Build a World is an invitation to participate more consciously in constructing reality, and a blueprint for creating more resilient, flexible and diverse spaces for us to inhabit.

This book is a journey into the cosmos of the Brazilian-Swiss artist Pedro Wirz, in which humans and animals, but also legendary creatures coexist. His artistic investigation of the systemic devastation of diversity witnessed across biological, cultural, and ethnic fronts today is based on scientific explorations, but also on his very own experiences within a particularly threatened ecosystem. The child of an agronomist and a biologist, Wirz spent most of his youth in the tropical Vale do Paraíba in Brazil. To this day, his fascination with science as much as with indigenous mythologies continues to inform his work. He creates his sculptures and installations from a mixture of organic materials like wax, earth, wood, clay and straw as well as artifacts of the consumer world such as toy cars, dolls, textile remnants, Lego, old clothes and electronic devices. However, Wirz is also interested in new, promising materials such as mushroom threads, bamboo or nanomaterials. With his combination of paradoxical elements from the remotest past and the foreseeable future, from technological reality and poetic imagination, Pedro Wirz brings back the original familiarity that used to exist between science and mythology.