[spectre] Walter Benjamin European Prize

[aslemeur at free.fr]

Hello Spectre,

A friend asked me to make some communication for her.
I hope it may interest some of you.


Communiqué du Prix Européen Walter Benjamin 2020
https://prixwb.hypotheses.org/64 
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The jury for the Walter Benjamin European Prize is today delighted to announce the 
following awards for the year 2020, the 80th anniversary of Walter Benjamin’s death. 
To Michael Löwy we award the 2020 Walter Benjamin European Prize for his work ‘La 
Révolution est le frein d’urgence. Essais sur Walter Benjamin’ (‘Revolution the emergency brake. Essays on Walter Benjamin’), published by Éditions de l’éclat as part of its Philosophie imaginaire (Imaginary Philosophy) collection, 2019. We are honouring not just this piece of work but M. Löwy’s entire canon of work over the last few decades; as researcher, essayist and translator he has breathed new life into Walter Benjamin’s ideas for our times and for times to come. 

To Lisa Fittko we award the 2020 Walter Benjamin Special Prize on the occasion of the 
reissue of her autobiography, ‘Le Chemin Walter Benjamin’ (‘In the footsteps of Walter 
Benjamin’) published by Éditions du Seuil, as part of the Maurice Olender Collection ‘La 
Libraire du XXIème Siècle’ (‘The 21st Century Bookshop’) and with a preface by Edwy 
Plenel ‘Le présent du passé’ (‘The present in the past’). In awarding this prize, which 
celebrates an editorial project linked to the life and ideas of Walter Benjamin, we acknowledge the work of Éditions du Seuil in bringing back long out-of-print works for a new generation. This also affords us an opportunity to honour Ms Fittko, exile, resistance fighter and - her preferred description - “anti-fascist”, who helped save nearly 300 people, including Walter Benjamin himself, from the clutches of the Vichy government between October 1940 and May 1941 and whose commitment never failed. 
Taken together, these two works, each in their different ways, encapsulate the notion - so close to WB’s heart and just as pertinent today - of “escape routes”. 

These awards came after the collective resignation of the jury who awarded prizes from 
2017 to 2019 for the society Walter Benjamin Sans Frontières (Walter Benjamin Without 
Borders), an act which was precipitated by the discovery of a link between jury member 
and Director of the Mediterranean Literature Centre, André Bonet, and the politics of the far-right. During the run-up to the 2020 municipal elections in Perpignan, M Bonet resigned suddenly from both positions and joined the list of ‘independent’ candidates headed by Louis Aliot, himself closely allied to the far-right RN party. 
Jean-Pierre Bonnel, president of both the Jury and Walter Benjamin sans frontières, chose not to distance himself from this liaison and instead posted on his blog comments that the society might do well to reconcile itself to an association with Aliot, concluding with a claim that this far-right candidate had a more respectable image these days. His comments were widely circulated and condemned and his subsequent refusal to relinquish his position resulted in the resignation of all the other members of the jury. The jury members issued a press release stating that they could not countenance such an exploitation and undermining of the work and the name of Walter Benjamin and intended therefore to create a new society to award a new prize. 

This new prize seeks to build on the collective activity of the previous jury and to reestablish the prize on a clear and solid scientific and political basis. In this way the Society for the Walter Benjamin European Prize remains faithful to the spirit of respect and vigilance of the original society in a way that preserves its continuity and independence. 

For the jury, Bruno Tackels, President of the Society for the Walter Benjamin European 
Prize et Nathalie Raoux, President of the Jury. 

Members of the jury : Alain Badia, psychoanalyst; Marc Berdet, Visiting Professor at the 
University of Brasília, laureate of the W.B.S.F. Prize 2019; Dr Madeleine Claus, Doctor of German Literature, Associate Professor of German; Dominique Delpirou, theater director, essayist; Emmanuel Faye, philosopher, Professor at the University of Rouen-Normandie; Jean Lacoste, philosopher, translator; Maria Mailat, writer, anthropologist, director of documentary films, translator; Hélène Peytavi, artist; Nathalie Raoux, historian, researcher (EHESS); Anne Roche, Professor Emeritus at the University of Aix-Marseille, laureate of the W.B.S.F. Prize 2018; Bruno Tackels, philosopher, laureate of W.B.S.F Prize 2017. 

Contact : prix.europeen.walterbenjamin at gmail.com 
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