Prolegomena to a genealogy of world-relations

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15448/2178-5694.2026.1.48808

Keywords:

Resonance, Alienation, Acceleration, Genealogy, World-relations

Abstract

This essay argues that Hartmut Rosa’s dual diagnosis of modernity, comprising the alienating forces of social acceleration and the emancipatory potential of resonance, serves as a prolegomenon for a genealogy of world-relations. Although Rosa advocates for a genealogical approach, he does not fully develop it. It traces how his major works lay the conceptual groundwork for an emancipatory critique that is genealogical in nature. Drawing on Martin Saar’s stylistic dimension of genealogy and Michel Foucault’s notion of effective history, the outline of the initial steps toward realizing a genealogy of world-relations is provided. The provisional outcome aims at an expansion of the scope of Rosa’s work to substantiate the analysis of diverse social dynamics and a synthesis of his core concepts into a critical practice.

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Author Biography

James William Santos, Universtiy of Erfurt, Erfurt, Thuringia, Germany.

Postdoctoral researcher at the Max-Weber-Kolleg, Universität Erfurt, Germany. PhD and Master's degree in Social Sciences from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.

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Published

2026-04-10

How to Cite

Santos, J. W. (2026). Prolegomena to a genealogy of world-relations. Civitas: Journal of Social Sciences, 26(1), e48808. https://doi.org/10.15448/2178-5694.2026.1.48808

Issue

Section

Dossier: Resonance and diagnostics of the present time