St. Clair Drake Memorial Lecture

This lecture titled "The Earthly Community: Reflections on the Last Utopia" will take place at the Stanford Humanities Center, Levinthal Hall on April 24 at 5:30pm.

NOTE: Doors open at 5:00pm. With some exceptions, seating is not reserved.

About Achille Mbembe:

Achille Mbembe is a Research Professor in History and Politics at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. He is also the Director of the Innovation Foundation for Democracy. Achille is the author of many books including On the Postcolony (2001), Critique of Black Reason (2013), Necropolitics (2019) and Brutalism (2023). His work has been translated in 16 languages and is the 2024 Holberg Prize Laureate and the 2025 Spinozalens Award.

Lecture Abstract:

How should we inhabit anew and share as equitably as possible a planet whose life-support system has been so severely damaged by human activities as to be in dire need of repair? There is little doubt that this concern will be at the center of any debate on the future of life and the future of reason in this century. Indeed, questions of cohabitation, of sustainability and durability, of the interlacing of human history and the earth’s history are far from abstract concerns. If there is no significant adjustment in how we conduct our lives, parts of the Earth are likely to become inhospitable in the near future. Drawing on African cosmogonies and the power of African aesthetic and figural objects, this lecture will reflect on the conditions of possibility of a new, truly planetary and inclusive earth ethics.

Location of Stanford Humanities Center (see map below):

Stanford Humanities Center is located on the main Stanford campus in Bowman House at 424 Santa Teresa Street. It is near the Tresidder Memorial Union, behind the Faculty Club and across the street from the Fire Truck House.

Visitor Parking:

Metered parking spaces can be found along Santa Teresa St., which are in operation 8:00am to 4:00pm, Monday to Friday. There is also a pay parking lot behind Tresidder on Mayfield Avenue. Paid visitor parking is enforced weekdays from 8:00am to 4:00pm You can pay for visitor parking through the ParkMobile app or website. Tressider Parking Lot, L-37 Lot and Roble Field Garage (underground garage) is free after 4:00pm

If you are using Apple/Google maps to get to the closest parking, you can plug in 436 Mayfield Ave, Stanford, CA 94305.

ADA Parking:

The closest disabled parking is located in the L-37 parking lot at the corner of Lomita Drive and Santa Teresa Street near the west side of the Humanities Center. The closest Marguerite shuttle stop is located at the corner of Lomita Drive and Santa Teresa Street.

For more information, visit Stanford’s Parking and Transportation Services website. Additional parking and walking time maps are available here: https://transportation.stanford.edu/maps-resources-access/map

We look forward to seeing you at 5:30pm on April 24, 2025 at the Stanford Humanities Center.

St. Clair Drake Memorial Lecture:

The St. Clair Drake Memorial Lectures are dedicated to the memory of Professor St.Clair Drake, reowned African American anthropologist and educator, and the founding Director of the Program in African & African American Studies at Stanford University.

St. Clair Drake Memorial Lecture presented by the Department of African & African American Studies (DAAAS). Visit our website at aaas.stanford.edu for more information about the department.

Host or Publisher The Program in African & African American Studies