What does Romanticism have to do with communism, enclosure, and the commons today? In this episode we speak with Joseph Albernaz, author of Common Measures: Romanticism and the Groundlessness of Community, about the radical lineage running from Blake and Hölderlin to Marx and Bataille. We explore how Romantic literature conceived “groundless community”—a poetic and ecological alternative to enclosure and collective identity—and how those ideas reverberate through scene-shaping thinkers like Bataille, Derrida, Nancy, and Moten. Along the way we trace the Commons not as a nostalgic relic but as an ethics of excess and openness that surges beneath modern property and identity structures.

Common Measures: Romanticism and the Groundlessness of Community: https://www.sup.org/books/literary-studies-and-literature/common-measures

Fall 2025 at AHRC: https://www.acidhorizonpodcast.com/fall-2025

Support the podcast:

Current classes at Acid Horizon Research Commons (AHRC): https://www.acidhorizonpodcast.com/ahrc-main

Website: https://www.acidhorizonpodcast.com/

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/acidhorizon

Acid Horizon on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/acidhorizonpodcast

Boycott Watkins Media: https://xenogothic.com/2025/03/17/boycott-watkins-statement/

Join The Schizoanalysis Project: https://discord.gg/4WtaXG3Qxn

Subscribe to us on your favorite podcast: https://pod.link/1512615438

Merch: http://www.crit-drip.com

Subscribe to us on your favorite podcast platform: https://pod.link/1512615438

LEPHT HAND: https://www.patreon.com/LEPHTHAND

Happy Hour at Hippel's (Adam’s blog): https://happyhourathippels.wordpress.com

Split Infinities (Craig’s Substack): https://splitinfinities.substack.com/

Music: https://sereptie.bandcamp.com/ and https://thecominginsurrection.bandcamp.com/

Energy Dreams

Mentioned by

Mentioned in 1 episodes

The AI-powered Podcast Player