New Books in Intellectual History

Join historian Bryan A. Banks as he dives into the compelling journey of Huguenot refugees after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Banks unveils how these exiled thinkers shaped Enlightenment debates by using their narratives of victimhood to advocate for citizenship and toleration. He explores influential figures like Pierre Jurieu, who framed the Huguenots as chosen refugees, and Pierre Bayle, a pioneer of religious tolerance. This engaging discussion highlights the unexpected impact of international refugees on concepts of nationality and rights.

Lars Cornelissen, a historian of neoliberalism, dives into the intricate ties between neoliberal ideology and race in his upcoming book, Neoliberalism and Race. He reveals how race has long been an underexplored but vital aspect of neoliberal thought, from its interwar origins to its modern implications. Cornelissen critiques influential figures like Mises and Hayek for their racialized views and examines how stereotypes shaped neoliberal development theories. He also discusses the need for anti-racist strategies to address the inherently racialized nature of neoliberalism.

Dag Nikolaus Hasse, a philosophy professor at the University of Würzburg and recipient of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, dives into the essence of Europe. He challenges traditional, often excluding definitions of European identity and advocates for a decolonized understanding. Hasse highlights the importance of acknowledging medieval multicultural centers, critiques elitist cultural narratives, and emphasizes the benefits of a civic over cultural identity. His insights encourage a broader, more inclusive vision of Europe that respects its diverse heritage.

How do you know the nature of another person: who she is, or what she is capable of? In four exploratory essays, a seasoned historian examines the mechanisms by which ancient people came to have knowledge—not of the world and its myriad processes but about something more intimate, namely the individuals they encountered in close quarters, those they knew in everyday life. Tracing previously unfathomed structures beneath the surface of late ancient Christianity, Ellen Muehlberger reveals surprising insights about the ancient world and, by extension, the modern. Things Unseen holds treasures for scholars of early Christian studies, for historians in general, and for all those who wonder about how we know what we seem to know. The book is open access. Ellen Muehlberger is Professor of History at the University of Michigan. You can find many of the other essays mentioned in the show here. She is also the editor of The Journal of Early Christian Studies. Michael Motia teaches in the department of Classics and Religious Studies at UMass Boston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

The word “metaphysics” conjures up thoughts of very hard questions about reality and deep, perhaps unresolvable, metaphysical mysteries. But is that the right way to think about the subject matter of metaphysics? According to Amie Thomasson, very clearly no. In her new book, Rethinking Metaphysics (Oxford University Press, 2025), Thomasson argues that traditional views of metaphysics make the mistake of assuming that our concepts all function the same way – for example, that the job of metaphysics is to provide truthmakers for statements about necessity and possibility, about morality, about numbers, when each of these discourses have different aims. Thomasson, who is Daniel P. Stone Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy at Dartmouth College, instead offers a deflationary view of metaphysics in which the job of metaphysicians is conceptual engineering – of figuring out how our concepts and terms work in a discourse, what their various functions are, and what conceptual schemes we should adopt, particularly if our current ones are leading us into metaphysical pseudo-problems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

In her scintillating new book, The Beauty of the Houri: Heavenly Virgins, Feminine Ideals (Oxford UP, 2021), Nerina Rustomji presents a fascinating and multilayered intellectual and cultural history of the category of the “Houri” and the multiple ideological projects in which it has been inserted over time and space. Nimbly moving between a vast range of discursive theaters including Western Islamophobic representations of the Houri in the post 9/11 context, early modern and modern French and English Literature, premodern Muslim intellectual traditions, and popular preachers on the internet, Rustomji shows the complexity of this category and its unavailability for a canonical definition. The Beauty of the Houri is intellectual history at its best that combines philological rigor with astute theoretical reflection. And all this Rustomji accomplishes in prose the delightfulness of which competes fiercely with its lucidity. SherAli Tareen is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Franklin and Marshall College. His research focuses on Muslim intellectual traditions and debates in early modern and modern South Asia. His book Defending Muhammad in Modernity (University of Notre Dame Press, 2020) received the American Institute of Pakistan Studies 2020 Book Prize and was selected as a finalist for the 2021 American Academy of Religion Book Award. His other academic publications are available here. He can be reached at sherali.tareen@fandm.edu. Listener feedback is most welcome. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

Martha Biondi, a Professor of Black Studies and History at Northwestern University, dives into the compelling life of Prexy Nesbitt, an activist pivotal in the fight for African liberation. She discusses the power of using biographical storytelling to illuminate movements. Listeners learn about Nesbitt's impactful childhood in Chicago, his engagement with global liberation efforts in Mozambique and South Africa, and how his work reframed U.S. anti-apartheid activism. Biondi also reflects on the legacy of the anti-apartheid movement amid neoliberal challenges.

Yunxiang Gao, a Professor of History at Ryerson University, explores fascinating connections among prominent African American figures, such as W. E. B. Du Bois, and their Chinese allies during significant historical events. The discussion uncovers their meetings across the globe, highlighting the often-overlooked relationships that shaped Black internationalism. Gao also sheds light on the role of women like Sylvia Si-lan Chen in these narratives and examines the evolving perceptions within China of these Black intellectuals. Her multilingual research adds a fresh perspective to Afro-Asian studies.

In this episode of International Horizons, RBI acting director Eli Karetny speaks with Alex Priou, Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of Austin, about how technology and ideology shape the modern soul. From Machiavelli’s “dikes and dams” to Odysseus’s struggle against the Sirens, Priou traces how modernity’s drive for control has left us materially fulfilled yet spiritually impoverished. The conversation explores liberalism’s crises, the moral stakes of AI, the American “technological republic,” and why revisiting Homer and Plato may be key to recovering wisdom and restraint in an age of restless innovation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

In this engaging conversation, Joshua Castellino, a professor at Brunel University London, dives deep into the ramifications of colonial crimes and their impact on today's legal frameworks. He discusses how colonial legacies persist through unjust enrichment and presents a five-point plan for reparations that connects historical extraction to the ongoing climate crisis. Castellino critiques existing systems and explores innovative solutions, emphasizing the need for collective actions beyond traditional state boundaries to foster justice and equity.