Laboratorium Techno-Humanistyki UW • Techno-Humanities Lab UW

21/08/2026

We are proud to present the publication of "Cruelty and the Crisis of Mediation".

The volume contains papers by: Szymon Wróbel, Katarzyna Szafranowska, Jakub Momro, Alex Taek-Gwang Lee, Emily Gafney, Felix Birch, Václav Sklenár, Alicja Antosz, Jakub Babuśka, Dorota Orzechowska, Adam Lipszyc, Paweł Dybel, Michał Paweł Markowski, Ivan Dimitrijević, Satyajit Pramanik, Denis Petrina.

This interdisciplinary volume offers a bold rethinking of cruelty in contemporary political, cultural, and psychological contexts. Drawing on philosophy, psychoanalysis, cultural theory, and media studies, the book explores how cruelty manifests across institutions, infrastructures, and representations—from war photography and neoliberal economics to AI and surrealist art. It examines the breakdown of mediation in politics, the crisis of the autonomous subject, and the libidinal economy of sa**sm and masochism.

More information: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-032-21400-3

03/04/2026

📢 We are very excited to announce that the confirmed keynote speaker for the conference "Thing-Fetish-Commodity in the Digital Age" is Todd McGowan!

Todd McGowan is the author of "Pure Excess: Capitalism and the Commodity" (2025) and over a dozen books on film, Lacan, and the political, among which are: "The Real Gaze: Film Theory After Lacan" (2007), "The End of Dissatisfaction?: Jacques Lacan and the Emerging Society of Enjoyment" (2008), "Capitalism and Desire: The Psychic Cost of Free Markets" (2016), and "Embracing Alienation: Why We Shouldn't Try to Find Ourselves" (2024). He co-hosts the philosophy podcast "Why Theory" with Ryan Engley.

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We are currently accepting papers and panels. Please send your abstract by September 21, 2026 to [email protected].
For more info about the conference visit: technologyandsocialization.al.uw.edu.pl

24/02/2026

Galeria w pojęciu, obrazie i świecie - najnowsza książka Szymona Wróbla z Laboratorium Techno-Humanistyki UW • Techno-Humanities Lab UW ukazała się nakładem Galerii Sztuki im. Jana Tarasina w Kaliszu.

Książka jest dostępna bezpośrednio na stronie galerii:
https://tarasin.pl/katalog-45-lat-galerii-sztuki-im-jana-tarasin-2/

12/02/2026

CFP: Thing-Fetish-Commodity in the Digital Age

Papers and panels are invited for the interdisciplinary conference, “Thing-Fetish-Commodity in the Digital Age”, which will take place in Warsaw from 9-10 November 2026. Abstract's submission deadline is 21 September 2026.

All details and the full Call for Papers can be found on website of
Laboratorium Techno-Humanistyki UW • Techno-Humanities Lab UW
http://th.al.uw.edu.pl/
https://technologyandsocialization.al.uw.edu.pl/

“Rethinking Materialism: Making the World Material Again”, Szymon Wróbel, Krzysztof Skonieczny (eds.), Palgrave Macmillan 2025.

04/11/2025

The conference is still on!

01/11/2025

Almost there! The “Energy and the Question of Investment” conference starts this Monday!

What’s on the agenda? Five great panels and inspiring keynote lectures:

📅 Monday, 3 November ⚙️🔥🌍
⏰ 9:00 — Allan Stoekl
“Trump and Sovereignty: Bataille's Theories of Fascism and Energy from a Contemporary Perspective”
⏰ 11:40 — Alex Taek‐Gwang Lee
“Asymmetrical Energy: Deleuze and the Critique of Thermodynamics”
⏰ 12:40 — Michał Federowicz
“Investment as a Process of Learning”
⏰ 14:20 — Antti Salminen
“What Was Energy, Again?”

📅 Tuesday, 4 November 💸🌀⚖️
⏰ 9:00 — Noam Yuran
“Technology for Making Money”
⏰ 10:00 — Andrzej Leder
“Energy, Signs, Structure – The Economy of Excess”
⏰ 13:10 — Joanna Bednarek
“Life in Its Proper Place: Thomas Nail’s Ethics of Dissipation”
⏰ 14:50 — Andrzej Waśkiewicz
“Minimalism as Soul Investment”
⏰ 18:00 — Szymon Wróbel
“The Difference Between Good and Bad Energy”

Can’t wait to see you there!

04/09/2025

Rozstrojeni. Theodor W. Adorno o muzyce w zarządzanym świecie - najnowsza książka Szymona Wróbla z Laboratorium Techno-Humanistyki UW • Techno-Humanities Lab UW ukazała się w
serii Nowa Humanistyka nakładem Wydawnictwo IBL.

Publikacja została sfinansowana z środków Uniwersytet Warszawski oraz Wydział „Artes Liberales” UW.

Książka jest dostępna na stronie wydawnictwa: https://wydawnictwo.ibl.waw.pl/nowosci/rozstrojeni.-theodor-w.-adorno-o-muzyce-w-zarzadzanym-swiecie?vid=2