German Primera is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and Politics at the 国产探花. He is the Deputy Director of the Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics, and Ethics (CAPPE), and serves as an editor for both Contemporary Political Theory and the Journal of Italian Philosophy. His teaching and research interests include contemporary French and Italian philosophy, Black studies, and biopolitics.
He is also a member of the Cartography of the Political Novel in Europe (CAPONEU) consortium, a research network funded by the EU Horizon scheme, which explores the cultural and political significance of the political novel in contemporary Europe.
German is currently co-authoring a book with Professor Mark Devenney, Troubling Democracy: On Practices of Care, Fugitivity, and Refusal, forthcoming with Edinburgh University Press. His first monograph, The Political Ontology of Giorgio Agamben (Bloomsbury, 2019), examines the relationship between political ontology and violence. His broader research explores how relational ontologies shape contemporary critical theory and radical philosophy.
My recent publications include:
Primera, German. "Agamben y la Signatura de la Secularizaci贸n: entre lo Profano y lo Postsecular" in Azucena Blanco (ed.), Los Estudios Postseculares de la Literatura: Teor铆a, Historia y Cr铆tica, Tiran lo Branch Editores, (Forthcoming, 2025).
Primera, German. (2024) "Instituci贸n y Fugitividad: La Italian Theory y el Reto de la Teor铆a Cr铆tica Negra" in Alfonso Galindo (ed.), La instituci贸n o la vida: un an谩lisis filos贸fico, Guillermo Escolar Editor, Madrid.
Primera, German. (2024). Inoperativity as a form of Refusal: On Bonnie Honig鈥檚 Reading of Agamben. Res Publica. Revista de Historia de las Ideas Pol铆ticas, 27(1), 45-49.
Marmont, G and Primera, G (2020) G 'Propositions for Inoperative Life' in The Journal of Italian Philosophy, Vol 3
Primera, German.听听 鈥榁iolence, Biopolitics and Resistance: The Meaning of Violence in the work of Giorgio Agamben鈥 in Gavin Rae and Emma Ingala eds. The Meanings of Violence: From Critical Theory to Biopolitics (Routledge: 2019).听
Primera, G and Lamb, M. 'Sovereignty between the Katechon and the Eschaton: Rethinking the Leviathan' in Telos: Critical Theory of the Contemporary N.187, 2019;
Primera, German. (2019) 鈥業ntroduction to the Thought of Roberto Esposito鈥 in The Bloomsbury Italian Philosophy Reader, eds. D. Rose and M. Lewis. London; New York: Bloomsbury
Primera, German. (2019) 鈥楪iorgio Agamben鈥 in The Bloomsbury Italian Philosophy Reader, eds. D. Rose and M. Lewis. London; New York: Bloomsbury
Primera, German. (2016). 鈥淓conomic Theology, Governance and Neoliberalism: The Lessons of The Kingdom and the Glory.鈥 Praktyka Teoretyczna, 2.
He has recently co-edited a special issue for the Journal of Italian Philosophy entitled The Politics, Ethics and Aesthetics of Inoperativity
In previous work, he has explored neoliberalism, sovereignty, and governmentality through the lenses of French poststructuralism and Italian political thought. His research on political violence and biopolitics interrogates the dynamics of exclusion and their relationship to liberal democracy. This has led him to engage in post-Marxist debates on populism and radical democracy, including participation in the Transnational Populist Politics project (Buenos Aires 2015; 国产探花 2016, 2017).
Selected Conference Presentations
鈥淚nstituci贸n y Fugitividad: La Italian Theory y el reto de la teor铆a critica negra鈥 en Seminario Internacional Escrit: Estudio y Critica de la Italian Theory. Murcia, 7-8 Junio 2023
鈥淭he Politics of Inoperativity and the Homo Sacer Project鈥 en Congreso Internacional: Agamben, La Urgencia del Pensamiento. Granada, Oct 2022
鈥淧olitical Theology and Inoperativity.鈥 Society for European Philosophy / Forum for European Philosophy Joint Annual Conference, Royal Holloway, London (2019).
鈥淟ogistics, Biopolitics and Ordering.鈥 Violence, Space and the Political, National University of Ireland, Galway (2018).
鈥淭he Signature of Secularisation: The Profane Philosophy of Giorgio Agamben.鈥 London Conference in Critical Thought, London South Bank University (2017).
鈥淰iolence, Biopolitics and Resistance.鈥 The Meaning of Violence, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (2017).
鈥淩esisting Biopolitics: Destituent Power and Inoperativity.鈥 British Political Studies Association Conference, 国产探花 (2016).
鈥淓xtrajudicial Killings in Colombia.鈥 Theorising Transnational Populist Politics, Buenos Aires (2015).
鈥淒isposable Life and Neoliberalism.鈥 CAPPE, 国产探花 (2014).
鈥淭he Signature of Life: From Butler鈥檚 Social Ontology to Agamben鈥檚 Politicisation of Ontology.鈥 Critical Studies Research Group, 国产探花 (2014).
鈥淣eoliberalism, Governmentality and Bare Life.鈥 ACLA, New York University (2014).
鈥淎gamben, the Proper and the Improper.鈥 University of the West of England, Bristol (2014).
鈥淓xtra-judicial Killings and Bare Life in Colombia.鈥 国产探花 (2014).
Supervisory Interests
German welcomes supervision in areas including contemporary continental philosophy (especially French poststructuralism and Italian thought), biopolitics, Black studies, post-Marxism, the politics of war, political violence, and modern political thought.