Mathias Thaler

Professor of Political Theory, University of Edinburgh

Category: News and Events

  • Intro to Special Issue

    The introduction to our Special Issue for the European Journal of Social Theory is now online first: Thaler, Mathias, Davina Cooper, and Ruth Houghton. “Utopia and Failure: A Complex Relationship.” European Journal of Social Theory, ahead of print, June 2, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1177/13684310261452967. This is the final ouput of our AHRC Research Networking grant.

  • Visiting Professor at the EHESS

    In May and June 2026, I am a Visiting Professor at the École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, giving four lectures based on my ongoing book project (The Anthropocene Interregnum). I will be based at the Institut Jean Nicod of the the École Normale Supérieure.

  • Book contract

    I have just signed a book contract with Oxford University Press to publish my new manuscript, tentatively entitled The Anthropocene Interregnum.

  • Paper now out in print

    My paper on Kierkegaard, repetition and the climate crisis is now out in print in Political Theory. You can find the open access version here: “Repetition in Action: Søren Kierkegaard and the Problem of Human Agency in the Anthropocene.” Political Theory 54 (2): 238–64. https://doi.org/10.1177/00905917251398784.

  • New Paper in Political Studies

    My new paper, which grew out of my inaugural lecture in Edinburgh, has now appeared online first in Political Studies (open access). Thaler, Mathias. “Transition or Interregnum? Two Ways of Understanding Politics in the Anthropocene.” Political Studies, ahead of print, January 22, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1177/00323217251410748. Abstract In our times, talk of ‘transitioning’ to a world without…

  • Short piece in Current History

    The journal Current History has just published a short piece of mine on climate pessimism: Thaler, Mathias. “For a Fearless, Stirring, and Loving Climate Pessimism.” Current History 125, no. 867 (2026): 35–37. https://doi.org/10.1525/curh.2026.125.867.35.

  • New Paper in Political Theory

    My new paper on Kierkegaard and the Anthropocene has just been published (online first) in Political Theory. The abstract is below and the paper can be accessed openly here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00905917251398784 Abstract One of the most perplexing aspects of life on a climate-changed planet concerns the status of human action. As Donna Haraway observes, we appear…

  • New paper in the Journal of Politics

    I have just had a paper accepted in the Journal of Politics. Its title is: “Acting Otherwise in the Face of Ecological Collapse: Günther Anders and the Politics of Infinite Delay”. After its publication, I will update this information. Meanwhile, the pre-print can be downloaded here: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/739296

  • New review of No Other Planet in Utopian Studies

    Utopian Studies just published a generous and thought-provoking review of my book No Other Planet, by Ashley S. Moser (Tacoma Community College). Here is an excerpt: “What could easily become a heady, jumbled rush of theories and observations is kept in line by Thaler’s tight structure, leaving a monograph that is engaging to read while…

  • SCAS podcast

    The SCAS podcast has recently recorded a conversation with me. The conversation, entitled Can Science Fiction Help Us Imagine New Ways of Acting Together in the Anthropocene?, can be found here: https://www.swedishcollegium.se/outreach/the-scas-talks-podcast#Episode66