Laurin Mackowitz

"The Uninhabitability of 'Heimat': Metaphorical Fallacies Caused by Linking Dwelling with Territory"

Mag. Dr. phil. Laurin Mackowitz, Department of Philosophy, University of Graz

“Heimat” or “Homeland” metaphorically links dwelling and territory. this metaphorical association is not only uninhabitable, but in fact produces uninhabitability. For both insiders and outsiders, “homeland” remains a fictional place and ultimately a illusory void. Erroneous conclusions from dwelling to territory lead to flaws in our theoretical understanding of place and belonging as well as to fatal consequences for practices of inclusion and engagement.

Mag. Dr. phil. Laurin Mackowitz works at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Graz. He received his doctorate in 2017 from the Institute of Philosophy at the University of Innsbruck with a dissertation on political interpretations of the biblical Exodus myth. His research focuses on the imagination, stabilization and transgression of collective identities. His habilitation project questions metaphors of belonging in philosophical discourses about migration and refuge. He teaches at the Working Unit for Political Philsophy and co-hosts the podcast Voices of Political Philosophy: https://philosophie-gewi.uni-graz.at/en/social-and-political-philosophy/podcast/