Book at Lunchtime Paris and the Parasite

Book at Lunchtime welcomes Dr Macs Smith to explore the social consequences of anti-parasitic urbanism, as efforts to expunge noise and biological parasites penalize those viewed as social parasites.

According to French philosopher Michel Serres, ordered systems are founded on the pathologization of parasites, which can never be fully expelled. In Paris and the Parasite, Dr Macs Smith (The Queen's College) extends Serres's approach to Paris as a mediatic city, asking what organisms, people, and forms of interference constitute its parasites. Drawing on French poststructuralist theory and philosophy, media theory, the philosophy of science, and an array of literary and cultural sources, he examines Paris and its parasites from the early 19th century to today, focusing on the contemporary city. In so doing, he reveals the social consequences of anti-parasitic urbanism.

Join Macs Smith and an expert panel to discuss the many themes of his book.