Debt and Guilt
The issue of debt and how it affects our lives is becoming more and more urgent. The "Austerity" model has been the prevalent European economic policies of recent years led by the "German model". Elettra Stimilli draws upon contemporary philosophy, psychology and theology to argue that austerity is built on the idea that we somehow deserve to be punished and need to experience guilt in order to take full account of our economic sins. Following thinkers such as Max Weber, Walter Benjamin and Michel Foucault, Debt and Guilt provides a startling examination of the relationship between contemporary politics and economics and how we structure our inner lives.
The first English translation of Debito e Colpa, this book provokes new ways of thinking about how we experience both debt and guilt in contemporary society.
Elettra Stimilli is Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. She is the author of Jacob Taubes (2004) and The Debt of the Living (2017) and the editor of Italian Critical Thought (2018).
Stefania Porcelli is Associate Professor in Comparative Literature, CUNY, USA