Ghassan Hage

Professor Ghassan J. Hage (1957) is the University of Melbourne’s Future Generation Professor of Anthropology and Social Theory and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. He is best known for his work on the enduring presence of race in our contemporary world. Hage’s earlier work centers on the experience of nationalism, racism and multiculturalism among White Australians. In White Nation: Fantasies of White Supremacy in a Multicultural Society (1998) he explores the desire for a white nation lurking in even the most cherished liberal Western ideals. He has also written on the political dimensions of critical anthropology. Professor Hage’s most recent publication, Is Racism an Environmental Threat?, is concerned with the intersection between racism and the ecological crisis. He is currently finishing an ethnographic book on the transnational culture of the Lebanese diaspora.

Ghassan Hage was a RCMC/FEL Distinguished Fellow for May and June 2018. His research coincides with a number of questions the RCMC adresses, for example on how we might think about Europe today, with regard to the durabilities of the colonial past in the present, especially in relation to questions of citizenship and belonging. Professor Hage has also written on questions of hope. During his fellowship, he participated in Anthropology in Troubled Times, a symposium about anthropology and colonialism organized by de Antropologen Beroepsvereniging. In addition to this, he also taught a master class and gave a public lecture. Professor Hage will continue his work with the RCMC by developing the concept for a small exhibition called, "The Object Didn't Turn up Today: The Politics of Availability."