Yasmin Afshar

Research Fellow

In cooperation with Prof. Dr. Rainer Forst

Stay from 01/01/2026 to 31/12/2026

Funded by Stiftungsfonds Commerzbank im Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft

Yasmin Afshar is a philosophy researcher and associated member of the Centre Marc Bloch, in Berlin. She completed her PhD in Philosophy at Humboldt University of Berlin with the dissertation “Beyond the Everlasting Violence: Social Antagonism in Theodor W. Adorno,” supervised by Rahel Jaeggi and Vladimir Safatle, and supported by scholarships from the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Centre Marc Bloch. Her research interests include critical theory, history of ideas, and political theory.

Research project: Racket Capitalism. A Comparative Analysis of Authoritarian Liberalism

The aim of this research is to advance the contemporary renewal of racket theory as an analytical tool for understanding current forms of authoritarian liberalism. Originally formulated by authors of the Frankfurt School, racket theory challenges the assumption that social conflict under liberalism unfolds solely through market competition. In recent decades, however, various economic sectors have increasingly aligned themselves with the state’s repressive apparatus – particularly the military and police – in efforts to secure or expand economic gains. This dynamic suggests that the concept of the racket may be especially useful for analyzing political and economic structures in the Global South. This project will examine the relevance of concepts such as narco-state, mafia state, and racket for describing both the brutalization of social relations from below (lynchings, attacks, persecutions) and the mafialization of power blocs and monopolies from above (alliances between police, conventional armed forces, and paramilitary groups; as well as the growing influence of lobbying sectors such as agribusiness on state institutions). The analysis adopts a comparative perspective to illuminate these intertwined processes.

• Publikationen

  • AFSHAR, Y. (2024): „Psychosoziale Aspekte der Automobilität heute“. In: Arbeitskreis Kritische Umweltpsychologie der Initiative Psychologie im Umweltschutz e.V. & Psychologists/Psychotherapists for Future e.V. (Hg.) Kritische Umweltpsychologie. Krisen verstehen, Handlungsfähigkeit entwickeln. Gießen: Psychosozial-Verlag.
  • AFSHAR, Y. (2023): „‚Dazu ist die Gefahr des Neonazismus in Deutschland viel zu akut‘. Adorno, 1968 und die unterlassene Kritik an das Goldesberger Programm“. In: Revolution! Deutschsprachige Kulturen im Umbruch 1918-1968. Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag.
  • AFSHAR, Y. (2023): „Anmerkungen zur primären Erfahrung des Sozialen“. In: Unversöhnlichkeiten. Einüben in Adornos Minima Moralia. Wien: Turia+Kant.
  • AFSHAR, Y. (2020): “Governing through conflict. On Adorno’s critique of postwar Sociology”. In: Constellations, New York.