Last month, Professor Alessandro Monsutti released Guerre civile? and Destiny/Destination, two books which speak to his collaborative spirit and add to his impressive body of work.
Guerre civile?, a special issue of the journal Monde commun, was edited in collaboration with anthropologist Franck Mermier. In it, they challenge the relevance of the notion of “civil war”. In doing so, Mermier and Monsutti push readers to think of these conflicts beyond the categories often provided within social sciences and international law.
Monsutti wrote Destiny/Destination in collaboration with artist Carlo Vidoni. Adopting the lines of the hand as a narrative thread, they follow the trajectories of migrants who have left and arrived in Italy at different time points, each with unique motivations. In a dialogue with both poetry and visual art, readers are exposed to stories of migrants laced with pain, but also curiosity and hope.
Destiny/Destination includes a postface by Jean-Francois Bayart and a series of poetic contributions by migrants and refugees. Monsutti explores here new expressive forms and collaborations beyond the narrow boundaries of academic work.
You can watch the video (here) produced by the Research Office which presents this book through an interview with Monsutti. A second video (here) features readings of a selection of poems by actor Darius Kehtari.
Learn more about Monsutti’s background and scholarship here.