Kenneth J. Surin | Scholars@Duke

Kenneth J. Surin
Professor of Literature

(Ph.D. Birmingham, England, 1977) is Professor of Literature and Professor of Religion and Critical Theory. He trained initially as an analytical philosopher. His teaching areas include anglophone literatures outside England, philosophy (both analytical and continental), critical theory, marxism, state theory, and international political economy.

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Professor of Literature, Literature, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 1993
Professor in the Department of Religion, Religious Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2011

Contact Information

101F Science Building, Duke East Campus, Durham, NC 27708
Box 90670, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708-0670
ksurin@duke.edu (919) 684-4364

Background
Education, Training, & Certifications
- Ph.D., University of Birmingham 1977
- B.A., University of Reading (England) 1972
Duke Appointment History
- Director, Literature, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2007 - 2010
- Director, Center for European Studies, Council for European Studies, Office of Area Studies and International Studies 2005 - 2008
- Interim Director, Literature, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2003
- Acting Director, Program in Literature, Literature, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2001
- Associate Professor with Tenure, Religious Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 1989 - 1993
- Visiting Associate Professor, Religious Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 1987 - 1989
Research
Selected Grants
- Political Order and Modernity awarded by Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation 2005
Publications & Artistic Works
Selected Publications
- Books
  - Surin, KJ. Can There Be A Delinking Strategy For The Nations Of The Caribbean?. Indiana University Press, 2011.
  - Surin, K. Freedom Not Yet: Liberation and the Next World Order. Duke University Press, December 2009.
  - Christ, Ethics and Tragedy: Essays in Honour of Donald M MacKinnon. Edited by KJ Surin. Cambridge University Press, 1989.
  - Surin, KJ. The Turnings of Darkness and Light: Essays in Philosophical and Systematic Theology. Cambridge University Press, 1989.
  - Surin, KJ. Theology and the Problem of Evil. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1986.
- Book Reviews
  - Surin, KJ. "Review Essay of Grant Farred’s In Motion, at Rest (Accepted)." Cultural Critique (2015).
- Book Sections
  - Surin, K. "Force." In Gilles Deleuze: Key Concepts, 21-32. January 1, 2013.
  - Surin, KJ. "Can there be a Marxist Conception of Value that is not ‘Productivist’?”." In Proceedings of the Sino-British Conference on Marxism, Culture, and Aesthetics, edited by R Spencer, 103-112. Central Compilation and Translation Press, 2012.
  - Surin, KJ. "Neoliberal Property Relations (Accepted)." In Property and Aesthetics in Contemporary Globalization, edited by J Huimin. Shanghai international Studies University Press, 2012.
  - Surin, K. "Comparative Literature in America: Attempt at a Genealogy." In A Companion to Comparative Literature, 65-72. November 25, 2011. Full Text
  - Surin, KJ. "On Producing the Concept of the Concept-Image." In Releasing the Image: From Literature to New Media, edited by R Mitchell and J Khallip, 171-80. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2011.
  - Surin, KJ. "Existing not as a Subject but as a Work of Art: the Task of Ethics or Aesthetics?." In Deleuze and Ethics, edited by DW Smith and N Jun, 142-53. Edinburgh University Press, 2011.
  - Surin, KJ. "C.L.R. James as Writer on Cricket." In Cambridge Companion to Cricket, edited by A Bateman and J Hill, 131-43. Cambridge University Press, 2011.
  - Surin, KJ. "‘On Going ‘Beyond the Pale of the Human’ (ケネススリン人間の境界を越えてゴーイングオン長原豊、エディタ )." In Restoration of political economy and political philosophy (政治経済学の政治哲学的復権 ), edited by N Yutaka, 265-91. Hosei University Press, 2011.
  - Surin, KJ. "A Genealogy of Comparative Literature in the USA." In Blackwell Companion to Comparative Literature, edited by A Behdad and D Thomas, 65-72. Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.
  - Surin, KJ. "Bowlers and Bowling at the 2011 Cricket World Cup." In The 2011 Cricket World Cup Analyzed, edited by J Gemmill. Taylor and Francis, 2011.
  - Surin, KJ. "Revisiting Empire: some Small Reservations and Much Gratitude." In Proceedings of Pittsburgh Conference on EMPIRE, edited by T Murphy and G Mecchia. University of Minnesota Press, 2011.
  - Surin, KJ. "Can there be a notion of Absolute Value?." In Sino-British Forum on Marxist Aesthetics 2011, edited by R Spencer. Shanghai Jiaotong University, 2011.
  - Surin, KJ. "The Strange Fate of Property in Neoliberal Times." In Proceedings off International Conference on Property and Aesthetics, edited by J Huimin. 2011.
  - Surin, KJ. "The Politics of the South East Asian Smog Crises: a Classic Case of Rentier Capitalism at Work?." In New Directions in Sustainable Design, edited by A Parr and M Zaretsky, 137-151. Routledge, 2010.
  - Surin, KJ. "C.L.R. James as writer on cricket." In Cambridge Companion to Cricket, edited by A Bateman and J Hill. Cambridge University Press, 2010.
  - Surin, KJ. "A Genealogy of Comparative Literature in the USA." In Blackwell Companion to Comparative Literature, edited by A Behdad and D Thomas. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
  - Surin, K. "Afterword: Religion and philosophy between the modern and postmodern." In Postcolonial Philosophy of Religion, 329-336. December 1, 2009. Full Text
  - Surin, KJ. "What is ‘Post’ in ‘Postcolonial’?." In Postcolonial Philosophy of Religion, edited by A Irvine and P Billimoria, 229-236. Ashgate, November 2009.
  - Surin, KJ. "The South East Asian Smog Crises." In New Directions in Sustainable Design, edited by A Parr and M Zaretsky. Routledge, 2009.
  - Surin, KJ. "Afterword: Religion and Philosophy between the Modern and Postmodern." In Postcolonial Philosophy of Religion, edited by A Irvine and P Billimoria, 229-236. London: Ashgate, 2009.
  - Surin, K. "The Frankfurt School, the Marxist Tradition, Culture and critical thinking: Max Horkheimer, Herbert Marcuse, Theodor Adorno, JuÈrgen Habermas." In Modern European Criticism and Theory: A Critical Guide, 156-165. April 21, 2006.
  - Surin, KJ. "Rewriting The Ontological Script Of Liberation: On The Question Of Finding A New Kind Of Political Subject." In Ontology in Practice, edited by J Milbank, S Zizek, and C Davis, 240-266. Duke University Press, 2005.
  - Surin, KJ. "’Now Everything must Be Reinvented’: Negri and Revolution." In The Philosophy of Antonio Negri, edited by T Murphy and A-K Mustapha, 205-242. Pluto Press, 2005.
  - Surin, KJ. "Force." In Gilles Deleuze: Key Concepts, edited by CJ Stivale, 19-30. Acumen Press, 2005.
  - Surin, KJ. "Liberation." In The Enclyclopedia of Religion. Macmillan, 2004.
  - Surin, KJ. "Postmodernity." In The Routledge Encyclopedia of Protestantism, edited by H Hillerbrand. London: Routledge, 2004.
  - Surin, K. "Getting the picture: Donald Davidson on Robert Morris's Blind Time Drawings IV (Drawing with Davidson)." 132-169. December 1, 2002.
  - Surin, KJ. "Dealing in Straight Power Concepts": the Quest for Justice After September 11." In Strike Terror No More: Theology, Ethics, and the New War, edited by JL Berquist, 86-43. London: Chalice Press, 2002.
  - Surin, KJ. "Hostage to an Unaccountable Planetary Executive: the Flawed "Washington Consensus" and Two World Bank Reports." In World Bank Literature, edited by A Kumar, 238-57. University of Minnesota Press, 2002.
  - Surin, KJ. "The Frankfurt School." In The Edinburgh Encyclopedia of Modern Literary Criticism and Theory, edited by J Wolfreys, 158-67. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2002.
  - Surin, KJ. "A Question of an Axiomatics of Desires: The Deleuzean Imagination of Geoliterature." In Deleuze and Literature, edited by I Buchanan and J Marks, 167-93. Edinburgh University Press, 2000.
  - Surin, KJ. "Culture/Cultural Criticism." In A Handbook for Postmodern Biblical Interpretation, edited by AKM Adam, 49-54. St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2000.
  - Surin, KJ. "Liberation." In Critical Terms for Religious Study, edited by MC Taylor, 173-85. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998.
  - Surin, KJ. "’On Producing the Concept of a Global Culture’." In Nations, Cultures, and Identities, edited by VY Mudimbe, 199-219. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1997.
  - Surin, KJ. "’The Continued Relevance of Marxism’ as a Question: Some Propositions." In Marxism Beyond Marxism, edited by C Casarino, R Karl, and S Makdisi, 181-213. (London: Routledge, 1996.
  - Surin, KJ. "’The Future Anterior’: On Going Beyond C.L.R. James’s Beyond a Boundary." In Rethinking C.L.R. James, edited by G Farred, 87-104. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1996.
  - Surin, KJ. "Suffering." In The Routledge Encyclopedia of Ethics, Theology, and Society, 803-805. London: Routledge, 1996.
  - Surin, KJ. "C.L.R. James’s Materialist Aesthetics of Cricket." In Liberation Cricket: West Indies Cricket Culture, edited by HM Beckles and B Stoddart, 313-341. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1995.
  - Surin, KJ. "Raymond Williams on Tragedy and Revolution." In Cultural Materialism: On Raymond Williams, edited by C Prendergast, 143-172. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1995.
  - Surin, KJ. "The Problem of Evil." In The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Thought, 192-199. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1993.
  - Surin, KJ. "Taking Suffering Seriously." In The Problem of Evil: Selected Readings, edited by M Peterson, 339-349. University of Notre Dame Press, 1992.
  - Surin, KJ. "C.L.R. James's Materialist Aesthetics of Cricket." In Intellectuals and Society in the Caribbean: vol. 1, edited by A Hennessy, 131-162. London & New York: Macmillan, 1992.
  - Surin, KJ. "Towards a "Materialist" Critique of "Religious Pluralism"." In Religious Pluralism and Unbelief: Studies Critical and Comparative, edited by I Hamnett, 114-129. New York and London: Routledge, 1990.
  - Surin, KJ. "A "Politics of Speech": Religious Pluralism in the Age of the McDonald’s Hamburger." In Christian Uniqueness Reconsidered, edited by GD Costa, 192-212. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1990.
  - Surin, KJ. "Some Aspects of the Grammar of ’Incarnation’." In Christ, Ethics, and Tragedy, edited by K Surin, 93-116. Cambridge University Press, 1989.
  - Surin, KJ. "North American Theologies: Process Theology." In The Modern Theologians: An Introduction to Christian Theologians of the Twentieth Century, edited by D Ford, 103-114. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1989.
  - Surin, KJ. "Articles on ’Experience’ and ’The Experiential Approach to Religious Education’." In A Dictionary of Religious Education, edited by JM Sutcliffe. London: SCM Press, 1980.
- Conference Papers
  - Surin, KJ. "Can there be a Marxist Conception of Value that is not ‘Productivist’?." Sino-British Conference on Marxism, Culture, and Aesthetics. Shanghai. Central Compilation and Translation Press, 2012.
- Journal Articles
  - Surin, K. "Surroundings: Deleuze and Guattari." Canadian Journal of Communication 41, no. 3 (August 10, 2016). Full Text
  - Surin, K, and Salaita, S. ""Marxism, without guarantees": What I learned from stuart hall." Cultural Critique 89 (January 1, 2015): 136-149. (Review)
  - Surin, KJ. "What I Learned from Stuart Hall (Accepted)." Cultural Critique (2015).
  - Surin, KJ. "Empire Ten Years After: Much Gratitude, Some Reservations (Accepted)." Theory and Event: an online journal of political theory (2015).
  - Surin, KJ. "What Will It Take to Stop Israel? Truth and Justice." The Other Journal: an Intersection of Theology and Culture (August 2014). Link to Item
  - Surin, K. "Marxism and religion." Critical Research on Religion 1, no. 1 (April 2013): 9-14. Full Text
  - Surin, . "Can there be a Delinking Strategy for the Nations of the Caribbean?." The Global South 6, no. 1 (2012): 55-55. Full Text
  - Surin, KJ, and Jie, W. "Interview on Marxism and Aesthetics (conducted by Wang Jie, Dean of Humanities, Shanghai Jiaotong University)." Research on Marxist Aesthetics 14 (2012): 142-160.
  - Surin, KJ. "Freedom Not Yet: Liberation and the Next World Order." Research on Marxist Aesthetics 14 (2012): 170-182.
  - Surin, KJ. "Lacoue-Labarthe dans un texte où il analysait le rapport de la littérature à la philosophie’. Que vous inspire cette proposition?." Contemporary French & Francophone Studies 16 (2012).
  - Surin, KJ. "Reflections on Freedom not Yet: Liberation and the Next World Order." Research on Marxist Aesthetics 14 (2012): 170-182.
  - Surin, KJ. "Can there be a Marxist Conception of Value that is not ‘Productivist’?." Research on Marxist Aesthetics 12 (2012): 161-169.
  - Surin, KJ. "Kenneth Surin Interviewed by Wang Jie on Marxism and Aesthetics." Edited by W Jie. Research on Marxist Aesthetics (2011). (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "Introduction: Theory Now?." South Atlantic Quarterly 110 (2011): 3-17.
  - Surin, KJ. "On Producing the Concept of Solidarity." Rethinking Marxism 23 (2010): 446-457.
  - Surin, KJ. "A Genealogy of Comparative Literature in the USA." Edited by A Behdad and D Thomas. (2010).
  - Surin, KJ. "Retrospect/Prospect: Notes on Modern Theology after 25 Years." Modern Theology 26 (2010): 4-11.
  - Surin, KJ. "1000 Political Subjects (Chinese translation)." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art (Wenyi lilun yanjiu) 9, no. 2 (2009). Link to Item
  - Surin, K. "Conceptualizing Trauma, but What about Asia?." positions: east asia cultures critique 16, no. 1 (March 1, 2008): 15-37. Full Text
  - Surin, K. "The Dark Gaze: Maurice Blanchot and the Sacred ? Kevin Hart." Modern Theology 23, no. 1 (January 2007): 152-154. Full Text
  - Surin, KJ. "Review of Kevin Hart, The Dark Gaze." Modern Theology 23 (2007): 152-154. (Review)
  - Surin, KJ. "Can a Chosen People have a True Politics?." Angelaki , no. 12 (2007): 145-150. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "Control Societies and the Managed Citizen." Junctures: New Zealand Journal of Critical Dialogue , no. 8 (2007): 11-25. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "Fandom: Colin 'Pine Tree' Meads." South Atlantic Quarterly 105 (2006): 429-446.
  - Surin, KJ. "Theology and Marxism: The Tragic and Tragi-Comic." Literature and Theology 19 (2005): 112-131. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "Postpolitical Citizenship." Polygraph 16/17 (2005): 47-57. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "World Ordering." South Atlantic Quarterly 104 (2005): 185-197. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, K. ""The Night Can Sweat with Terror As Before": Afterthoughts." South Atlantic Quarterly 102, no. 4 (October 1, 2003): 895-913. Full Text
  - Surin, KJ. "'The Night Can Sweat with Terror as Before." South Atlantic Quarterly 102 (2003): 893-911.
  - Surin, KJ. "Getting the Picture: Donald Davidson on Robert Morris's Blind Time Drawings (Drawing with Davidson)." South Atlantic Quarterly 101 (2002): 133-169. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "Delre Is World-Historical': Political Knowledge." Capitalism and Schizophrenia Polygraph 14 (2002): 129-141. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "Dossier on Empire." Rethinking Marxism 13 (2001): 89-94. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "The Sovereign Individual and Michael Taussig's Poetics of Defacement." Nepantla 2, no. 1 (2001): 203-217. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "The Sovereign Individual, 'Subalternity' , and Becoming Other." Angelaki 6 (2001): 47-63.
  - Surin, KJ. "On Not Being Sure About the 'Post' in 'Postcolonial': Afterthoughts on Postcolonial Religious Studies." Sophia: An Australian Journal of Cross-Cultural Philosophy of Religion 39 (2000): 208-226. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "Afterthoughts on Diaspora." South Atlantic Quarterly 98 (1999): 275-325. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "Standing Schumpeter on his Head: Robert Brenner's Economics of Global Turbulence." Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 19 (1999): 53-60. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "The Future States of Politics: Deleuze and the Future of Politics." Culture Machine 1, no. 1 (January 1999). (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "The Reanimation of Dependency Theory in the Age of Finance Capital." Cultural Logic 1, no. 2 (July 1998). (Academic Article) Link to Item
  - Surin, KJ. "The Epochality of Deleuzean Thought." Theory, Culture, and Society 14 (1997): 9-21. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "On Producing the Concept of a Global Culture." South Atlantic Quarterly 94 (1995): 1179-1199. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "'Reinventing a Physiology of Collective Liberation': Going "Beyond Marx" in the Marxism(s) of Negri, Guattari, and Deleuze." Rethinking MARXISM [USA] 7 (1994): 9-27.
  - Surin, KJ. "'The Continued Relevance of Marxism' as a Question: Some Propositions." Polygraph , no. 6 (1993): 39-71. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "Transform the World, Change Life: Michael Taussig's Poetics of Destruction and Revelation." The South Atlantic Quarterly 92 (1993): 261-294. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, K. "Four perspectives-I." Horizons 18, no. 2 (January 1, 1991): 290-295. (Review) Full Text
  - Surin, KJ. "Some Programmatic Notes on James's Politics of Culture." CLR James Journal 2 (1991): 8-10.
  - Surin, KJ. "The Evils of Theodicy: A Perspective." Horizons [USA] 18 (1991): 290-295. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "The Undecidable and the Fugitive: Mille Plateaux and the State-Form." SubStance [USA] , no. 66 (1991): 102-113. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "Marxism(s) and 'the Withering Away of the State'." Social Text [USA] , no. 27 (1990): 35-54. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "C. L. R. James's Materialist Aesthetics of Cricket." Polygraph [USA] , no. 4 (1990): 111-149. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "'The Sign that Something Else is Always Possible': Hearing and Saying that 'Jesus is Risen' and Hearing the Voices of Those Who Suffer: Some Textual/Political Reflections." Literature and Theology [UK] 4 (1990): 263-277. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "A Certain 'Politics of Speech': Religious Pluralism in the Age of the McDonald's Hamburger." Modern Theology [UK] 7 (1990): 67-100.
  - Surin, KJ. "Towards a 'Materialist' Critique of 'Religious Pluralism': A Polemical Examination of the Discourse of John Hick and Wilfred Cantwell Smith." The Thomist [USA] 53 (1989): 655-674.
  - Surin, KJ. "Many Religions and the One True Faith: An Examination of Lindbeck's Chapter Three." Modern Theology 4 (1988): 187-208.
  - SURIN, K. "THE TRINITY AND PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTION: A STUDY OF DAVID BROWN'S THE DIVINE TRINITY." Modern Theology 2, no. 3 (April 1986): 235-256. Full Text
  - Surin, KJ. "Christology, Tragedy and "Ideology"." The Thomist [USA] 89 (1986): 283-291. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "The Trinity and Philosophical Reflection." Modern Theology 2 (1986): 235-256. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "Contemptus Mundi and the Disenchantment of the World: Bonhoeffer's 'Discipline of the Secret' and Adorno's 'Strategy of Hibernation'." Journal of the American Academy of Religion 53 (1985): 383-410.
  - Surin, K. "Theistic arguments and rational theism." International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 16, no. 2 (1984): 123-138. Full Text
  - Surin, KJ. "Theistic Arguments and Rational Theism." The International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion [USA] 16 (1984): 128-138. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "Atonement and Moral Apocalypticism." New Blackfriars [UK] 64 (1983): 323-335. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "Revelation, Salvation, the Uniqueness of Christ and Other Religions." Religious Studies [UK] 19 (1983): 323-343. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "Theodicy?." Harvard Theological Review [USA] 76 (1983): 225-247. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, K. "The self-existence of god: Hartshorne and classical theism." Sophia 21, no. 3 (October 1982): 17-36. Full Text
  - Surin, KJ. "The Self-existence of God." Sophia [Australia] 21 (1982): 17-36. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "Atonement and Christology." Neue Zeitschrift für Systematische Theologie und Religionsphilosophie [Germany] 24 (1982): 131-149. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "The Impassibility of God and the Problem of Evil." The Scottish Journal of Theology 35 (1982): 97-115. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "Tragedy and the Soul's Conquest of Evil." New Blackfriars 62 (1981): 521-532. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "Creation, Revelation and the Analogy Theory." Journal of Theological Studies [UK] 32 (1981): 401-422. (Academic Article)
  - Surin, KJ. "Can the Experiential and the Phenomenological Approaches be Reconciled?." British Journal of Religious Education 2 (1980): 99-103. (Academic Article)
- Journal Issues
  - "Vicissitudes of Theory." Edited by KJ Surin. South Atlantic Quarterly 101, no. 1 (2002). (Special issue)
  - Surin, KJ. "The World Trade Organization." Edited by CA Gregory. Workplace: A Journal of Academic Labor 3, no. 1 (May 2000). (Special issue) Link to Item
- Other Articles
  - Surin, KJ. "Entries on Marx, Micropolitics, Partial Objects, Socius, Spinoza, State, Control Society and State theory, Materialism and Philosophy." Edited by A Parr. Deleuze Dictionary (2006).
Teaching & Mentoring
Recent Courses
- LIT 690S: Special Topics in Literature 2016
Scholarly, Clinical, & Service Activities
Presentations & Appearances
Service to the Profession

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Education, Training, & Certifications

Duke Appointment History

Selected Grants

Selected Publications

Books

Book Reviews

Book Sections

Conference Papers

Journal Articles

Journal Issues

Other Articles

Recent Courses

Presentations & Appearances

Service to the Profession