Acknowledgments

This book benefited from the support and encouragement of many institutions and people, and I am grateful for the intellectual stimulations that shaped the project.

I have been fortunate to benefit from a high level of discussions with fellows at the Italian Academy at Columbia University, the Institute of Advanced Studies at the University of Warwick, MECS at Leuphana University Lüneburg, the Institute for Advanced Study at Zhejiang University, and recently the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin. Special thanks to Achille Varzi, Claus Pias, Martin Warnke, Celia Lury, Noortje Marres, Nicole Brisch, Dror Wahrmann, Holger Spamann, Cansu Cansa, Luca Giuliani, Barbara Stollberg-Rillinger, and Daniel Schönpflug. Thanks to Barbara Carnevali and Emanuele Coccia for great ideas and conversations during my stay at EHESS in Paris.

Research for this book was supported by an Advanced Research grant from the European Research Council for the PREDICT project no. 833749.

Starting with the Niklas Luhmann Visiting Chair that gave me the impetus to initiate this research, Bielefeld University provided me with the best working and research conditions. For this I will always be grateful to Rector Gerhard Sagerer. Silke Schwandt, Kirsten Kramer, Tobias Werron, Holger Dainat, and the participants in our seminars helped me to adjust the focus of my reflections and to clarify my questions. The kindness of Vito Gironda and Anita Adamczyk made many things easier and more enjoyable. James McNally and Jonas Mieke have collaborated with precision and intelligence in preparing and revising my texts.

David Weinberger transformed the revision and correction of texts into an exciting intellectual adventure, which also turned out to be fun. Working with him is a privilege. At the MIT Press I am grateful to have been in the care of Gita Devi Manaktala and Erika Barrios. I am honored that Alicja Kwade provided the image for the book’s cover, and I especially appreciate how she engaged with the content of the volume in choosing the image.

Giancarlo Corsi and Alberto Cevolini joined me in years of collaboration and lively debate, of which my entire work bears the traces. My ideas have been developed in constant dialogue with David Stark, engaging with his acute critical sense and inexhaustible creativity and enthusiasm. I can’t thank him enough for his generosity, wonderful sense of humor, and ever-amazing ability to surprise me.

Emma’s curiosity and passion are a joy every day.