Thinking inside out: Where is Home? Topophilia in Times of Displacement

In an era defined by war, exile, and migration, what does it mean to call a place home? Philosopher and writer Oxana Timofeeva invites us to reflect on the fragile yet persistent bonds between people and places.

Drawing on the concept of topophilia – the affective bond between people and places – Timofeeva explores how this attachment is challenged, transformed, or reconstituted through experiences of displacement. Combining philosophical inquiry with autogeographical reflection, she tries to make another sense of dwelling and locality.

Oxana Timofeeva is a philosopher. She teaches philosophy at the UdK Berlin and is a member of the artistic collective "Chto Delat". Her books include Freud’s Beasty Boys (2025), Solar Politics (2022), How to Love a Homeland (2020), History of Animals (Bloomsbury 2018), This is not That (2022), and Introduction to the Erotic Philosophy of Georges Bataille (2009). Her new book On the Soul is forthcoming in 2026.