Marwa Abou Hatab

The chapter includes Seyla Benhabib’s understanding of “porous borders” in the legal system, and reflects on the examples and experiences in the legal system of the Academy, and how this concept goes together with Bhabha’s concept of “hybridity”. I elaborate on the formation of nationhood and explain how mechanisms of nationhood formation worked by introducing my own experience of the application process in the Master of Critical Studies program as a case study. The last chapter analyses and describes the “cosmopolitan” norms of justice, and finds an answer whether the space of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, is a “cosmopolitan” space in itself or not. In itself, by looking at situations where this sphere succeeds or fails to identify as such a space. Supported by Benhabib’s views on “cosmopolitan” norms, specifically her concept that this kind of norms have both a positive impact on the democratic and legal spheres and a negative discourse. this is a chapter of the thesis: " Questions of Cosmopolitanism and Boundaries of Space in the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna: The Relationship Between Art Spaces and the Policy of Inclusion and Exclusion in them"

The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna is a public university. Who is the public that is included in this space? A university that is public suggests that it is a university that is accessible to large groups of students and that their admission does not directly depend on their financial situation. But does that mean that the door is open for everyone? I am not arguing here whether it should be or how it actually is – for sure it is not a utopian space, at the same time the Academy is not totally neglecting this issue. However, there are some programs in the Academy that are trying to make studying at its space more inclusive, for example letting students enroll in the Fine Arts program even if they do not have a Bachelor’s degree or a high school diploma/Matura. Here I am interested to show which part of the public is included or excluded, and to identify the borders of inclusion and exclusion inside the Academy, locate them and their various mechanisms in different spaces, relying on experience as a student. In that respect we cannot ignore the “social background/Soziale Herkunft” and the “habitus” that a student has, which influences who is studying eventually here. And to understand those relations one could start with Bourdieu’s concept of capital. Bourdieu explains how the concept of capital depends on its accumulation in times. whether it is cultural capital or social capital, and he explains that both are connected to the economical capital.
this is a chapter of the thesis: " Questions of Cosmopolitanism and Boundaries of Space in the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna: The Relationship Between Art Spaces and the Policy of Inclusion and Exclusion in them"