Butler’s academic work cannot be confined to any one discipline. It ranges from philosophy and rhetorical theory to the institutionalisation of gender studies. Her multifaceted oeuvre encompasses performativity theory, analyses of emotions such as grief and anger, readings of Kafka, and accounts of the Middle East question rooted in the history of ideas. This panel discussion approaches Butler as a phenomenon in the history of theory and ideas with the aim to offer a new perspective on – rather than smooth over – contentious issues, focusing on the challenges and controversial manifestations of global intellectuality at present.