9th ESSEX CONFERENCE IN
CRITICAL POLITICAL THEORY
CAPITALISM, FAITH, NATURE
Dates: 12-13 June 2008
Location: University of Essex, Colchester, UK
Call for Papers Deadline: 27 April, 2008.
Website: 9th Essex Conference in Critical Political Theory
All Inquiries to: polcon@essex. ac.uk
Keynote Speakers
Professor Jane Bennett, The Johns Hopkins University (USA)
Professor William E. Connolly, The Johns Hopkins University (USA)
Organizing Committee at the University of Essex
Jason Glynos, Department of Government, University of Essex (UK)
David Howarth, Centre for Theoretical Studies, University of Essex (UK)
Aletta J. Norval, Centre for Theoretical Studies, University of Essex (UK)
Sarah Hartley, PhD Candidate, Department of Government, University of Essex (UK)
Blendi Kajsiu, PhD Candidate, Department of Government, University of Essex (UK)
The Conference Theme: Capitalism, Faith, Nature
ONLY a few years ago, the use of abstract nouns like ‘capitalism’, ‘faith’ and ‘nature’ - not to mention their conjunction as a series of terms - would have seemed a little unusual, perhaps even antiquated. Yet any history of the present today highlights the continuing pertinence of these signifiers for critically engaging with a growing range of social and political phenomena.
ONE obvious issue here is the rise of new fundamentalisms – dogmatic and monist faiths - whether of an economic, political, religious, or national character. Another is the peculiar linking together of heterogeneous doctrines and sensibilities, such as Christianity, corporate capitalism and conservativism in the United States, for instance, into new assemblages and projects that directly impinge upon existing political institutions and democratic settlements. In part, these new fundamentalisms constitute a reactionary backlash against the emergence of novel cultural identities and existential faiths that seek to pluralize the pluralism of existing democratic institutions and practices, or put forward demands for greater freedom and equality. Fundamentalisms are also organised against efforts to reorganize our geo-political landscapes – or construct new transnational networks - so as to foster greater cooperation and security across once sedimented territorial divisions.
IN equal measure, there are pressing questions about the place of nature in the contemporary world, whether this is understood in terms of the intensifying environmental crisis, or debates about the character and role of ‘human nature’ in our increasingly technological societies, or with respect to the character of human and political subjectivity. Underpinning many of these new concerns are further questions about new forms of political economy at the local, national and global levels, and their impact on our changing conceptions of space, time, culture and speed.
HOW do we problematize and critically explain these new phenomena? In what ways can various fundamentalisms be challenged and engaged with in the name of a democratic politics that is not itself fundamentalist in character? What are the limits and potentials of contemporary political and ethical theory in addressing these new issues? What are the prospects and limits of pluralizing pluralism? Ought we to restrict agency to humans, or does it extend to the material and non-human world more generally? What is the relationship between nature and culture? How can cultural theory respond to recent developments in science? What is the relationship between cultural theory, materialism and naturalism? What kind of ethos needs to be cultivated in the face of these new challenges, and how can it be brought about? How do these broad sets of issues and questions get addressed in specific contexts and policy arenas? And what theoretical languages and methods are best able to respond
to these changes and trends? These are just some of the tasks of critical political theory today.
THE NINTH CONFERENCE IN CRITICAL POLITICAL THEORY at the University of Essex provides a space to address and engage with these issues. The conference has achieved a renowned reputation for the quality of the papers presented and the large number of international participants. Previous guest speakers have included Michael Hardt, Wendy Brown, Judith Squires, Quentin Skinner, Joan Copjec, James Tully, Fred Dallmayr, Bonnie Honig, David Owen, David Campbell, Simon Critchley, Ernesto Laclau, and Chantal Mouffe, among others.
THE conference provides an important opportunity to engage with the contemporary challenges and possibilities of social and political theory and to exchange views on ongoing research. We welcome papers from young scholars, postdoctoral researchers, and postgraduates from a wide variety of backgrounds in the field of social and political theory. But as is customary with the Essex conference, the themes are in part shaped by the thought and writings of our invited guests, and this year is no exception. We are delighted to host William Connolly and Jane Bennett.
WILLIAM CONNOLLY and JANE BENNETT are two of the leading political theorists of our time, and they both speak directly and powerfully to the problems and opportunities of the new conjuncture. Though far from complacent about the complexity of the issues confronting us today, each of them consistently seeks new lines of flight and intellectual nourishment that can advance the ideals of democracy, freedom, and pluralism. Their various writings straddle a wide range of debates about pluralism, nature, bio-ethics, materialism, global politics, radical democracy, the limits and possibilities of contemporary liberal theory, as well as discussions in the philosophy of science and social explanation. Most importantly, their work is persistently open to new events and possibilities, and focussed on movements and practices that invent new rights or promote new identities, which may or may not have been acknowledged on established cultural fields.
Broad Themes Include
* Politics of Immanence and Transcendence
* Varieties of Pluralism
* Politics and Technology
* Universalism and Particularism
* Democracy and Representation
* Capitalism, Multiculturalism, Globalization
* Identity Politics and Mobilization
* Subjectivity and Psychoanalysis
* Religion, Faith and Pluralism
* Fundamentalisms
* New Ecologies
* Philosophies of Nature
* Political Economy
* The Politics of Space and Territoriality
* Rethinking Identity/Difference
Biographies
JANE BENNETT is Professor and Chair of Political Theory at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA. Her published books include The Enchantment of Modernity: Crossings, Energetics, and Ethics (Princeton University Press, 2001); Thoreau’s Nature: Ethics, Politics, and The Wild (Sage Publications, 1994); and Unthinking Faith and Enlightenment: Nature and State in a Post-Hegelian Era (New York University Press, 1994).
WILLIAM E. CONNOLLY is Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Political Science at John Hopkins University. His recent books include Pluralism (Duke University Press, 2005); Neuropolitics: Thinking, Culture, Politics (University of Minnesota, 2002); and Why I Am Not a Secularist (University of Minnesota, 1999). His most recent book Capitalism and Christianity, American Style (Duke University Press) will be available in 2008.
JASON GLYNOS is Lecturer in Political Theory in the Department of Government at the University of Essex, UK. He is also Director of the Masters Programme in Ideology and Discourse Analysis at the University of Essex. He is co-editor of Lacan & Science (Karnac, 2002) and Traversing the Fantasy (Ashgate, 2005). His most recent book is Logics of Critical Explanation in Social and Political Theory (Routledge, 2007), co-authored with David Howarth.
DAVID HOWARTH is Senior Lecturer in Political Theory in the Department of Government at the University of Essex, UK. He is also Co-Director of the Centre for Theoretical Studies. His published books include Discourse (Open University Press, 2000); Discourse Theory and Political Analysis (Manchester University Press, 2000); Discourse Theory in European Politics (Macmillan, 2005). His most recent book is Logics of Critical Explanation in Social and Political Theory (Routledge, 2007).
ALETTA NORVAL is Reader in Political Theory in the Department of Government, University of Essex, where she is also Director of the Doctoral Programme in Ideology and Discourse Analysis, and Co-Director of the Centre for Theoretical Studies. Her most recent book is entitled Aversive Democracy: Inheritance and Originality in the Democratic Tradition (Cambridge University Press, 2007).
Conference fees for Staff: £50
Conference fees for Students:
£30 Paper Givers (£25 for Essex students)
£35 Attendance Only (£30 for Essex students)
£45 If institutionally funded (£40 for Essex students)
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