18th-19th July - University of Brighton
The present moment bears witness to a dynamic proliferation of events and
transformations that are reshaping our socio-political horizon. In recent
years, the effects of the financial crisis and neoliberal governance have
materialised in the form of the radical imposition of austerity measures. In
response, waves of revolt and resistance - from student occupations at UK
Universities to the ‘Arab Spring’, from organised strikes and demonstrations
to the London riots, from Athens to ‘Occupy’ – have spread throughout the
world. For a brief moment, these manifestations of political rebellion
appeared to have created a historical sense of possibility which not only
furnished emergent forms of activism with confidence but also, as engaged
intellectuals have been eager to assert, seemed to have validated the
premises of classical critical frameworks. Yet, despite continuous
resistance and revolt, we have seen the installation of unelected
technocrats in Greece and Italy; despite a politically active and engaged
student community, we have seen the implementation of education cuts and an
unprecedented rise in University tuition fees in the UK; despite vocal
opposition from across the social spectrum, we have seen the NHS bill being
pushed through parliament. Whilst the necessity of critical political
engagement has by no means lost its urgency, the prevailing sense of
opportunity has given way to a fundamental scepticism regarding the scope
and possibility of radical thought and action. When the question ‘what is to
be done?’ seems to be ever more difficult to answer, we believe that this is
a decisive moment to examine the limits and scope of critique and its
relationship to practice. It is the aim of this conference to render
productive this moment of crisis and disorientation to pause and reflect on
the fundamental logics, questions and commitments that underlie critical
political thinking. In short, the challenge of this conference is to rethink
the politics of critique.
This interdisciplinary conference challenges engaged intellectuals across
the academic spectrum to examine the events of the past decade and to offer
a re-thinking of critical political thought in light of these changes. We
welcome contributions from disciplines including, but by no means limited
to, philosophy, critical theory, political theory, sociology, anthropology,
critical and human geography, environmental studies, art and aesthetics,
history, and bio-sciences.
This event is the culmination of a year long lecture series on the role and
place of critique in contemporary society, featuring Howard Caygill, Diana
Coole, Mark Devenney, Costas Douzinas, Alan Finlayson, Sarah Franklin, Saul
Newman, Benjamin Noys, Nina Power, and Daniel Steuer
http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/research/cappe/news2/dangerous-ideas-rethinking-the-politics-of-critique
Abstracts of around 300 words should be sent to is72[@]uni.brighton.ac.uk by
2nd May 2012.
This event is hosted by the Critical Studies Research Group in close
collaboration with CAPPE (Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics, and
Ethics) and CRD (Centre for Research and Development) at the University of
Brighton.
