Français

Call for Papers - Panels

Waterloo 2012

Calls for Papers for panels of the society for Existential and Phenomenological Theory and Culture at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Waterloo/Wilfred Laurier University, May 29–June 1, 2012:

  1. How Big Is The Body? (Deadline: Dec. 15 2011)
  2. The Subject in Question: Feminism, Phenomenology, Structuralism (Deadline: Jan. 1 2012)
  3. Back to the Things Themselves! (BTTTT!) (Deadline: Jan. 5 2012)
  4. Continental Approaches to International Studies and Issues (Deadline: Jan. 15 2012)
  5. EPTC's 2nd Annual Incubator--A Collaborative Workshop on Work in Progress with Scholar Presentations Theme: Philosophy and/as Biopolitics (Deadline: Jan. 15 2012)
  6. Revolution and Communication (Deadline: Jan. 15 2012)

How Big Is The Body?

Many of the investigations that have shaped the history of philosophical discourses--from Cartesian epistemology to phenomenology's reflection on conscious experience--implicate questions of the extent and the ways that the world impinges upon us. Whether they explicitly take note of the fact or not, these discourses also commit themselves to views of how far the human subject can extend into the world, that is, the range of penetration into the world made possible by our bodily structures. This panel seeks papers which explore the variability of that range through consideration of questions like:

  • how does the body's extension into the world enlarge or contract depending on which of the senses we are emphasizing? (focusing on sight, for instance, offers a more elongated reach into the world than touch)
  • how does technology enhance our reach?
  • how do contemporary social justice concerns like those articulated in disability studies problematize the very notion of "our" reach?

All paper proposals that address questions of bodily boundaries will be considered, but those which speak to the politics of boundary-setting and either subject-object or intersubjective interaction are particularly encouraged. Proposals that open up the possibility of a bilingual panel are especially welcome.

Please send paper proposals to Tracey Nicholls (tracey.j.nicholls@gmail.com) by December 15, 2011. Proposals should include the title, author's name, institutional affiliation, and an abstract of about 100 words. Acceptance of proposals will be conditional upon the author's ability to submit a completed paper no later than February 1, 2012, so that papers can be sent out for review.

Papers should take no longer than 30 minutes to read (generally less than 4000 words), and should be prepared for anonymous review (identifiable by paper title only). Please note that paper proposals will be initially reviewed by the panel organizers, and accepted papers will be forwarded to EPTC reviewers.


The Subject in Question: Feminism, Phenomenology, Structuralism

Continental feminism has challenged and rejected the classical notion of the subject. What do the methods of inquiry of phenomenology and structuralism, taken separately or–-perhaps more interestingly–-taken together contribute to this challenge and rejection? What type of subjectivity, if any, emerges out of a feminist phenomenological, structuralist or phenomenologico/structuralist analysis? Must the notion of subjectivity be declared obsolete or is there room for a feminist subject, albeit a transfigured one? What are the ethical and political implications of proposing a trans-subject that is permeated and constituted by inter-trans-subjective relations and relations of power? To tackle these questions, we invite papers that explore the philosophies of Beauvoir, Irigaray, Braidotti, Butler, and Grosz, for example, as they intersect with phenomenology (e.g. Husserl, Merleau-Ponty, Barbaras) or structuralism (e.g. Levi-Strauss, Foucault), or both.

Please submit paper proposals to Christine Daigle (cdaigle@brocku.ca) by January 1, 2012. Proposals for extemporaneous presentations and work in progress papers are welcome.


Back to the Things Themselves! (BTTTT!)

Since 2007, Back to the Things Themselves! (BTTTT!) has been an annual attempt to liberate ourselves from textual exegesis, and return to the lived world to divine the essential structures of experience through rigorous phenomenological description. Husserl's call to return "zu der Sachen selbst" has only been intermittently heeded by subsequent generations, the majority of whom have generally focused on contributing to and elaborating on the enormous critical apparatus issuing from the founding texts of the movement. While BTTTT! is guided by important scholarly contributions about phenomenology, its main aim is to "do phenomenology" - that is, to generate original descriptions of phenomena in the lifeworld.

See the full call for papers at: http://koukaldr.faculty.udmercy.edu/BTTTT!2012.htm


Continental Approaches to International Studies and Issues

There are theorists primarily in the discipline of international relations (IR) working with the texts of continental theory, and there are theorists working primarily on the texts of continental theory with significant interests in international relations and issues. This EPTC panel aims to bring together continentalists from IR and EPTCers and friends interested in international relations and issues in order to foreground the intersection between the two sets of fields. We are looking for excellent written work on topics that make the intersection explicit.

Some possible topics could be:

  • global power-politics, international social justice, or resistance, e.g. in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Palestine/Israel, Haiti, Honduras, East Africa, or as these themes relate to problems with global capitalism such as the European debt crisis, debt and credit in the developing world, and the consequences of trade liberalization, or various kinds of resistance movements relating to indigeneity, nationality, and environmental concerns, as these might be understood with the help of philosophers such as Sartre, Camus, Merleau-Ponty, Agamben, Zizek, and Badiou;
  • relations of power, policing, surveillance, and governance in conflict and post-conflict areas such as Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Central and South America, and Southeast Asia, with respect to which Foucauldians have made important contributions;
  • relationships between humanitarianism, intervention, counterinsurgency, imperialism, and colonialism, with respect to which Fanon is an invaluable source;
  • the question of world-history, its inertia, and its possible subjects, with respect to which Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Althusser, Foucault, and Fukuyama have made important contributions;
  • deep ethics, gender, and the importance of the individual in cross-cultural contexts concerning e.g. the question of the universality of human rights, with respect to which authors such as Beauvoir, Levinas, and Kierkegaard are invaluable.

EPTC's journal PhaenEx Special Topics Issue 8.2. Continental Approaches to International Studies and Issues, to be published in November/December 2013 will be dedicated to this topic. Traditionally, a panel is hosted in advance of a special topics issue of the journal. Authors who submit papers to the panel are also invited to submit their papers for review to the journal issue.

Papers no longer than 30 minutes reading time in length should be submitted to John Duncan at jduncan@trinity.utoronto.ca no later than 15 Jan 2012. Papers should be submitted in either rich text format or MSWord for anonymous review with all indications of authorship removed. A separate cover page should include paper title, a short (250 words max) abstract, author/authors, and short bio including indication of academic affiliation. For further information please use above e-mail.


EPTC's 2nd Annual Incubator--A Collaborative Workshop on Work in Progress with Scholar Presentations Theme: Philosophy and/as Biopolitics

Thinking philosophically can be an isolating business. This forum is designed to give presenters an opportunity to bring problems, questions, and concerns about work in progress for discussion in an open roundtable setting. The workshop will be organized around a specific theme to assure that participants are well suited to be of mutual assistance. Four shorter WIP sessions will be bookended by two paper presentations by scholars working on this year's topic: Philosophy and/as Biopolitics.

It is appropriate to bring a project that is either in its nascent stages, specific passages of a work that are causing difficulties or trouble for the author, or work that is at a crossroad and requires more feedback and discussion before it can progress. Projects that may be suitable for discussion include conference papers, journal articles, book chapters, lectures, or perhaps doctoral thesis work. Our aim is to incubate and nurture these projects so participants can take their work to the next level.

The workshop will be open so that all conference delegates can take part. Short précis (approx. 500 words) prepared by participants will be made available on the EPTC/TCEP web site prior to the event. It is preferred that participants discuss their projects extemporaneously so conversation remains colloquial and collegial.

THEME: Philosophy and/as Biopolitics

Some of the most important thinkers from the past century and many of the most innovative philosophers working today have been focused on the rather diffuse question of "biopolitics." It is perhaps not even entirely clear what this term means as yet, but it is becoming one of the most important philosophical horizons moving into the twenty-first century. Why has this turn come about? Looking back on the past century, why is it possible to count so many philosophers as biopolitical thinkers? What is biopolitics? Which issues can biopolitics address? And what does the turn to biopolitics mean for philosophy as it advances into the next millennium?

Discussion may involve theoretical questions or applied work. Possible figures for discussion include Foucault, Agamben, Arendt, Derrida, Deleuze, Hardt, Negri, Haraway, Nancy, Butler, Schmitt, Rancière, Habermas, Zizek, Grosz, and Nikolas Rose.

The workshop will be conducted during EPTC's annual meeting at Canadian Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences to be held May 29–June 1, 2012 in Waterloo, ON.

We seek two types of work:

  1. Conference papers
    • 4500 word maximum, plus 150-word abstract
    • papers will be followed by a brief commentary and 20-minute discussion period
  2. Work in Progress
    • 500-750 word proposal outlining the project you would present at the workshop
    • 10-15 minute presentation will be followed by 30-minute roundtable discussion

** Please prepare submissions for anonymous review in Word format. On a separate sheet include the title of project, author name, institutional affiliation, and contact information.

Deadline: January 15, 2012

Submissions and/or questions should be sent to Bronwyn Singleton (bronwynsingleton@gmail.com)


Revolution and Communication

Recent events in North Africa and the Middle East have yet again rendered the notion of revolution mainstream. Nonetheless, what makes this and other recent revolutions different from past revolutions is that the revolution is represented as if it were more than (merely) an overthrow of existing political regimes. The revolution today is also, or so it is said, a technological revolution, a communication revolution. Indeed, while the revolutions continue to manifest themselves politically in other parts of the world, in Europe and North America and much of Asia, the on-going revolution is invariably linked to new technologies and commodities. The goal of the panel "Communication and Revolution" is to explore the intersection between communication and revolution as it manifests itself both politically, epistemologically and technologically.

As such we are looking for papers that seek to address the relation between communication and revolution in all its possible manifestations. Moreover, we would hope that the meaning of the terms "revolution" and "communication" not simply be taken for granted, but are critically engaged in an attempt to understand the ways in which they may or may not intersect. As such topics that might be considered include but are not limited to: communication technologies and political revolutions; technology as revolution; revolution, emancipation and technology; social media and social revolution; revolution, new media and the classroom; technology and democracy; technology and capitalism; modernity and revolution; revolution and mediation; the future of revolution.

While it is assumed that participants will engage with present day issues, it is also hoped that some appreciation of the vast philosophical literature on revolution will be evident. Many major phenomenologists, existentialists, critical theorists (Arendt, Lefort, Sartre, Lukacs, Marcuse, Merleau-Ponty, to name just a few) have written on the subject of revolution and their work constitutes an essential background for thinking present day events and conditions. Moreover, the idea that communication technologies are themselves revolutionary has been a long standing assumption of communication theory. Is this assumption legitimate? Finally, it should be kept in mind that the term revolution is not merely, or perhaps even primarily, a political category.

Papers of about 4000 words should be submitted to Gregory Cameron at noremacyr@gmail.com no later than 15 Jan 2012. Papers should be submitted in either rich text or MSWord for blind review with all indication of authorship removed. A separate cover page should include paper title, a short (250 words max) abstract, author/authors, and short bio including indication of academic affiliation. For further information please use above e-mail.

Stacey Irwin and Gregory Cameron