International Social Theory Consortium 2012 conference

I have been invited to present a paper on “The Use and Abuse of Political Theology” at the 2012 International Social Theory Consortium in St. Augustine, FL.

My paper critically examines the use of theological concepts for emancipatory politics and practices of resistance in the work of Walter Benjamin and Giorgio Agamben. I argue that while, for Benjamin, it is historical materialism that it is able to blast a moment charged with Jetztzeit out of the homogenous course of history as a revolutionary chance, it is theology that provides him with the theoretical concepts to overcome the closures of teleological historiography and ‘progressive’ politics. I show that Agamben’s use of theology, by contrast, is in danger of adopting a teleological view of history without the possibility of rupture. By introducing a temporality of creation and salvation, Agamben risks being misread as abandoning emancipatory or revolutionary politics in favor of a predetermined end of history.

Association for Political Theory Annual Conference

My paper on Hobbes’ theory of sovereignty has been accepted for the tenth annual conference of the APT, which will take place from 11-13 October 2012, at the University of South Carolina.

For more information about APT click here. Up-to-date information about the conference, including paper archives, can be found here.

Conferences in June

Together with Osman Nemli (Emory University) and Colin McQuillan (University of Tennessee, Knoxville) I am organizing a stream of panels on “Sovereignty at the Margins: Critical Encounter with Early Modern Theories of the State” for the London Conference in Critical Thought. As part of our panel on interpretations of early modern philosophy, I will present my paper “Contract and Gift in Hobbes’ Theory of Sovereignty.” More information and regular updates can be found here.

I am also very excited to present my paper “Politics and Religion as Analogy and Genealogy: Foucault as a Critic of Schmitt,” which has been accepted for the conference Varieties of Continental Thought an Religion. The conference website can be accessed here.

CfP: 5th International Critical Theory Conference of Rome

5^TH INTERNATIONAL CRITICAL THEORY CONFERENCE OF ROME

May 7-9, 2012

John Felice Rome Center of Loyola University Chicago

The John Felice Rome Center of Loyola University Chicago is hosting the fifth international conference on Critical Theory of Rome, which will be held at its campus in Rome, Italy – Via Massimi 114/A.

The conference will examine the importance and the developments of the Frankfurt School by addressing both the philosophical tradition of the early stages of Critical Theory – and in particular the works of Walter Benjamin, Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer and Herbert Marcuse – as well as the application of their theories to our contemporary society.

In order to reflect the wide range of topics addressed by Critical Theory, the conference will cover different aspects of philosophical reflection on justice, politics, aesthetics, sociology, technology, literature and any other relevant field of study.

The conference will be held at the Rome Center of Loyola University Chicago on May 7-9, 2012.  It will begin on Monday morning and end by Wednesday afternoon (with a welcoming reception on the evening of Sunday, May 6).  During the sessions, each speaker will have 30 minutes. All presentations will be made in English.

 

Coordinator: Stefano Giacchetti Ludovisi, Loyola University Chicago, JFRC

 

Keynote speakers:

Idit Dobbs-Weinstein, Vanderbilt University

Andrew Feenberg, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver

Alessandro Ferrara, University of Rome, Tor Vergata

James Gordon Finlayson, University of Sussex

Stefano Petrucciani, University of Rome, La Sapienza

Henry Pickford, University of Colorado, Boulder

David Schweickart, Loyola University Chicago

 

If you are interested in presenting a paper or organizing a panel (of up to 5 speakers), please submit a 1-2 page abstract by February 2, 2012 (including name, eventual institutional affiliation and mailing address).  Abstracts should be submitted by email.  Decisions regarding the program will be made by the end of February 2012.

To submit an abstract, or for more information, contact:

Stefano Giacchetti Ludovisi, PhD – stefano.giacchetti@tiscali.it ; Tel: (+39) 06-81905467

Conference fees: 80 Euro; Free for undergraduate students.

CfP: The London Conference in Critical Thought

Birkbeck College, London June 29th and 30th, 2012

In collaboration with the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, the London Conference in Critical Thought (LCCT) is designed to create a space for an interdisciplinary exchange of ideas for scholars who work with “critical” traditions and concerns. We welcome work from the humanities and social sciences, including but not limited to papers drawing upon continental philosophy, critical legal theory, critical geography and the Frankfurt School. The LCCT aims to provide an opportunity for those who frequently find themselves at the margins of their department or discipline to engage with other scholars who share theoretical approaches and interests. Interdisciplinary and inter-institutional, the conference hopes to foster emergent critical thought and provide new avenues for critically orientated scholarship and collaboration.

Scholars working in philosophy, literature, geography, law, art, and politics departments have already proposed panels and/or streams for the conference. These address issues as diverse as animality, sovereignty, human rights, cosmopolitanism, the city, and the relationship between text and space. Through these streams participants are encouraged to engage with a variety of thinkers including Kant, Deleuze, Marx, Lacan, Foucault, Spinoza and Derrida, to name a few.

If you would like to present a paper as part of an existing stream/panel, propose a new stream/panel or contribute to the general stream please see our website for details. The deadline for stream proposals is the 15th of January, 2012, and the deadline for paper proposals is the 19th of February, 2012. The conference will be open for registration as of April 2012 and is free for participants.

Petition: Austrian scientific landscape in jeopardy

Austria’s scientific community is threatened by massive budget cuts for the most important and most prestigious non-university research institution, the Austrian Academy of Sciences. This will result not only in the closure of internationally renowned centers of excellence but also in the termination of about 300 full-time posts financed by the Academy.

As Christian Balluch from the Academy explains, “Since third-party funding totaling approx. 22 Mio. Euro was acquired by employees, who now stand to lose their jobs, further negative impacts are foreseeable. When project managers are made re- dundant and their projects are brought to a close, this will automatically lead to the loss of other project support staff. This amounts to a sustainable destruction of knowledge and infrastructure. The level of scientific excellence and the international competitiveness of Austrian scientific research are endangered.”

To support the Austrian Academy of Sciences, its employees and the quality of scientific research in Austria, please sign the petition. An English translation of the text can be found here.

Foucault Studies, Issue 12: Foucault and Race

The new volume of Foucault Studies, a special issue on Foucault and race, just hit the virtual shelves and can be accessed here. It includes my review of Ben Golder’s and Peter Fitzpatrick’s excellent edited volume on “Foucault and Law” which can be found here.