love detective
there's no love too small
Some of the sessions from this look excellent, but the whole thing seems a bit in danger of being an academic wankfest, with prices to deter anyone out of academia from attending - still looks interesting though - shame it's such a fucking insular thing
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The ongoing popular uprisings in the Arab world, alongside intimations of a resurgence in workers' struggles against 'austerity' in the North and myriad forms of resistance against exploitation and dispossession across the globe make it imperative for Marxists and leftists to reflect critically on the meaning of collective anticapitalist action in the present.
Over the past decade, many Marxist concepts and debates have come in from the cold. The anticapitalist movement generated a widely circulating critique of capitalist modes of international 'development'. More recently, the economic crisis that began in 2008 has led to mainstream-recognition of Marx as an analyst of capital. In philosophy and political theory, communism is no longer merely a term of condemnation. Likewise, artistic and cultural practices have also registered a notable upturn in the fortunes of activism, critical utopianism and the effort to capture aesthetically the workings of the capitalist system.
The eighth annual Historical Materialism conference will strive to take stock of these shifts in the intellectual landscape of the Left in the context of the social and political struggles of the present. Rather than resting content with the compartmentalisation and specialisation of various 'left turns' in theory and practice, we envisage the conference as a space for the collective, if necessary, agonistic but comradely, reconstitution of a strategic conception of the mediations between socio-economic transformations and emancipatory politics.For such a critical theoretical, strategic and organisational reflection to have traction in the present, it must take stock of both the commonalities and the specificities of different struggles for emancipation, as they confront particular strategies of accumulation, political authorities and relations of force. Just as the crisis that began in 2008 is by no means a homogeneous affair, so we cannot simply posit a unity of purpose in contemporary revolutions, struggles around the commons and battles against austerity.
The conference is organised around two plenary sessions (the Deutscher lecture by David Harvey and the launch of the Socialist Register 2012), two HM plenaries (on politics and the people, and the Arab uprisings) and panels in parallel sessions dedicated to
specific themes and debates.
The conference is self-funded and we will depend on voluntary donations by attendants and participants to support the organisation and running of the event. Pre-registration is highly recommended. The cost is £50 for waged and £15 for unwaged participants. The suggested donation on the door is £75 for waged and £35 for unwaged. A day ticket is £20. A separate ticket is needed for the David Harvey Deutscher lecture (£3 pre-bought, £5 on the door).
For logistical and other support, Historical Materialism would like to thank the School of Oriental and African Studies. For their collaboration, thanks to the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences at SOAS, Brill Academic Publishers, the Deutscher Memorial Prize committee and Socialist Register
Full programme of sessions
-----------------------------------------
The ongoing popular uprisings in the Arab world, alongside intimations of a resurgence in workers' struggles against 'austerity' in the North and myriad forms of resistance against exploitation and dispossession across the globe make it imperative for Marxists and leftists to reflect critically on the meaning of collective anticapitalist action in the present.
Over the past decade, many Marxist concepts and debates have come in from the cold. The anticapitalist movement generated a widely circulating critique of capitalist modes of international 'development'. More recently, the economic crisis that began in 2008 has led to mainstream-recognition of Marx as an analyst of capital. In philosophy and political theory, communism is no longer merely a term of condemnation. Likewise, artistic and cultural practices have also registered a notable upturn in the fortunes of activism, critical utopianism and the effort to capture aesthetically the workings of the capitalist system.
The eighth annual Historical Materialism conference will strive to take stock of these shifts in the intellectual landscape of the Left in the context of the social and political struggles of the present. Rather than resting content with the compartmentalisation and specialisation of various 'left turns' in theory and practice, we envisage the conference as a space for the collective, if necessary, agonistic but comradely, reconstitution of a strategic conception of the mediations between socio-economic transformations and emancipatory politics.For such a critical theoretical, strategic and organisational reflection to have traction in the present, it must take stock of both the commonalities and the specificities of different struggles for emancipation, as they confront particular strategies of accumulation, political authorities and relations of force. Just as the crisis that began in 2008 is by no means a homogeneous affair, so we cannot simply posit a unity of purpose in contemporary revolutions, struggles around the commons and battles against austerity.
The conference is organised around two plenary sessions (the Deutscher lecture by David Harvey and the launch of the Socialist Register 2012), two HM plenaries (on politics and the people, and the Arab uprisings) and panels in parallel sessions dedicated to
specific themes and debates.
The conference is self-funded and we will depend on voluntary donations by attendants and participants to support the organisation and running of the event. Pre-registration is highly recommended. The cost is £50 for waged and £15 for unwaged participants. The suggested donation on the door is £75 for waged and £35 for unwaged. A day ticket is £20. A separate ticket is needed for the David Harvey Deutscher lecture (£3 pre-bought, £5 on the door).
For logistical and other support, Historical Materialism would like to thank the School of Oriental and African Studies. For their collaboration, thanks to the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences at SOAS, Brill Academic Publishers, the Deutscher Memorial Prize committee and Socialist Register
Full programme of sessions
but you're more interested in academic stuff?! Make your mind up. To be honest there's always stuff on there to get you thinking.
