Oppositions

Bonuses for Some

OPPOSITIONS

Oppositions: An Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Conference

28th and 29th September 2012 

University of Salford 

This conference seeks to explore ideas of opposition through the full range of disciplines in the arts, media, and social sciences. In the context of the current crisis of capitalism, there are many examples of the forms ‘opposition’ can take: the Tea Party in the United States, the rise of fascist groups, campaigns run via new technologies and social media, religious fundamentalisms, and general strikes in Greece. Though it carries radical overtones, ‘opposition’ in itself is not tied to any particular dogma, left or right. 

We invite papers that explore the value and values of opposition as a position to be adopted by individuals or groups. We welcome proposals for papers from postgraduates that engage with any aspect of opposition. 

These could include, but are by no means limited to: the ‘culture industry’ and alternative youth cultures; opposition parties within parliamentary politics; grass-roots activism; the history and future of the labour movement; hegemony; Foucauldian ‘resistance’ and its limits; radical pedagogies and the role of the University; community and class; the aesthetic value of non-mainstream or outsider art; aesthetic oppositions such as contrapuntal music or bricolage; and the formation of creole or pidgin languages. 

Papers are welcome from fields such as politics, literature, philosophy, anthropology, religions and theology, geography, sociology, history, classics, translation studies, linguistics and social linguistics, visual and screen studies, new media and communication studies, and the performing arts. Interdisciplinary papers are very welcome. Keynote speakers TBC. 

Abstracts of 250 words are invited for presentations of 20 minutes. Proposals for performances, screenings etc. are also accepted. The conference intends to publish an edited volume of the best papers presented.

Send abstracts to oppositionsconference[at]gmail.com by 6 July 2012.

Oppositions: http://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/node/46251

**END**

‘Human Herbs’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

‘Stagnant’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo  

‘Cheerful Sin’ – a song by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIbX5aKUjO8

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

MySpace Profile: http://www.myspace.com/glennrikowski

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.myspace.com/coldhandsmusic

The Ockress: http://www.theockress.com

Rikowski Point: http://rikowskipoint.blogspot.com

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

Introduction to Antiphilosophy – Boris Groys

Communisation

INTRODUCTION TO ANTIPHILOSOPHY – BORIS GROYS

NEW TITLE FROM VERSO:

INTRODUCTION TO ANTIPHILOSOPHY

By BORIS GROYS

Philosophy is traditionally understood as the search for universal truths, and philosophers are supposed to transmit those truths beyond the limits of their own culture. But, today, we have become sceptical about the ability of an individual philosopher to engage in ‘universal thinking’, so philosophy seems to capitulate in the face of cultural relativism.

In INTRODUCTION TO ANTIPHILOSOPHY, BORIS GROYS argues that modern ‘antiphilosophy’ does not pursue the universality of thought as its goal but proposes in its place the universality of life, material forces, social practices, passions, and experiences – angst, vitality, ecstasy, the gift, revolution, laughter or ‘profane illumination’ – and he analyses this shift from thought to life and action in the work of thinkers from Kierkegaard to Derrida, from Nietzsche to Benjamin.

Ranging across the history of modern thought, INTRODUCTION TO ANTIPHILOSOPHY endeavours to liberate philosophy from the stereotypes that hinder its development.

———————————

Praise for THE COMMUNIST POSTSCRIPT:

‘Groys has claimed a defining role in the reception of the Russian avant-garde … The Communist Postscript presents Groys’s attempt to advocate the communist idea against its own historic assumptions.’ - RADICAL PHILOSOPHY

 ’A timely intervention in present debates about the legacy of communism [and] a provocative addition to Groys’ brilliantly paradoxical body of work.’ - ART REVIEW

Praise for ART POWER:

“The range of topics canvassed in Art Power is impressive. … All of these subjects have been comprehensively treated elsewhere, but rarely with Groys’ penetrating eye for the unexpected upshot of such developments.” – FRIEZE

“This magisterial overview situates contemporary art – its aesthetic strategies, institutions and drives -within the deeper context of the Modernist revolution, urbanism, new technologies, and the post communist era. Groys’ combines revelatory analysis with philosophical questions that go to the heart of cultural production today.” - IWONA BLAZWICK, Director, WHITECHAPEL GALLERY

‘Persuasive … provocative … By probing unacknowledged, repressed, or otherwise unexamined relationships that hover in the background of art-world conversation, Art Power recombines categories, reconfigures assumptions, and, in the end, reimagines what art writing can be.’ - BOOKFORUM

Praise for THE TOTAL ART OF STALINISM

‘This is not just a book but an event … The Total Art of Stalinism is an intellectual landmark’ – ART BULLETIN

‘One of the most astute commentators on the art scene today’ –  NEW LEFT REVIEW

———————————

BORIS GROYS is Professor of Aesthetics, Art History, and Media Theory at the Center for Art and Media Technology inKarlsruhe, and since 2005, the Global Distinguished Professor in the Faculty of Arts and Science, NYU. He has published numerous books including THE TOTAL ART OF STALINISM, ILYA KABAKOV: THE MAN WHO FLEW INTO SPACE FROM HIS APARTMENT, ART POWER, and THE COMMUNIST POSTSCRIPT.

———————————

ISBN: 9781844677566 / $26.95 / £16.99 / Hardback / 272 pages

———————————–

For more information about INTRODUCTION TO ANTIPHILOSOPHY, or to buy the book visit:

http://www.versobooks.com/books/1052-introduction-to-antiphilosophy

 

**END**

 

‘Human Herbs’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

‘Stagnant’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo  

‘The Lamb’ by William Blake – set to music by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw3VloKBvZc

 

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.myspace.com/coldhandsmusic

The Ockress: http://www.theockress.com

Rikowski Point: http://rikowskipoint.blogspot.com

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

Glenn Rikowski on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/glenn.rikowski

Theory, Action and Impact of Social Protest: An Interdisciplinary Conference

Protest

THEORY, ACTION AND IMPACT OF SOCIAL PROTEST: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE

Call for Papers: Theory, Action and Impact of Social Protest: An Interdisciplinary Conference

University of Kent – Canterbury, UK, October 13-14th, 2012 
(Abstracts due by JUNE 15, 2012) 
For updates visit: http://taispconference.wordpress.com   

We are pleased to invite you to the 1st interdisciplinary social movements conference, sponsored by University of Kent’s Centre for the Study of Social and Political Movements, the School of Psychology, the ESRC South East DTC Advanced Training at SSPSSR, the Conflict Analysis Research Centre in the School of Politics & IR and the Kent Graduate School’s Postgraduate Experience Award.

Recently, social movements such as the Occupy movement, the Arab Spring and the Spanish Indignados have made headlines and grabbed the attention of power-holders and citizens. Historically, social movements have contributed to social, political and economic change. We wish to explore these elements at this conference with an interdisciplinary approach.

The conference will be held on the university campus on OCTOBER 13th-14th, 2012 with a Keynote Address by PROF. CHRISTOPHER ROOTES and PROF. DOMINIC ABRAMS of the University of Kent.

The aim is to explore the study of social movements with a variety of academic lenses and attempt to develop collaboration between disciplines on the study. We seek contributions for a broad range of disciplines and a mixture of disciplines including sociology, law, psychology, politics, economics, cultural studies, history, geography, philosophy, literature, and film studies. We hope to use this conference as a forum to bridge some of the gaps between the different disciplines and their work in the field of social movements.

We seek contributions from all scholars including postgraduate students. Proposals will be selected on their merit and in consideration of their academic discipline, with a preference to integrate a wide variety of fields.

We are open to themes such as:
- past and present collective actions
- social and political theory
- motivation, mobilization, or outcomes
- methodology
- macro- and micro-processes
- art in and from protest
- legal or economic implications and considerations
- other related topics

CALL FOR PAPERS

To offer a paper, please submit a short [300-500 words] proposal to: 
Eugene Nulman
School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research (SSPSSR)
Cornwallis North East
University of Kent
Canterbury
Kent CT2 7NF
EMAIL: e.nulman@kent.ac.uk

There is a registration fee of £10 for participants and attendees. Registration for post-graduate participants is free thanks to contributions made by the School of Psychology.

CONFERENCE PAPERS

Those giving papers are asked to supply them in advance. If selected, your paper will appear in the first edition of the online Journal for the Study of Social and Political Movements. Papers should be between 3,000 to 6,000 words in length.

For updates visit: http://taispconference.wordpress.com

 

**END**

 

‘Human Herbs’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

‘Stagnant’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo  

‘Cheerful Sin’ – a song by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIbX5aKUjO8

 

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

MySpace Profile: http://www.myspace.com/glennrikowski

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.myspace.com/coldhandsmusic

The Dictatorship of the People – Peter Hallward

Peter Hallward

THE DICTATORSHIP OF THE PEOPLE – PETER HALLWARD

LONDON SEMINAR ON CONTEMPORARY MARXIST THEORY

16th May, 5pm

King’s College London, S-1.06, Raked Lecture Theatre

Peter Hallward (Kingston University)

The Dictatorship of the People

The global economic and financial crisis has witnessed a deepening of interest in different forms of critical and radical thought and practice. Following a successful series in 2010/11, the London Seminar on Contemporary Marxist Theory in 2011/12 will continue to explore the new perspectives that have been opened up by Marxist interventions in this political and theoretical conjuncture. It involves collaboration among Marxist scholars based in several London universities, including Brunel University, King’s College London, and the School of Oriental and African Studies. Guest speakers – from both Britainand abroad – will include a wide range of thinkers engaging with many different elements of the various Marxist traditions, as well as with diverse problems and topics. The aim of the seminar is to promote fruitful debate and to contribute to the development of more robust Marxist analysis. It is open to all.

For further information, please contact:

Alex Callinicos, European Studies, King’s: alex.callinicos [at] kcl.ac.uk

Stathis Kouvelakis, European Studies, King’s: stathis.kouvelakis [at] kcl.ac.uk

Costas Lapavitsas, Economics, SOAS: cl5 [at] soas.ac.uk

Peter Thomas, Politics and History, Brunel: PeterD.Thomas [at] brunel.ac.uk

**END**

‘Stagnant’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo  

‘Cheerful Sin’ – a song by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIbX5aKUjO8

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.myspace.com/coldhandsmusic

Rikowski Point: http://rikowskipoint.blogspot.com

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

Glenn Rikowski on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/glenn.rikowski

Glenn Rikowski’s MySpace Blog: http://www.myspace.com/glennrikowski/blog

Democracy and the Market: Shifting Balances, Shifting Perspectives

Marketisation of Higher Education

DEMOCRACY AND THE MARKET: SHIFTING BALANCES, SHIFTING PERSPECTIVES

October 4-6, 2012, Institute of Philosophy, University of Leuven, Belgium

 

Confirmed speakers include:

Gareth Dale (Brunel University, UK)

Andrew Levine (University of Maryland, USA)

Katharina Pistor (Columbia University, USA)

Frank Vandenbroucke (University of Leuven, Belgium)

What has happened to the wealth of nations – and to their sovereignty? In Europe and theUS, the symbiosis of democratic political systems and a mixed capitalist economy has long been regarded as the best way to increase stability and prosperity. However, the nature of this symbiosis seems to be undergoing a radical change. What seems to be truly new is the extent to which processes of decision-making are dominated by markets, technocrats and non-democratic financial institutions.

This development raises a number of questions. If democratic policies are increasingly geared toward the demands of the markets, is this accidental or due to inherent features of democracy and/or markets? Will states and groups of states that deliberately released the force of the market be able to preserve their democratic nature and the values bound up with the very idea of democracy, or are we entering the era of so-called post-democracy? Has the market, in its turn, become a locus of political power in its own right or does it put pressure on the political sphere without modifying its nature? What kind of thing is a market at any rate? Does it make sense to attribute political power to something that operates completely anonymously and cannot be held accountable?

We now invite abstracts for papers that address one or more of these questions from a contemporary perspective and/or by reconsidering the legacy of thinkers such as Smith, Hegel and Marx.

Papers should be suitable for 30 minutes presentations (+ 15 minutes discussion). Please send an abstract of about 500 words to: democracymarket2012@gmail.com no later than May 15. Those who submit abstracts will be notified by June 15. Unfortunately, we cannot provide for travel and lodging costs. For any questions, please contact  democracymarket2012@gmail.com

The conference is hosted by the ‘Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies’ and ‘Research in Political Philosophy Leuven’ (RIPPLE) of theUniversityofLeuven.

For information about the host institutions see http://hiw.kuleuven.be/eng/ and http://www3.kuleuven.be/ripple/ and http://ghum.kuleuven.be/ggs/

 

Organizing Committee

Prof. dr. Karin de Boer (UniversityofLeuven)

Prof. dr. Antoon Braeckman (UniversityofLeuven)

Dr. Lisa Herzog (University St. Gallen)

Dr. Matthias Lievens (UniversityofLeuven)

Dr. Nicholas Vrousalis (UniversityofLeuven)

 

**END**

‘Stagnant’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo  

‘The Lamb’ by William Blake – set to music by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw3VloKBvZc

 

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.myspace.com/coldhandsmusic

Online Publications at: http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=pub&sub=Online%20Publications%20Glenn%20Rikowski

Educating Future Generations of Community Gardeners

The Pond at Night

EDUCATING FUTURE GENERATIONS OF COMMUNITY GARDENERS

Educating Future Generations of Community Gardeners: A Deweyan Challenge

Shane Jesse Ralston

 

Abstract

In this paper, I formulate a Deweyan argument for school gardening that prepares students for a specific type of gardening activism: community gardening, or the political activity of collectively organizing, planting and tending gardens for the purposes of food security, education and community development. Though not identical, a related type of gardening activism, guerrilla gardening, or the political activity of reclaiming unused urban land, sometimes illegally, for purposes of cultivation and beautification, is also implicated. Historically, community gardening in the U.S. has been associated with relief projects during periods of economic downturn and crisis, urban blight and gentrification, as well as nationalism, nativism and racism. Despite these last few unfortunate associations, the American philosopher John Dewey detached school gardening from the nativist’s tool-kit, portraying it as a gateway to more enriching adult experiences, not as a technique for assimilating immigrant children to a distinctly American way of life. One of those experiences that school gardening can prepare children for is environmental political activism, particularly involvement in gardening movements. Dewey did not mention this collateral benefit. Nevertheless, an argument can be made that garden advocacy—or, more specifically, participation in politically-motivated gardening movements—is an acceptable interpretation, or elaboration, of what Dewey meant by “a civic turn” to school gardening.

To read the full article, go to:

Critical Education, Vol.3 No.3 (April 17, 2012): http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/criticaled/article/view/182349

 

**END**

 

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

MySpace Profile: http://www.myspace.com/glennrikowski

Rikowski Point: http://rikowskipoint.blogspot.com

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

Online Publications at: http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=pub&sub=Online%20Publications%20Glenn%20Rikowski

Glenn Rikowski on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/glenn.rikowski

Glenn Rikowski’s MySpace Blog: http://www.myspace.com/glennrikowski/blog

Zizek Studies Conference 2012

Zizek

ZIZEK STUDIES CONFERENCE 2012

Neo-liberal Perversions: Fantasy and Gaze in Contemporary Culture

The College at Brockport (SUNY)
Edwards Hall • 350 New Campus Drive • Brockport, NY 14420

April 28-29, 2012

Speakers: Slavoj Žižek • Joan Copjec • Paul Taylor • Jodi Dean

Sponsored by:
The International Journal of Žižek Studies
The Delta College Program at the College at Brockport (SUNY)
The Brockport Philosophy Club

http://zizekconference.webs.com/

For more information contact Antonio Garcia at agarciaj@indiana.edu  

The College at Brockport State University of New York

350 New Campus Drive, Brockport, NY 14420

**END**

 

‘I believe in the afterlife.

It starts tomorrow,

When I go to work’

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon, ‘Human Herbs’ at: http://www.myspace.com/coldhandsmusic (recording) and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h7tUq0HjIk (live)

 

‘Human Herbs’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

‘Stagnant’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo  

‘Cheerful Sin’ – a song by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIbX5aKUjO8

 

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

MySpace Profile: http://www.myspace.com/glennrikowski

Rikowski Point: http://rikowskipoint.blogspot.com

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

Subjectivity – Volume 5 Issue 1 (April 2012)

Critique

SUBJECTIVITY – VOLUME 5 ISSUE 1 (April 2012)

Special Issue: Collective Becomings
Edited by Stevphen Shukaitis & Joanna Figiel
http://www.palgrave-journals.com/sub/journal/v5/n1/index.html

Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi is a contemporary writer, autonomist theorist and media activist. He founded the magazine A/traverso (1975-1981), and was part of the staff of Radio Alice, the first pirate radio station in Italy (1976-1978). His work analyzes the role of media and information technology in post-industrial capitalism, in particular drawing from schizoanalysis and aesthetics to investigate processes of subjectification within precarious labor.

This issue of Subjectivity, which is the first major engagement with Bifo’s work in English, focuses on the themes of collective becomings, whether manifest in the eruption of new political movements, within the workings of the economy, or in the artistic sphere. It is not just a collection of essays that take Bifo’s ideas as their starting point, but rather a collection of essays that all start from the conjuncture of Bifo’s ideas, the issues and conditions raised by them, with forms of collective becomings in the present.

The purpose then is not to consider Bifo’s work in isolation, but rather to develop it as a tool, one that is explored through continued usage and application. This conjunctive approach is the most productive and valuable feature of Bifo’s writing, and autonomist analysis more generally: its ability to act as a kind of crossroads for bringing together different forms of political analysis and social theory, to act as a bridge between them.

Issue Contents:

Introduction
Stevphen Shukaitis & Joanna Figiel

Angels of love in the unhappiness factory
Dave Eden

Labor of recombination
Abe Walker

Creative labor in Shanghai: Questions on politics, composition and ambivalence
Anja Kanngieser

Cinematic and aesthetic cartographies of subjective mutation
Michael Goddard

The Novel Form in Italian Postmodernity: Genna’s Day of Judgment
Giuseppina Mecchia

Reassessing recomposition: 40 years after the publication of Anti-Oedipus
Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi

– 
Stevphen Shukaitis
Autonomedia Editorial Collective
http://www.autonomedia.org
http://www.minorcompositions.info

“Autonomy is not a fixed, essential state. Like gender, autonomy is created through its performance, by doing/becoming; it is a political practice. To become autonomous is to refuse authoritarian and compulsory cultures of separation and hierarchy through embodied practices of welcoming difference… Becoming autonomous is a political position for it thwarts the exclusions of proprietary knowledge and jealous hoarding of resources, and replaces the social and economic hierarchies on which these depend with a politics of skill exchange, welcome, and collaboration. Freely sharing these with others creates a common wealth of knowledge and power that subverts the domination and hegemony of the master’s rule.” – subRosa Collective

**END**

 

‘I believe in the afterlife.

It starts tomorrow,

When I go to work’

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon, ‘Human Herbs’ at: http://www.myspace.com/coldhandsmusic (recording) and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h7tUq0HjIk (live)

 

‘Maximum levels of boredom

Disguised as maximum fun’

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon, ‘Stagnant’ at: http://www.myspace.com/coldhandsmusic (recording) and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLjxeHvvhJQ (live, at the Belle View pub, Bangor, north Wales)  

 

‘Human Herbs’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

‘Stagnant’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo  

‘Cheerful Sin’ – a song by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIbX5aKUjO8

 

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

What is Radical Philosophy Today?

Radical Philosophy

WHAT IS RADICAL PHILOSOPHY TODAY?

The Program Committee for the Tenth Biennial Radical Philosophy Association Conference announces an extension of the deadline for submissions to April 16, 2012.

CALL FOR PAPERS

THE TENTH BIENNIAL RADICAL PHILOSOPHY ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE AND THE 3OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE RPA

What is Radical Philosophy Today?
Canisius College, Buffalo, New York
October 11-14, 2012

Call for Papers:

DEADLINE EXTENDED TO APRIL 16, 2012 

The Radical Philosophy Association Conference Program Committee invites submissions of talks, papers, workshops, roundtable discussions, posters, and other kinds of conference contributions for its tenth biennial conference, to be held at the Canisius College, Buffalo, New York, October 11-14, 2012. 

In the spirit of collaboration, and in the recognition that radical philosophy is often done outside traditional philosophical settings, we invite submissions not only from philosophers inside and outside the academy, but also from those who engage in theoretical and/or activist work in other academic disciplines – such as ethnic studies, women’s studies, social sciences, and literary studies – and from those engaged in theoretical and/or activist work unconnected to the academy.

We especially welcome contributions from those often excluded from or marginalized in philosophy, including persons of Africana, Latin American (Americana), Indigenous, or Asian descent or traditions, glbt persons, persons with disabilities, poor and working class persons.

Conference Theme

‘What is Radical Philosophy Today?’ The adjective ‘radical’ is used in many different ways politically and philosophically. It is especially important to explore some of these various meanings as the Radical Philosophy Association looks back on thirty years of intellectual and political activism and advocacy on behalf of justice and liberation and forward to the future through and beyond our current crises.

It seems to many that the world faces several deep problems. How does specifically ‘radical’ philosophy help us to understand and address them? For example, capitalism demands and enforces increasing gaps between the wealthy and the middle class and the poor worldwide. Oppressive systems of class, race, gender, heteronormativity, and able-bodiedness continue to function, defining people and their lives in harmful and de-humanizing ways. Violence continues to deform people’s lives and possibilities by permeating our everyday experience and invading our consciousness, making us both less aware of it and thus more accepting of it.

For these reasons and many more, we invite submissions that answer (or raise) questions about the nature of radical philosophy and its roles in understanding and responding to current crises. 

What is radical theory? How can radical theory be made more effective in responding to crises? What philosophies/philosophers are radical?

What is radical practice? What does one have to do/be to be radical? Is being radical important? Do some forms of radical practice need to be criticized?

What is radical identity? How does one think radically about identities of race, gender, nationality, citizenship, able-bodiedness, sexuality, etc.? What constitutes a radical identity? How do individuals in groups historically labeled or excluded by race, gender, nationality, etc., redefine, refute, or revolt against the western histories of those categories?

What radical responses are needed to address the crises in economics worldwide? What place does class (and class analysis) have in discussions of radical ideas, radical politics, or radical critiques of the political economy? How does one radically rethink the concept of class in light of current crises?

How does one think radically about democracy or statehood/nationhood? What is radical political engagement? What does radical philosophy have to say about current protest movements in theUSand worldwide?

What is radical art, radical expression, a radical style? How can such aesthetic categories and concerns contribute to changing/transforming the world?

What is radical pedagogy? How can teachers help to radically change the world in positive ways?

We thus invite submissions for the Tenth Biennial Conference of the Radical Philosophy Association: ‘What is Radical Philosophy Today?’

GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSIONS

In keeping with the spirit of radical thinking embodied by the RPA, we encourage submissions that employ formats and media that challenge the standard conference presentation. For instance, we urge presenters to use formats that allow for greater interaction between participants and audience (e.g. presenting an outline, rather than reading a paper) and that emphasize collective inquiry (e.g. organizing a workshop).

Please note that participants will be selected for at most one presentation (talk, workshop, poster session, etc.) during the conference; submissions should be presented with this in mind. (This limit does not include chairing sessions.)

Please submit all the information requested:

For an individual talk/paper/workshop/poster/performance or other type of individual presentation:

Name, address, email, affiliation (independent scholar, activist, educator, etc.), of presenter

Nature (talk, workshop, etc.) and title of proposal

Abstract of 250-500 words

Equipment needs

For a group panel/workshop/poster/performance or other type of group presentation (note: maximum three panel participants not including chair):

Name, address, email, affiliation of the group’s contact person and of each participant

Nature (panel, workshop, etc.) and title of proposal

Abstract of 250-500 words for group proposal

Titles and abstracts of 250-500 words for each paper (if applicable)

Equipment needs

 

Panel chairs: If you would be willing to serve as a panel session chair, please indicate this on your submission form. Session chairs are responsible for introducing participants in panel sessions and ensuring that each presenter gets her or his fair share of the available time.
Mailing Address for Submissions:

Please submit paper, workshop, poster, and other proposals as an email attachment (.doc) to rpa2012meeting@gmail.com .  NOTE: Please do NOT submit complete papers.

EXTENDED DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: APRIL 16, 2012

For further information, contact members of the Program Committee:

Melissa Burchard mburchar@unca.edu (chair); Tommy Curry t-curry@philosophy.tamu.edu; Gertrude Postl postlg@sunysuffolk.edu; Devin Shaw devinzshaw@gmail.com; Sarah Tyson sarah.tyson@vanderbilt.edu; Scott Zeman scott.zeman@vanderbilt.edu

The local organizer of the conference is Tanya Loughead tanya.loughead@canisius.edu

Published in http://www.historicalmaterialism.org/news/distributed/what-is-radical-philosophy-today-buffalo-ny-11-14-oct.-submissions-deadline-extended-to-16-april

 

**END**

‘Human Herbs’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

‘Stagnant’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo  

‘Cheerful Sin’ – a song by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIbX5aKUjO8

‘The Lamb’ by William Blake – set to music by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw3VloKBvZc

 

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

Machiavelli, Marxism, and the Revolutionary Tradition

MACHIAVELLI, MARXISM, AND THE REVOLUTIONARY TRADITION
In the frame of Historical Materialism Conference, London, 8-9 November 2012:

Machiavelli, Marxism, and the Revolutionary Tradition

In a letter to Engels of 1857, Marx calls Machiavelli’s Florentine Histories a “masterpiece.” Praising his powerful historical sensibility, Marx explicitly recognises the importance of Machiavelli’s theories on social conflict, the political meaning of a citizen’s army, and the connection between the productive forces and social relations. Machiavelli has never ceased to be a reference for the Marxist and revolutionary tradition.

Explicitly, as a grounding stone of their thought, for philosophers such as Antonio Gramsci and Louis Althusser, more implicitly for political and intellectual authors such as Kamenev, Bakunin, Lenin, Horkheimer, Macek, Lefort, Merleau-Ponty, Arendt, and Weil.

In this panel, we will explore the connection between Machiavelli’s thought and the Marxist and revolutionary tradition. The proposed panel combines a historical perspective with a theoretical approach. It aims to examine the theoretical problems Machiavelli raised, problems critical not only for the early modern age but for all subsequent Western revolutionary political theory and philosophy. It aims also to analyse the influence of Machiavelli’s thought on individual Marxist and revolutionary thinkers.

Paper proposals (between 200 and 300 words), in English, French, or Italian are welcome in any of the following axes:

* Social conflict, class conflict, tumult, and revolution.

* The verità effettuale della cosa: Machiavelli’s ontological realism.

* Grounding on the void: the origin of politics and constituent power.

* Citizen’s army and popular order.

* History as a battlefield: historiography as a political theory.

* Materialism, Machiavellianism, and Marxism.

*Politics and economy in Machiavelli’s thought.

* Plebs, people, multitude, class, proletariat: a Machiavellian perspective on the revolutionary tradition.

* Theory and practice of dictatorship.

Paper proposals should be submitted by registering at: http://www.historicalmaterialism.org/conferences BEFORE 26 April 2012 and sent, together with a short CV, to the panel organizer, Filippo Del Lucchese (Brunel University – London) at the following email address: filippo.dellucchese@brunel.ac.uk

The expected presenting time will be around 30-40 minutes per speaker, depending on the exact number of papers. The official language of the Historical Materialism Conference is English.

Published in http://www.historicalmaterialism.org/news/distributed/machiavelli-marxism-and-the-revolutionary-tradition-cfp-for-panel-at-london-hm-conference-8-9-november  

**END**

‘I believe in the afterlife.

It starts tomorrow,

When I go to work’

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon, ‘Human Herbs’ at: http://www.myspace.com/coldhandsmusic (recording) and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h7tUq0HjIk (live)

‘Human Herbs’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

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Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

‘Marx’s Concept of the Alternative to Capitalism’ – by Peter Hudis

Peter Hudis

‘MARX’S CONCEPT OF THE ALTERNATIVE TO CAPITALISM’ – BY PETER HUDIS

Peter Hudis, Oakton Community College and Loyola University

In contrast to the traditional view that Marx’s work is restricted to a critique of capitalism and does not contain a detailed or coherent conception of its alternative, this book shows, through an analysis of his published and unpublished writings, that Marx was committed to a specific concept of a post-capitalist society that informed his critique of value production, alienated labor and capitalist accumulation. Instead of focusing on the present with only a passing reference to the future, Marx’s emphasis on capitalism’s tendency towards dissolution is rooted in a specific conception of what should replace it. In critically re-examining that conception, this book addresses the quest for an alternative to capitalism that has taken on increased importance today.

ISSN: 1570-1522

ISBN13: 9789004221970

Planned Publication Date: June 2012

Version: Hardback 

Pages, Illustrations: approx. 272 pp.

Historical Materialism 36

Imprint: BRILL

 

Table of contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction: Why Explore Marx’s Concept of the Transcendence of Value Production? Why Now?
The object and purpose of this study
Objectivist and subjectivist approaches to Marx’s philosophical contribution

1. The Transcendence of Alienation in the Writings of the Young Marx
Marx’s beginnings, 1837–41
Marx’s critique of politics and philosophy, 1842–3
Marx’s critique of economics and philosophy, 1843–4
Discerning the ideal within the real, 1845–8
Evaluating the young Marx’s concept of a postcapitalist society

2. The Conception of a Postcapitalist Society in the Drafts of Capital
The ‘first draft’ of Capital: The Poverty of Philosophy (1847)
The ‘second draft’ of Capital: the Grundrisse (1858)
The ‘third draft’ of Capital: the manuscript of 1861–3

3. The Vision of the New Society in Marx’s Capital
Volume I of Capital
Volumes II and III of Capital

4. Marx’s Late Writings on Postcapitalist Society
The impact of the Paris Commune on Marx
The Critique of the Gotha Programme and ‘Notes on Wagner’

Conclusion: Evaluating Marx’s Concept of a Postcapitalist Society

Appendix: Translation of Marx’s Excerpt-Notes on the Chapter ‘Absolute Knowledge’ in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit

Bibliography
Index

 

Biographical note:

Peter Hudis, Ph.D. (2011) in Philosophy, Loyola University Chicago, is Lecturer in Philosophy and the Humanities at OaktonCommunity Collegeand LoyolaUniversity. He has published extensively on Marxist theory and is General Editor of The Complete Works of Rosa Luxemburg.

Book details and ordering at: http://www.brill.nl/marxs-concept-alternative-capitalism

I am really looking forward to reading this book: Glenn Rikowski

**END**

 

‘Human Herbs’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

‘Stagnant’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo  

‘Cheerful Sin’ – a song by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIbX5aKUjO8

 

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

MySpace Profile: http://www.myspace.com/glennrikowski

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.myspace.com/coldhandsmusic

What Does Rosa Luxemburg Have To Say To Today’s Anti-Capitalist Movements?

Rosa Luxemburg

WHAT DOES ROSA LUXEMBURG HAVE TO SAY TO TODAY’S ANTI-CAPITALIST MOVEMENTS?

Thursday, March 15 at 8 pm

Judson Garden Room
239 Thompson Street
New York, NY 10012

“[In the 1905 Russian Revolution] there fermented throughout the whole of the immense empire an uninterrupted economic strike of almost the entire proletariat against capital – a struggle which caught, on the one hand, all the petty bourgeois and liberal professions, commercial employees, technicians, actors and members of artistic professions – and on the other hand, penetrated to the domestic servants, the minor police officials and even to the stratum of the lumpenproletariat, and simultaneously surged from the towns to the country districts and even knocked at the iron gates of the military barracks.” — Rosa Luxemburg, The Mass Strike

Speaker: Peter Hudis, author of Marx’s Concept of the Alternative to Capitalism (2012), co-editor of The Letters of Rosa Luxemburg (Complete Works of Rosa Luxemburg Vol. I).

With Comments by Kevin Anderson, author of Marx at the Margins: On Nationalism, Ethnicity, and Non-Western Societies.

Sponsored by the International Marxist-Humanist Organization

**END**

 

‘I believe in the afterlife.

It starts tomorrow,

When I go to work’

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon, ‘Human Herbs’ at: http://www.myspace.com/coldhandsmusic (recording) and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h7tUq0HjIk (live). A new remix and new video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

 

‘Maximum levels of boredom

Disguised as maximum fun’

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon, ‘Stagnant’ at: http://www.myspace.com/coldhandsmusic (recording) and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLjxeHvvhJQ (live, at the Belle View pub, Bangor, north Wales). A new remix and new video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo   

 

‘Cheerful Sin’ – a song by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIbX5aKUjO8

 

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

MySpace Profile: http://www.myspace.com/glennrikowski

Rikowski Point: http://rikowskipoint.blogspot.com

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

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