Skip navigation

Tag Archives: Marxist Thought

Critique

Critique

LONDON CONFERENCE IN CRITICAL THOUGHT 2013

Royal Holloway, University of London

6-7 June 2013
Call for Papers

Summary – : full version here: http://londonconferenceincriticalthought.wordpress.com

The second annual London Conference in Critical Thought (LCCT) will offer a space for an interdisciplinary exchange of ideas for scholars who work with critical traditions and concerns. It aims to provide opportunities 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. Participation is free (though registration is required).

The conference is divided into thematic streams, each coordinated by different researchers and with separate calls for papers, included in this document. We welcome paper proposals that respond to the particular streams below, as well as papers for inclusion in a general stream.

Central to the vision of the conference is an inter-institutional, non-hierarchal, and accessible event that makes a particular effort to embrace emergent thought and the participation of emerging academics, fostering new avenues for critically orientated scholarship and collaboration.

Thematic Streams:

Concerning Bodies
Futures of Deconstruction
Pragmatism and Political Criticism
Feedback Loops of Feminist Thought and Activism
Beyond Identity and Critique
Spinozan Politics
The Soul at Work and in Debt
New Sensibilities in the Everyday
Sociocultural Criticism After Lehman Brothers
Critical Theory and Psychoanalysis
Critique, Action, Ethics
On Representation/Non-representation
The New Amateur
New Materialisms
Three Questions for the Emancipation of Latin America
Jean-Luc Nancy in Fragments
Higher Education in Crisis

Please send papers/presentations proposals with the relevant stream indicated in the subject line to londoncriticalconference@gmail.com

Submissions should be no more than 250 words and be received by the 25th March 2013.

Full call for papers with details of the streams can be found here: LCCT 2013 Call for Papers: http://londonconferenceincriticalthought.wordpress.com/call-for-papers-2013/

PDF full details: http://londonconferenceincriticalthought.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/lcct-2013-call-for-papers.pdf

 

All the best,

The LCCT organising collective.

First published at: http://www.historicalmaterialism.org/news/distributed/cfp-london-conference-in-critical-thought-2013-rhul-6-7-june

 

**END**

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon, ‘Stagnant’ at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLjxeHvvhJQ (live, at the Belle View pub, Bangor, north Wales); and at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo (new remix, and new video, 2012)

‘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

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

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

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

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

Karl Marx

MARXISM 2011 TIMETABLE

Central London 30 June – 4 July

Final timetable out now: www.marxismfestival.org.uk/2011/timetable.html

Book online: www.marxismfestival.org.uk/2011/bookonline.html

 

New speakers and sessions now confirmed:

* Kamal Abu Aita of the Egyptian tax collectors’ union will join the general secretary of the PCS civil service workers’ union Mark Serwotka and striking workers at the opening rally, which takes place on the evening of a day of coordinated strike action by up to a million workers

* Panos Garganas of the Greek Socialist Workers Party will speak on “Greece & the Eurozone Crisis”

* Laurie Penny (Meat Market: Female Flesh Under Capitalism) will join Nina Power (One Dimensional Woman) and Judith Orr (Sexism and the System) to discuss “Women, Class & Capitalism”

*Mireia Rosello of the Spanish “indignados” movement will join Sean Vernell of the lecturers’ UCU union to speak on “Youth, Anger and Revolution in Egypt, Spain, Britain…”

* Omar Bargouti, Mohammed Tonsi & Wassim Wagdy will participate on the panel “Eyewitnesses to the Arab Spring”

* Gilbert Achcar (The Arabs and the Holocaust and The Clash of Barbarisms) will debate Simon Assaf on the Libyan intervention

 

Other highlights:

* Owen Jones launches his acclaimed book Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class

* Terry Eagleton (Why Marx was Right) speaks on the Communist Manifesto

* John Bellamy Foster (The Ecological Rift) on “Marxism and Ecology”

* Tariq Ali speaks on “The Arab Intifada and American Power”

* Iain Sinclair (Hackney: That Rose-Red Empire) on “London and the Olympics”

* Graham Turner (No Way to Run an Economy) asks “Where is the Global Economy Going?”

* Peter Thomas (The Gramscian Moment) on “Gramsci and us: Building Socialist Hegemony Today”

* Danny Dorling launches Bankrupt Britain

* Alberto Toscano (Fanaticism: On the Uses of an Idea) on “University Struggles then and Now”

* Ben Fine (From Political Economy to Economics) on “Reading Marx’s Capital”

* Peter Hallward (Damming the Flood: Haiti, Aristide and the Politics of Containment) on “Marx against Fatalism”

* Owen Hatherley speaks on his book A Guide to the New Ruins of Great Britain

* Stuart Christie and Andy Durgan debate the Spanish Revolution

* Authors China Mieville and Max Schaefer discuss “Committed Fictions: Politics and Writing”

* Ronnie Kasrils launches The Unlikely Secret Agent

* Guglielmo Carchedi (Behind the Crisis) on “Marxism and Crisis Theory”

* Alex Callinicos (Bonfire of Illusions) on “Crisis and Revolution after the Arab Revolts”

* Istvan Meszaros (Beyond Capital) on “The Structural Crisis of Capitalism”

Join thousands of others at Europe’s biggest festival of radical ideas—featuring over 200 meetings, debates, film screenings, and musical performances.

For more go to: http://www.marxismfestival.org.uk

 

**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)  

 

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

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

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

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

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

Critique

INTERNATIONAL CRITICAL THOUGHT

International Critical Thought
I am delighted to pass on details of this exciting new initiative from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Call for Papers

International Critical Thought (ICT), an English-language quarterly edited by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and published by Routledge, which made its debut in the first quarter of 2011, is now calling for submissions.

The journal comes up as a response to recent developments that have crippled the capitalist regime and led the world to a period of fundamental change. It aims to serve the Marxist and left scholars in their reflection upon the past and inquiry into the future, with an emphasis laid on coalescence of social concern with academic rigor, and bettering of the reality through better understanding it. As a 21-century forum, ICT goes along with cultural diversity and intellectual openness, and is most willing to facilitate dialogues not just within left community but also between the left and other social thoughts. And as a journal based in China, it lends an extra attentive ear to the developing world experience, for instance, to discussion on what China’s rise means to the world and in particular the world socialism.

So, a publication outlet for left scholarship across the world, ICT welcomes studies done in various academic disciplines employing different research tools. Articles reviewing interesting books are also needed. The length of contributions may vary between 2,000 (for book review for example) and 6,000 words, and follow the Chicago Manual of Style in writing and citation.

We look forward to hearing from you. For further information, please contact Dr. Gao Jingyu via email gaojy@cass.org.cn.

Sincerely yours,
Cheng, Enfu (Chief Editor, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

Guideline for Contributing to the Column of ‘Information and Trend’

International Critical Thought will have a column ‘Information and Trend’ that publishes specially on Leftist organizations around the world. The following is a brief description of the requirements for submitting to this column for the purpose of introducing your organization and its periodicals or events.
(1)Length: the length of the body of your submission should be between 500 to 800 words in English.
(2)The content of your submission need to include the following information:
A. Name of the organization, year of establishment, goal of the organization, current chair (including title and institutional affiliation), contact information (name and email of the contact person).
B. Description of the major activities of the organization, such as academic conferences organized in the past five years and their themes, time and location, periodicals sponsored by the organization or communiqué within the organization.
C. Important plans for future academic events, and their theme, time and location.

Please include contributors’ biographical information and clear contact information in your submission, including the contributor’s name, affiliation, title, telephone, mailing address, and email of the contact person (this part is not included when the number of words are counted for the submission).

 

**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)  

 

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

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

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

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

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

Marx and Education – Jean Anyon

THE PIONEERS OF MARXIST THOUGHT IN EDUCATION: A REVIEW OF ‘MARX AND EDUCATION’ BY JEAN ANYON, IN TWO PARTS

This is a two-part review of Jean Anyon’s Marx and Education (Routledge, 2011) – in the Routledge ‘Key Ideas in Education’ Series. The Series editors are Greg Dimitriadis and Bob Lingard.

For the two-part review by the ‘Schooling in Capitalist America’ blogger, see:

The Pioneers of Marxist Thought in Education: A Review of Marx and Education, by Jean Anyon – Part One, 29th May 2011, at: http://schoolingincapitalistamerica.wordpress.com/2011/05/24/the-pioneers-of-marxist-thought-in-education-a-review-of-marx-and-education-by-jean-anyon-part-one/

The Era of Neoliberal Deform: A Review of Marx and Education, by Jean Anyon – Part Two,  29th May 2011, at: http://schoolingincapitalistamerica.wordpress.com/2011/05/29/the-era-of-neoliberal-deform-a-review-of-marx-and-education-by-jean-anyon-part-two/

 

Schooling in Capitalist America: Dispatches on Marxism and Education, is at: http://schoolingincapitalistamerica.wordpress.com/

 

 For an outline of Marx and Education by Jean Anyon, see: https://rikowski.wordpress.com/2011/03/29/marx-and-education-jean-anyon/  

 

For other reviews of Marx and Education by Jean Anyon, see:

Ken McGrew’s review of Marx and Education, details at: https://rikowski.wordpress.com/2011/05/06/review-of-marx-and-education-by-jean-anyon/

A review by an anonymous author on Amazon.com, known as m310, see: https://rikowski.wordpress.com/2011/04/19/marx-and-education-misleading-title-and-confusing-narrative/  

 

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

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

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

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

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

Karl Marx

THE MODERN MARX

The Modern Marx: A World Still Wanting to be Won
Dr. William A. Pelz
June 11, 2011, Saturday, 2:30 pm
Open University of the Left
Lincoln Park Public Library

1150 W. Fullerton, Chicago, corner Racine
Across from DePaul University 8232;(Red Line: Fullerton)

“The interest in Marx seems a vindication,” the historian Eric Hobsbawm wrote in 2008 as the global economic crisis unfolded.  “His analysis of capitalism put its finger on globalization and periodic crises and instabilities. Over the past few decades people thought the market would sort everything out, which seemed to me a statement of theology rather than reality” (The Sunday Times, 11/21/08). 

Indications of Marx’s relevancy abound, from Fukushima to the Gulf of Mexico, from the Arab Spring to Wisconsin, from anti-austerity social movements in Europe to the austerity legislation that threatens Chicago’s public school students and teachers.  

Yet, Marxist thought remains on the historical margin.  Can a reinterpretation of Marx challenge the legitimacy of market theology?  What can be learned from Marx’s own political struggles, his sense of history, his political mark on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries? 

Open University welcomes historian Dr. William A. Pelz, author of the new biography, Karl Marx: A World to Win (Pearson, 2011).  The book covers the important aspects of his life and the major theoretical arguments of his work.  It also explores the Industrial Revolution through the lens of Marx’s view of socialism, not simply as an ethical idea but also as a way of framing the industrial system and its impact on workers.  (Copies of the book will be available from the author.)  Karl Marx is part of Pearson’s Library of World Biographies series, which includes books on Simon Bolivar and Sun Yat Sen. 

A Chicago native, Bill Pelz is an academic historian and specialist in European and comparative labor history.  His previous books include Against Capitalism: The European Left on the March (2007); The Spartkusbund and the German Working Class Movement (1988), and Wilhelm Liebknecht and German Social Democracy (1994).  His articles have appeared in the American Historical Review, Film & History, German History, German Studies Review, International Labor and Working Class History, International Review of Social History, Labor Studies, Journal of European Studies, Science & Society, Soviet Studies, Sozialismus, JahrBuch fuar Forschungen zur Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung, and International Labor History Yearbook, among others.Pluto Press will publish his forthcoming book, a history of the European working class, next year. 

Open University events are free and open to the public.  Now in its 23rd year, the Open University of the Left is Chicago’s premier progressive forum and film series: http://www.openuniversityoftheleft.org/  

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

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

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

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

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

Karl Marx

MARX AND PHILOSOPHY SOCIETY EIGHTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Saturday 4 June 2011, Institute of Education, University of London

‘Marx and Aristotle’

Main speakers:
Jon Pike (Open University)
Tony Burns (Nottingham)
Scott Meikle (Glasgow)

The Marx and Philosophy Society aims to encourage scholarly engagement with, and creative development of, the philosophical and foundational aspects of Marx’s work. The society welcomes contributions from any philosophical or political position.

Papers on any topic consonant with the general aims of the Society (not necessarily on the specific conference theme) are invited from postgraduate students for a panel at the conference. Papers should be planned to last for approximately 20 minutes. Please submit abstracts of up to 300 words by 25th February 2011 to David Marjoribanks at dm275@kent.ac.uk.

Website: http://www.marxandphilosophy.org.uk

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

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

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

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

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

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

Roy Bhaskar

CRITICAL REALISM RESEARCH SEMINARS

Critical Realism Research Seminars: An interdisciplinary critical realist research seminar series in legal, political and educational theory and practice in its social context.

Spring Term 2011

14th Feb, Alex Callinicos, ‘Marxism and Critical Realism’

21st March, Kathryn Dean, ‘Capitalism and Analytical Thinking: A Dialectical Account’

Seminars take place in London, Institute of Education Committee Room 1, at 5:30pm

Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL

Contacts:
Professor Roy Bhaskar, R.bhaskar@ioe.ac.uk
Craig Reeves, Craig.reeves@brunel.ac.uk
Professor Alan Norrie, A.W.Norrie@warwick.ac.uk

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

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

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

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

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

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

LONDON SEMINAR ON CONTEMPORARY MARXIST THEORY – UPDATE 9th FEBRUARY 2011
 
 
9th February, 5pm
King’s College London, Strand Campus, S2.28
 
Alberto Toscano (Goldsmiths, University of London)
Marxism: A Realism of the Abstract?
The global economic and financial crisis has witnessed a deepening of interest in different forms of critical and radical thought and practice. This seminar will explore the new perspectives that have been opened up by interventions of contemporary Marxist theory 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 Britain and 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.

 

2010/11 Seminar Series
  
9th November, 5pm
King’s College London, Strand Campus, S-1.04, Raked Lecture Theatre
Massimiliano Tomba (University of Padua)
The Historical Materialist at work: Re-reading “The Eighteenth Brumaire”
 
15th December, 5pm
King’s College London, Strand Campus, K.3.11 Raked Lecture Theatre
Peter D. Thomas (Brunel University)
Contours of Contemporary Western Marxism
  
19th January, 5pm
King’s College London, Strand Campus, S2.28
David Leopold (University of Oxford)
Stathis Kouvelakis (King’s College, London)
In Search of the Young Marx’s Politics
 
9th February, 5pm
King’s College London, Strand Campus, S2.28
Alberto Toscano (Goldsmiths, University of London)
Marxism: A Realism of the Abstract?
 
2nd March, 5pm
King’s College London, Strand Campus, room TBA
Gérard Duménil (Université de Paris X Nanterre)
Explaining the crisis of neoliberalism: Neither the falling profit rate nor mere financial craze
23rd March, 5pm
King’s College London, Strand Campus, room TBA
Esther Leslie (Birkbeck College)
Flat Screens and Liquid Crystals: On the Politics of Aesthetics and Vice Versa
4th May, 5pm
King’s College London, Strand Campus, room TBA
Costas Lapavitsas (SOAS)
Three Cheers for Marxist Monetary Theory: The Eurozone through the Prism of World Money
18th May, 5pm
King’s College London, Strand Campus, K.3.11 Raked Lecture Theatre
Gail Day (University of Leeds)
Dialectical Passions: Art Theory, Art History and Marxism

For further information, please contact:
Alex Callinicos, European Studies, King’s: alex.callinicos@kcl.ac.uk
Stathis Kouvelakis, European Studies, King’s:
stathis.kouvelakis@kcl.ac.uk
Costas Lapavitsas, Economics, SOAS:
cl5@soas.ac.uk
Peter Thomas, Politics and History, Brunel:
PeterD.Thomas@brunel.ac.uk

 

 

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: https://rikowski.wordpress.com

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

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

 
 

 

Socialism and Hope

SOCIALISM AND DEMOCRACY No.54

Socialism and Democracy
No. 54 (Vol. 24, No. 3)                                              
November 2010
http://www.sdonline.org

Marx for Today

EDITED & INTRODUCED BY MARCELLO MUSTO

Part I: Re-reading Marx in 2010

Articles by Kevin Anderson, Terrell Carver, Paresh Chattopadhyay, George Comninel, Michael Lebowitz, Marcello Musto, Victor Wallis, and Rick Wolff

Part II: Marx’s Global Reception Today

Review essays on Marx scholarship in Hispanic America, Brazil, the Anglophone world, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, China, Korea, and Japan

Single copies: $15 postpaid in USA; $20 elsewhere
411A Highland Ave., #321
Somerville, MA 02144, USA
617-776-9505; info@sdonline.org

Personal subscriptions: $30/calendar year (three issues) to Taylor & Francis, 325 Chestnut Street, 8th floor, Philadelphia, PA 19106, (outside North America: journals@tandf.co.uk)

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

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

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

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

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

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

PROGRESS IN MARX

Denis Mäder, Fortschritt bei Marx (Progress in Marx). Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2010, pp. 367

ISBN 978-3-05-004916-8

http://www.oldenbourg-verlag.de/akademie-verlag/fortschritt-bei-marx/9783050049168

In the 20th century, both Marxists and their opponents took it for granted that Marx’s work contains an elaborate theory of history rooted in a decidedly optimistic mindset. This theory was usually considered to be essentially a sketch of an ideal future society – a theory of salvation merely dressed up as science. It is all the more surprising, therefore, that Marx’s thoughts on progress have so far not been the subject of a thorough investigation.

Denis Mäder’s study analyses the modern idea of progress and the way in which it is being discussed today. This analysis serves as the background to a reconstruction of the original concept of progress that emerges as a result of Marx’s critical confrontation with his own philosophical milieu (especially with Hegel, the Hegelians, and Proudhon).

Progress is the historical movement of goodness. Yet, for the dialectician Marx there can be no progress without opposition. He sees in progress the possibility of positive development without, however, obliterating alternative or contradictory forms of development.

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

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

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

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

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

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

Alternative Culture

MARXIST LITERARY GROUP: INSTITUTE ON CULTURE AND SOCIETY 2011

Call for Papers
2011 Marxist Literary Group Institute on Culture and Society
Special Topic: “What Is Revolution?”
Deadline for Proposals: March 1, 2011.

The Marxist Literary Group´s 2011 Institute on Culture and Society (2011 MLG-ICS) will convene this summer (June 20-24) on the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago. As always, any submission that engages seriously with Marxist thought will be considered, including, but not limited to, Marxist considerations of literature or literary considerations of Marxism.

This year’s special topic will be “What is Revolution?” What is class struggle? Can there be one without the other, as horizon or precondition? How does radical social change take place? Is it necessary to have a theory of revolution, or is it better to pursue an intelligent opportunism? Does Marxism require revolution? Does revolution require class? What would a plausible political subject, or a plausible subject of history, look like today? Does our present moment hold any revolutionary possibility? What contemporary movements, possibilities, and practices hold promise (or do not)? Is there a plausible relationship today between aesthetic practices and the end of capitalism (as we know it)? How does one represent what is only possible, not actual? Is “struggle” another name for the possible? What is the relationship between politics as such and the economic as such? What is the relationship between politics and thinking, between revolution and philosophy? These questions and others will be the focus of this year’s Institute. Selected papers will be invited for submission to Mediations (http://mediationsjournal.org).

Recent years´ programs can be accessed at http://mlg.eserver.org/the-institute

The Institute on Culture and Society is run in consecutive sessions, and the discussion is most fruitful when participants stay for the entire Institute. Housing is available on campus, and every effort is made to keep the cost of attendance low. Graduate student participation is subsidized by the Marxist Literary Group. Proposals are welcome for:

Traditional panels
Individual presentations
Roundtables
Film Screenings
Performances
Reading Groups

All proposals except panel proposals should be a maximum of 250 words in length, and should include title, author, and author’s affiliation. Panel proposals should include for each proposed paper a 250-word abstract, including title and affiliation, as well as a title and 100-word rationale for the session itself. Please send submissions (plain text or commonly used file format) by March 1, 2011 to: 2011mlgics@gmail.com

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

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

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

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

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

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

Marxism and Art

SENSATIONAL MARXISMS: TOWARDS A COMMUNISM OF THE SENSES

Call for Papers

AAG 2011 – Seattle, USA, 12-16 April

Session organisers – Alex Loftus (Royal Holloway, University of London) and Erik Swyngedouw (University of Manchester)

Liberating ourselves from the horrors of the present requires an artistic and sensuous imagination that will be transformed in the coming of a future society. Sensuous experience is the raw material from which a revolutionary project might be realised. Equally, sensuous experience provokes new forms of political subjectivity. This is at the heart of Ranciere’s understanding of “the distribution of the sensible” and the relationship he theorises between politics and aesthetics. It might also be traced to other threads of Marxist thought. In part inspired by Epicurus, Marx thought deeply about sensuousness. He clearly also understood this through an artistic model (as Lefebvre claimed, Marx “imagines a society in which everyone would…perceive the world through the eyes of an artist, enjoy the sensuous through the eyes of a painter, the ears of a musician and the language of a poet”).

Discussions of affect and the affective within Geography have rarely included such considerations. Nevertheless, emerging practices within a relational and post-relational aesthetics have drawn significantly from new communist theory (Badiou, Zizek, Nancy) and reconnected with Marx’s theorisation of the senses (Roberts 2009). For Toscano (2008), this places the question of a “communism of the senses” within an understanding of both aesthetic and Marxist thought. At the same time, with the publication of Merrifield’s (2011) Magical Marxism, we have been challenged to think more freely about the positive foundations on which we struggle for radical change. As Merrifield writes: “Politics more than anything needs the magical touch of dream and desire, needs the shock of the poetic”.

This session will explore the role of poetics and sensuousness within politics and the struggle for a future society. Possible topics are:

·         The role of the senses in an “inaugural communism”
·         Marxist thought and relational sensuousness
·         Politics, aesthetics and the new communist theory
·         Magical, sensational marxisms
·         The Politics of the Senses
·         The Communist Imaginary today
·         Sensuous communist geographies
·         Emerging Communist Geographies

If you are interested in participating, please contact either Alex Loftus (alex.loftus@rhul.ac.uk) or Erik Swyngedouw (erik.swyngedouw@manchester.ac.uk).

Erik Swyngedouw
Professor of Geography
School of Environment and Development
Manchester University

New books:
Heynen N, Kaika M, Swyngedouw E (Eds.) In the Nature of Cities, Routledge, London and New York, 2005.

Swyngedouw Erik, Social Power and the Urbanization of Water Flows of Power, Oxford University Press, 2004.
ISBN 0-19-823391-4

Webpage: http://www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/geography/staff/swyngedouw_erik.htm

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 at MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/coldhandsmusic

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon Profile: https://rikowski.wordpress.com/cold-hands-quarter-moon/

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

Wavering on Ether: http://blog.myspace.com/glennrikowski