Call For Papers
Rethinking Marxism 2006
http://www.rethinkingmarxism2006.org
Join Ernesto Laclau, Susan Buck-Morss, Sut Jhally, Kojin Karatani, Liza
Featherstone, Stephen Cullenberg, Julie Graham, Stephen Resnick,
Richard Wolff, Susan Jahoda, Antonio Callari, Warren Montag, David F.
Ruccio, Carole Biewener, Jonathan Diskin, Bruce Roberts, and many
others at Rethinking Marxism 2006. RETHINKING MARXISM: a journal of
economics, culture & society is pleased to announce its sixth major
international conference, to be held at the University of
Massachusetts, Amherst on 26-28 October, 2006. The conference is
entitled Rethinking Marxism 2006.
RETHINKING MARXISM’s 5 previous international conferences have each
attracted between 750 and 1200 participants, and they have included
keynote addresses and plenary sessions, formal papers, workshops, art
exhibitions, video presentations, activist sessions, and performances.
Versions of all of these events are planned for Rethinking Marxism
2006.
In keeping with the title, the conference is dedicated to the state of
contemporary Marxism and its many current correlates and derivatives.
The past few years have been fascinating and momentous for the fortunes
of contemporary Marxism, as can be seen in the many theoretical
traditions and activist movements that remain, in some way, inspired by
and indebted to a wide range of Marxian ideas and strategies. The
renewed and continued vitality of Marxian, left, and socialist concepts
and practices in current-day Latin America (and elsewhere) is just one
indication of the ways in which Marxism remains a source of
international inspiration and struggle. In addition, the continued,
growing reactions—in the form of diverse anti-globalization
movements—to capitalist globalization and its consistent denial of or
aversion to economic justice; to the persistence of class exploitation;
to worsening labor and environmental conditions; to the continued
precarious global position of women; to the economic, social, and
personal endangerment and abuse of children; and to the ever-widening
gap between the rich and the poor, draw partly, as well, from rich
traditions and current new thinking stemming from Marxism. The loud
and uniform international opposition to the U.S. (and its “allies”)
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—growing in both anger and outrage at the
human and economic costs of the new imperialism—have also been sources
for, and have taken from, a plethora of Marxian ideas and strategies.
Indeed, the increased tendency to call these wars “imperialist” is an
indication that Marxism is proving indispensable for popular thinking
and reacting to these international events.
Of course, international events have also presented new challenges and
causes for the never-ending rethinking of old and new Marxian
concepts. For example, the increasing calls for “democracy” revive
older dreams of economic and political justice and rights for all.
However, they also bring into relief the great distance between the
present aggressive imposition of such ideas, burdened with the
realities of continued economic exploitation and social oppression, and
the dreams and desires of many who wish for economic and political
enfranchisement in all nations. Additionally, many new and old Marxian
traditions need to take heed of and think through, as a major
“conjunctural” event, the turning away from liberal secularity and its
many broken promises and contradictions and the turning toward
religious and ethnic ideals and movements. These ideals and movements,
at times, promise more “just” and communal forms of living. Yet, at
other moments, they are avatars of intolerance and internal—sometimes
violent—repression and reaction. And, as another salient concern, the
notable dynamic growth of China and India needs to be reviewed in light
of these nations’ long and deep historical engagements with communism,
socialism, and Marxism. What, if anything, have these engagements
contributed to, or, alternatively, obstructed in, the recent forms of
growth and the distribution (or not) of their benefits?
We invite—indeed, enthusiastically welcome—any and all who are
interested in these and other pressing questions to send in proposals
for papers and panels for Rethinking Marxism 2006 (a.k.a. RM06).
STRUCTURE OF THE CONFERENCE
Rethinking Marxism 2006 will be held over three days, beginning on
Thursday morning 26 October 2006 and ending on Saturday night 28
October 2006. In addition to three plenary sessions and performance
art, there will be concurrent panels and art/cultural events. We
invite the submission of pre-organized sessions that follow traditional
or non-traditional formats (such as workshops, roundtables, and
dialogue among and between presenters and audience). Since
contemporary Marxism covers fields from literature to physics and forms
of political practice from environmental organizing to opposing global
inequality, anyone engaging with Marxism in any discipline or form of
activism is encouraged to submit paper and panel proposals. We
encourage those working in areas that intersect with Marxism, such as
feminism, political economy, cultural and literary studies, queer
theory, working-class and labor studies, postcolonial studies,
geography and urban studies, psychoanalysis, social and natural
sciences, philosophy, and around issues of class, race, ethnicity,
nationality, gender, sexuality, and disability, to submit paper and
panel proposals. We welcome video, poetry, performance, and all other
modes of presentation and cultural expression. We encourage paper or
panel submissions from those working on any and all subjects that take
an interest in a world without exploitation and oppression.
SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS
Proposals for papers should include:
* Paper title
* Presenter’s name and contact information (mail, email, phone, fax)
* Brief abstract (no more than 200 words)
Proposals for panels should include:
* Panel title
* Name, contact information, and paper title for each presenter
* Brief abstract (no more than 200 words) explaining the panel’s focus
* Names and contact information for any discussant(s) or respondent(s)
* Title, contact, and address for any sponsoring organization or journal
The appropriate registration fee must accompany all proposal
submissions. Unfortunately, any submitted proposal not accompanied by
the appropriate preregistration fee cannot be considered. Proposals
which are not accepted will have their preregistration fees returned in
full. If you are submitting a proposal for an entire panel, please
make sure you include the preregistration fee for all members of the
panel.
The deadline for proposal submission is 1 August 2006.
The best way to submit a proposal and to pay the preregistration fee is
to follow the instructions on the conference website:
http://www.rethinkingmarxism2006.org/submission.html.
If you prefer to submit your proposal and pay the preregistration fee
by regular mail, please fill out the “mail-in preregistration form”
posted on the conference website and send it to:
Vincent Lyon-Callo
Department of Anthropology
Moore Hall
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, MI 49008
Please make sure that if you pay the preregistration rate by check, the
check is made out to AESA and drawn on a U.S. bank in U.S. dollars.
PREREGISTRATION RATES
Full Regular Rate $90 (at Conference $100)
Full Low-Income Rate $40 (at Conference $45)
Two-day Regular Rate $70 (at Conference $80)
Two-day Low-Income Rate $30 (at Conference $35)
One-day Regular Rate $50 (at Conference $60)
One-day Low-Income Rate $20 (at Conference $25)
You may preregister online at
http://www.rethinkingmarxism2006.org/registration.html, or download a
preregistration form at
http://www.rethinkingmarxism2006.org/MarxismRegForm.pdf.
LOGISTICS
RM06 will be held on the campus of the University of Massachusetts
Amherst. Detailed information on lodging, travel directions, and
childcare will be provided to all conference registrants on the
conference website.
PUBLICATIONS
Selected papers, poems, art, and other forms of presentation from RM06
will be published in RETHINKING MARXISM and/or in a separate edited
volume of contributions. Read more about the journal at:
http://www.rethinkingmarxism.org.
CONFERENCE WEBSITE
All information pertaining to RM06, including paper and panel
submission instructions, preregistration and on-site rates, lodging
suggestions, travel directions, possible childcare arrangements,
cultural events, the conference program, and much else will be posted
on the conference website when details become available. The web
address is: http://www.rethinkingmarxism2006.org.
VENDORS AND ADVERTISEMENTS
Literature tables and display areas are available to groups, vendors,
and publishers at reasonable rates. Ad space in the conference program
is also available at reasonable rates. All ads must be camera-ready.
SPECIAL CONFERENCE RATE FOR RM SUBSCRIPTION
Registrants for RM06 can receive a special conference rate of $45 on
individual subscriptions to RETHINKING MARXISM. Non-registrants may
subscribe online at:
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/08935696.asp
|