Dialogue & Difference
An International Conference: 12-14th September 2001, SOAS, University of
London
About the Conference
Dialogue has been a recurrent theme in the history of European ideas, from
the Socratic dialogue, often said to be the foundation of the Western
philosophical tradition of debate, to high profile political summits.
Inherent within this history is the assumption, as the recent British
Telecom slogan has it, that it is 'good to talk'. In organising this
conference, however, we intend to stress the ambiguity of 'dialogue' and to
explore its equivocal character. While religious and political leaders often
invoke 'dialogue' as a sign of 'good will', representing a disposition to
openness and democracy, it may just as often be but the wrapping upon
manipulation or deceit. Dialogue, importantly, was called upon in precisely
such a manner during the spread of Western colonialism, and, even in the
light of such knowledge, is uttered as part of a Western body of theory and
discourse.
This hegemony of discourse and language immediately raises pressing issues
and questions which will be central to the conference: How best can this
problem of hegemony itself be addressed? Can post-colonial theorising
provide the means by which dialogue may be 'rethought'? How might
non-Western languages enter into a dialogue conducted primarily in English?
How is dialogue conceptualised in non-Western cultures? Are 'indigenous'
forms of dialogue, irreducible to European models, capable of evading
existing power structures and opening a path to mutual understanding
possible or viable; or, must cross-cultural dialogue necessarily find itself
reduced to a Western model of 'movement of the self towards the other'? Can
critical theory help us to 'un-say' the 'said' of a monological dialogue?
Can theories from outside Europe disrupt such dominance? Is European thought
able to deconstruct itself so as to welcome other ways of dialogue without
once more imposing a universal model? Is, in other words, an ethical
dialogue possible? The conference will focus jointly on specific instances
within socio-cultural settings, and also upon the broader nature and roots
of dialogue.
Conference Themes
· The Ethics and Philosophy of Dialogue
· Dialogue and Difference
· Cross Cultural Dialogues
· Is it 'good to talk' or, the Refusal of Dialogue
· Dialogue and Identity
Conference Fees
Institutions: £50.00
Students: £25.00
For further information on attending the conference contact:
[log in to unmask] or visit the web site
http://www.soas.ac.uk/Religions/dialogue
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