With usual apologies for cross posting:

Deadline fast approaching!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CALL FOR PAPERS
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EVOLUTION AND ORGANISATION
DENATURING DARWIN
12th to 14th November 2004, International School of Philosophy, Amersfoort, 
the Netherlands

The Theme
Darwin, once again, is seemingly everywhere – competing for general acclaim 
as The Greatest Briton; slugging it out with Creationists in American 
schools; the subject of public disputes as to who can be regarded as his 
true disciples; with awards in his name for both scientific endeavour and 
suicidal stupidity; through to new reclamations of his ideas in academia. 
And even though the theory of evolution may not be the ‘universal acid’ that 
Daniel Dennett (1995) seeks, burning through all that stood in its way, it 
has been etched into a broad swathe of the natural, social and political 
sciences. Sometimes, for example, it appears to merely rest as agreeable 
metaphor, as in Marshall’s ‘teeming millions’ in economics; sometimes to lie 
as causal explanation, as in social inequality as rendered by social 
Darwinists; sometimes to stand as proof, as atheistic fundamentalists use it 
to deny the existence of Gods; and sometimes to act as the Trusty Sword of 
Truth, as wielded to defeat those contemporary bogey figures, be they 
post-modernists, feminists or social-constructionists (see, for example, 
Pinker, 2003 or Dawkins,1976 and 2001).

The misapplication of Darwinist thinking in the social sciences, on its own, 
could justify a conference. Yet such a narrow theme risks simply returning 
to the bitter battles over sociobiology of the 1970s, fought over similar 
terrain. Instead, the rise and rise of Darwinism itself demands a closer 
look. We suggest here four themes that might evolve.

First, perhaps, is the origin of The Origin of Species. The genesis of the 
central idea – evolution through natural selection – continues to attract 
discussion as to whether Darwin was creator, or (unknowing) disciple. Yet 
Darwin’s construction of the argument, his proof (drawn from his own 
cultivations) and its presentation, draws into question the whole question 
as to what is natural, and what is selected. Thus, for example, even as his 
theory appears to extinguish one Creator, in practice, another seems to 
emerge in His place – a theme that is continuously re-enacted today, as 
programmers seek to develop natural selection in software. We would welcome 
papers further examining such origins and their consequences.

Darwin’s writing is undoubtedly skilled, as he weaves his subjects into an 
evocative narrative. But the pernicious spread of Darwinism cannot be laid 
simply to the power of his rhetoric. Why did the idea of evolution through 
natural selection so quickly and virulently spread beyond its natural host 
and find such welcome in seemingly unrelated fields? And why does it 
continue to excite similar interest as an explanation for apparently 
unrelated phenomena today? We welcome work that seeks to explore the 
phenomena of Darwinism itself.

At the same time, despite Darwin’s own warnings, as his ideas spread they 
became and continue to become derivations of derivations: mere pastiche or 
downright wrong. Diluted and adulterated, these homeopathic theories claim 
to explain more and more of the world around, be it in terms of rampant 
individualism or carefully pruned collective, while still claiming fidelity 
to the purity of their source. Unsurprisingly, such unruly science has shown 
itself capable of producing monsters, both hopeful and hopeless, with 
monstrous results. We call, then, for critique of such abominations.

And finally, despite the overwhelmingly critical tone of what has preceded, 
there is the question of where a more considered examination of the 
consequences of the Darwinist explosion might take us. This may stretch, for 
example, from the exploration of a radical humanism that might take account 
of contemporary issues that oscillate between the biological and social 
sciences, such as Bio-nomics, through to discussion to whether Darwinism and 
the social sciences will always remain incommensurable. In the field of 
organisation, for example, could we go beyond rather simple notions of 
‘population ecologies’ to consider the mutual co-construction of ‘organised’ 
bodies and the ‘fitness landscapes’ that they both constitute and inhabit?

Abstracts
Abstracts of no more than 500 words should be sent to [log in to unmask], no 
later than Monday 31st May 2004. Please submit abstracts in MS Word or Rich 
Text format. Acceptance will be notified by July 2004. Electronic versions 
of full papers should be submitted no later than Thursday 30th September 
2004, again to darwin@le.ac.uk.. A selection of complete papers will be 
placed on the conference website http://www.le.ac.uk/ulmc/cppe/darwin as 
soon as is practicable after that date.

Keynote Speakers and Plenary Sessions
There will be two plenary sessions at the conference, featuring a total of 
four keynote speakers. Dr Gowan Dawson of the Victorian Studies Centre, 
University of Leicester and Dr David Amigoni of the Department of English 
Literature and Philosophy at Keele University will both address a plenary 
session entitled Reading Darwin. The other plenary, entitled Evolution and 
Creation, will be addressed by Dr Steve Brown of the Department of Human 
Sciences at Loughborough University and Professor Jack Cohen of the 
Institute of Mathematics at the University of Warwick.

Publication plans
A themed issue of the Routledge journal, Culture and Organization, is under 
discussion. Papers appropriate in terms of theme and contribution will also 
be selected for consideration for the Palgrave journal, Emergence, 
Complexity and Organization.

Conference Fee
The conference fee will be in the region of 300 pounds (450 euros) and will 
include accommodation and all meals, including a gala conference dinner.

Language
The language of the conference will be English.

Conference Organisers
The conference is being jointly organised by the Centre for Philosophy and 
Political Economy of the University of Leicester, UK and the Department of 
Critical Theory and Organisation of the University for Humanistics, Utrecht, 
NL.

Further Details
Further details and registration information will be made available via the 
conference website http://www.le.ac.uk/ulmc/cppe/darwin. Specific queries 
should be addressed to [log in to unmask]

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