Rethinking crisis, resistance and strategy

Historical Materialism Athens Conference

2-5 May 2019

Panteion University of Political and Social Sciences

In cooperation with the Department of Social Policy, Panteion University Athens

 

 

CALL FOR PAPERS

 

In the past years Greece became a case-study not only for the dynamics of the combined crisis of neoliberal capitalism and the European Integration, but also for the possibility of mass movements and resistances to drastically alter the political balance of forces. However, subsequent developments also brought to the fore another crisis: the crisis of left strategy, exemplified in the defeat of the struggles and aspirations of the subaltern classes in Greece; in the inability to produce a radical alternative to the neoliberal European Integration and in the aggressive return of the xenophobic far right in its various forms.

These developments underline the need to open up once again the theoretical debate regarding the capitalist crisis, the forms of bourgeois hegemony, and the form of a potential hegemonic project of the subaltern classes. They underline the need for a return to Marxist theory and historical materialism in order to conceptualize and problematize the new forms of crisis, resistance and hegemony.

This calls for an attempt to answer crucial theoretical (and political) questions:

What are the character and the manifestations of the capitalist crisis? How it is linked to the current forms of rivalry and antagonism in the international plane? What forms does the crisis of European Union take? How do recent developments, from the authoritarian turn in the Spanish State in regards to the Catalan independence movement to the rise of far right authoritarian governments in countries such as Hungary relate to the broader pattern of political crisis?

What kind of movements and struggles have experienced during the crisis period? What new forms and practices of resistance and organization have emerged? Which has been the role of youth in recent movements? How do we create new forms of unity and common struggle with refugees and migrants, and more generally with the diverse subjects of oppression and emancipation? What does the expansion of the state of emergency mean regarding struggles for democracy and social and political rights?

How can we revisit the question of the state and state power in the light of the developments in countries such as Greece? Is it possible for a ‘left government’ to be part of a radical socialist strategy or it will lead to capitulation?  How can we learn from other experiences such as the Latin American ‘pink tide’? Is it possible to rethink today the possibility of a revolutionary road?

What is the role of theory in the attempt to deal with these questions? What forms of collective research can we think of? How can we combine the openness of the debate with the militant commitment to struggle?

In contrast to traditional political debates, marked by a combination of empiricism and dogmatism, in order to produce contemporary radical answers we need solid theoretical research and dialogue. Historical Materialism and the Marxist tradition, in all its complexity and richness offer the necessary starting point. 200 years after the birth of Karl Marx we need a new wave of Marxist theoretical research, associated with the crucial questions of our times; the “urgent tasks of our movement”.

It is in light of the above questions that we undertake the initiative to launch this Call for Papers for the first Historical Materialism Conference to be held in Athens (2-5 May 2019) based upon the basic guiding threads of Historical Materialism Conferences. We strongly encourage proposals on all potential subjects associated with the main thematic of the conference but also on questions associated with overall Marxist theory and Historical Materialist research.

Separate Call for Stream Papers on migration/refugee crisis, political ecology, Marxist feminism, philosophy, and political crisis will be issued separately (see below).

The language of the conference will be English. The conference is open to proposals for panels and papers on any subject within the central thematic of this Call for Papers, and Call for Stream Papers, but also within the purview of Marxist and left radical thought and politics. Each proposal must include a title for the paper, an abstract of up to 400 words, names, affiliations and contact details of the person(s) making the proposal. In the case of panel proposals please include abstracts and contact details for each presentation. We reserve the right to reject certain abstracts in such panels (i.e. these are not “take it or leave it” as a whole) and to reconstitute the panels in different ways where necessary.

 

 

CALL FOR STREAM PAPERS

 

In search of a Marxist practice of philosophy

Recently there has been a renewed interest regarding the relation of philosophy to Marxism and Historical Materialism. Questions about the relationship of Marxism to the philosophical tradition, the possibility of a Marxist philosophy or a materialist practice of philosophy, the very meaning of materialism have come to the fore. From new readings of classical debates within Marxism (the possibility or not of a distinct ‘dialectical materialism’, the relationship of Marx to Hegel and the philosophical tradition, the possibility or non possibility of a Marxist ethics), to the new readings of Gramsci, Lukács, the Frankfurt School, Althusser, the new dialogues with Foucault, Deleuze and Guattari, and the controversies surrounding ‘New Materialism’, there are many examples of the lively character of philosophical debates within contemporary Marxism.

In light of the above we encourage presentations and panel proposals related to these questions and in particular (yet not exclusively) to the following themes:

⎼ New Marxist dialogues with the philosophical tradition, from Machiavelli, to Spinoza and Hegel

⎼ Materialisms ‘old’ and ‘new’

⎼ ‘Philosophy of Praxis’ and the significance of Gramsci for contemporary philosophical debates

⎼ Althusser, materialism of the encounter and the open question of a new practice of philosophy

⎼ Foucault, Deleuze, Guattari and the possible dialogue with Marxism

 

Marxist Feminism and gender movements in times of crisis

The social condition of the vast majority of women has worsened because of the strengthening of conservative and far-right forces worldwide. The socio-economic crisis has been used as a pretext for further abusing women’s rights and denouncing equal rights struggles as ‘luxury’ in front of insurmountable problems. We are thus facing a tendency to return to the darkest pages of patriarchy: murders of women and LGBTQI+ persons, rapes, domestic violence, legitimization of sexist and homophobic hate speech, institutional legitimization of inequality (see the anti-abortion laws, etc.). What’s more, women, being either the largest percentage of workers in ‘off the books’ or precarious jobs (see, for example, migrant, uninsured, semi-employed women) or paid less for equal work, remain the biggest victims of the crisis. And, of course, the objectification of the female body never stops in the cultural industry and beyond.

Nevertheless, in the public sphere voices for equal rights and women’s empowerment are gaining ground. At the same time, feminist movements, contradictory yet of great intensity and range, are re-emerging worldwide, from #MeΤoo and Ni Una Menos to the International Woman’s Strike. Alongside, feminist researches in theory are proliferating either regarding the field of women and gender studies or the attempts which propose feminism as a theoretical and methodological reference point for philosophy and social theory.

In light of the above, we welcome papers that cover (but are not restricted to) the following themes:

⎼ Aspects of the exploitation of women and LGBTQI+ today

⎼ Feminist and queer movements and initiatives worldwide

⎼ Neoliberal and radical feminism

⎼ Queer politics

⎼ Marxist feminism theorizations of economy and social reproduction

⎼ Feminism and/in culture

 

‘Marx on earth’: Ecology, climate change, socio-environmental movements and radical political praxis

The global crisis of accumulation has produced a significant shift in value generation. Capital accumulation based on labor exploitation is shifting to highly diverse types of accumulation by dispossession, the commodification of nature and enclosure of the commons. Despite urgent warnings about climate change, capital still invests heavily in fossil fuel. Land grabbing, resources extraction, mega-development projects all over the world remain central aspects of capitalist accumulation and terrains of conflicts and struggles. In this framework and despite decades of intellectual and political challenge and deconstruction, the concept of "development" remains central for the ways by which states seek to legitimize these socio-ecological reconfigurations.

We welcome contributions that critically examine the contradictory discourses and tactics through which capital seek to de-politicize nature’s commodification and enclosure. Furthermore, we welcome considerations and attempts that seek to present and analyze strategies that nurture a politics of possibility for alternative socio-ecological futures contingent on specific historical geographies, power relations, ideologies, cultures and everyday life.

 

'Everyone who is here is from here': Rethinking migrant/refugee movements

In a period of rising racism and xenophobia, it is crucial to rethink the terms ‘migrants’, ‘refugees’, ‘refugee crisis’. The figure of the migrant/refugee is at the center of recent political and philosophical debates. Questions of citizenship, class, nation, race and gender are newly examined in the light of migrant/refugee movements, border controls, human tragedies and new spaces of resistance. From refugee accommodation and solidarity centers to labour organizing and anti – racism, there is a wide range of worldwide militant responses. At the same time critical scholars and activists have developed new terms and concepts that fill-out the contemporary problematic of migration.

We welcome presentations and panel proposals that contribute to the following:

⎼ Critical methodologies: Militant investigation projects

⎼ Border struggles, solidarity practices and NGO politics

⎼ Gramscian perspectives on migration and social alliances

⎼ Resisting islamophobia

⎼ Misplaced alliances:  Anti-immigrant positions among the left and trade unions

 

The return of the unheard: rethinking the current political crisis

The period 2011-2016 a global movement of protest, contestation and reclaiming of public space took place that shook the political status quo in countries so diverse such as the U.S., Brazil, Turkey, Greece, Egypt and Spain. Centering on issues of equality, representativeness and democratic accountability these movements aspired to give voice and even power to vast social majorities that are currently squeezed under the tight grip of various forms of authoritarian neoliberalisms. Exhausted or political defeated in most cases this cycle of protest no doubt left an indelible mark in the hopes and aspirations of millions; it advanced new forms of popular participation and collective action; and posed center stage the immanent contradiction between democracy-cum-popular sovereignty and neoliberal capitalism. 

In light of the above we encourage presentations and panel proposals related to the following questions:

⎼ The crisis of democratic capitalism in light of the Great Recession

⎼ New forms of popular organization and the question of dual power in the 21st century

⎼ The multitude vs the people, popular spontaneity vs hegemony

⎼ The rising specter of authoritarian neoliberalism; characteristics and responses

 

 

The deadline for paper / abstract proposals has been extended to December 31, 2018. 

Submit your abstracts at: www.historicalmaterialismathens2019.net/submit

 

 

Historical Materialism Athens Conference

2-5 May 2019

Panteion University of Political and Social Sciences

w: historicalmaterialismathens2019.net

f: @historicalmaterialismathens

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