From: P.J.Crosthwaite
To: John Armitage
Cc: John Beck
Sent: 09/12/2004 12:42
Subject: The Dromocratic Condition conference
Dear John,
Abstracts for the conference have been coming in steadily over the last
couple of months, and I'm confident that we'll have enough to fill two days.
The quality, too, has been very encouraging. However, there will no doubt be
people who were atracted to the event, but haven't got round to sending
their abstracts. Could you send out the reminder below on your lists in
order to nudge any stragglers? Many thanks.
I hope this finds you well. Very best wishes,
Paul
FINAL REMINDER - DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: 23 DECEMBER 2004
THE DROMOCRATIC CONDITION: CONTEMPORARY CULTURES OF ACCELERATION
An international, multi-disciplinary conference hosted by the School of
English, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 March, 2005
Keynote speakers:
Douglas Kellner (UCLA, USA)
John Armitage (Northumbria, UK)
Theories of contemporary culture have foregrounded the significance of
'late
capitalism' or 'post-Fordism' (Jameson; Harvey); simulation and
'hyper-reality' (Baudrillard); information technology and the 'inhuman'
(Lyotard); the 'panopticon' (Foucault); 'communicative action'
(Habermas);
'desiring-production' and schizophrenia (Deleuze and Guattari); risk
(Ulrich
Beck); and the cyborg (Haraway).
An alternative theorisation - which intersects with these perspectives,
but
diverges from them - views acceleration as the defining feature of the
contemporary era. The French cultural theorist Paul Virilio has coined
the
term 'dromocracy' (from the Greek dromos: avenue or race course) to
characterise this position. Under Virilio's 'dromocratic' reading of
history,
scientific, technological, societal, military, and cultural change is
propelled by the pursuit of ever-increasing speed. Our own era - with
its
fibre-optic cables, satellite-linked communications networks, supersonic
aircraft, and cruise missiles - is, Virilio suggests, approaching the
limits
of acceleration, and teeters on the edge of the 'integral accident' -
the true
end of modernity.
This conference invites papers that explore any aspect of what the
social
theorist John Armitage - re-orientating Lyotard's famous assessment of
the
contemporary - has called the 'dromocratic condition'. What are the key
characteristics of the contemporary culture of acceleration? How has the
pursuit of speed impacted upon contemporary subjectivity, upon
strategies of
warfare and terrorism, or upon experiences of space and time? How have
theorists, activists, writers, artists, and filmmakers responded to the
speed-up of contemporary life? Is there necessarily a connection between
speed
and destruction, or can high-speed technologies serve a progressive or
radical
agenda? Is speed truly, as Virilio has claimed, 'the location and the
law, the
world's destiny and its destination', or do movements exist that offer
viable
alternatives to the contemporary culture of acceleration?
The organisers envisage that a special issue of the journal Cultural
Politics
(http://www.bergpublishers.com/uk/culture/culture_about.htm) will result
from
the papers at the conference.
Please send proposals (250-300 words) for 20-minute papers to Paul
Crosthwaite
at [log in to unmask] or School of English Literature, Language,
and
Linguistics, Percy Building, University of Newcastle upon Tyne,
Newcastle upon
Tyne, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom by 23 December 2004. Updates and
accommodation
information will appear on the conference web site
(http://www.dromocratic.visitnewcastlegateshead.com).
Paul Crosthwaite
PhD Researcher
School of English Literature, Language, and Linguistics
Percy Building
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
United Kingdom
[log in to unmask]
http://www.students.ncl.ac.uk/p.j.crosthwaite/
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