Theoria

CALL FOR PAPERS
October 31st, 2006
THE HUMAN CONDITION SERIES
Inaugural International Multidisciplinary Conference
Conference Theme: EMPIRE
May 17-19, 2007 Laurentian University, Georgian College Barrie, Ontario
http://humancondition.wordpress.com/

What I relate is the history of the next two centuries. I am describing what is coming: the advent of nihilism. This history can now be related already, for necessity is at work here. This future already speaks in a hundred signs, this destiny announces itself everywhere; for this music of the future all ears are cocked even now. For some time now, our whole European culture has been moving as toward a catastrophe, with a tortured tension that is growing from decade to decade: restlessly, violently, headlong, like a river that wants to reach the end, that no longer reflects, that is afraid to reflect.
~ Nietzsche

The Human Condition is subject to a multitude of discursive intersections that are at once a reflection of our condition and the re-production of our re-condition. In the shadow of techno-science, globalization and environmental degradation, the human condition has become increasingly complex, fragmented and entrenched, while simultaneously being estranged from both itself and the various points of its’ conditioning.

The Human Condition is in need of critical reflection and intervention. The urgency to reflect on the human condition outside of past and future sentimentalities becomes a necessary task for those who refuse to resign to the repetition of the forces that make the present unbearable, even unlivable. That is, the present bears witness to a perpetual persistence of the anti-life forces that simultaneously rework and rearrange the political, juridical, market, cultural, religious and secular fundamentalisms of our time. In the vicissitudes of the making and the naturalizing project of Empire, Empire itself becomes a human condition, a condition of mourning, as well as an injunction that is imposed upon us both quantitatively and qualitatively. It is within this historical juncture that we seek to articulate, examine and locate the architectonics of Empire, to intervene in Empire as terror and in the terrorizing forces of Empire.

The series – The Human Condition – is an international, multidisciplinary conference that seeks to address the current state of the human condition.

This year’s theme in the Human Condition Series is Empire.

In 1995, Parenti noted that Empire is seldom accorded any serious attention by academics, the media, or politicians. In 2000, Hardt and Negri’s book Empire reoriented the discourse on globalization and imperialism to reflect shifts under postmodernity. Since then, the concept of Empire has been employed by numerous writers and has made its way into the public sphere as a point of debate and as a means of understanding contemporary global conditions. The concept of Empire, however, has become increasingly important in a post 911 world with the heightened persistence of militarism, racism, corporatism, and authoritarianism. The conference on Empire seeks to interrogate several broad questions such as what is the human condition of Empire and how has Empire affected the human condition.

Leading scholars in the field, Michael Hardt, coauthor of Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire (2004) and Empire (2000); Michael Parenti, author of The Assassination of Julius Caesar (2003) and Against Empire (1995) and Arthur Kroker, author of The Will to Technology and the Culture of Nihilism (2004) and Digital Delrium (1997) will present keynote addresses.

The following call for submissions for this inaugural international, multidisciplinary conference on The Human Condition seeks to examine, expand and promote themes and research related to Empire. Proposals exploring the widest range of topics relating to Empire are invited, including the viability of Empire and imperialist practices in the stabilizing of ‘failed states’ and the institution of democracy and human rights around the world. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• Histories, Myths, Memories, and Representations of Empire
• Militarism, Terrorism and Human Rights under Empire
• Living in the Margins of Empire
• Strategies, Technologies and Practices of Empire
• The Semiotics, Rhetoric, and Discourse of Empire
• Enlightenment Philosophy and the Persistence of Imperial Logic
• Cognition, Consciousness, and Perception of Empire
• Post-Imperialism and the Role of the State
• Resistance to, and Reformation of Empire

Guidelines for Proposals: Your abstract will include your name, affiliation, and the title of your presentation, and should be limited to 250-300 words in which you describe the topic and, if applicable, your research process or methodologies. All abstracts are subject to review by the conference committee. Deadline for submissions is January 15, 2007. Submissions should be sent to: conference07@georgianc.on.ca

Call for Publication: Papers presented may be considered for publication. If you are unable to attend the conference, we invite you to submit an abstract for possible publication. The above guidelines and deadline remain the same for all essay proposals. We look forward to receiving your proposals and hope you will be able to join us in May 2007.

Sincerely,

The Human Condition Series organizing committee

For further information about the call for papers and the conference go to: http://humancondition.wordpress.com/