The School of Philosophy, Anthropology and Social Inquiry Social Theory

Modernities: Radicalism, Reflexivity, Realities 22 - 23 November 2007

THE ASHWORTH PROGRAM IN SOCIAL THEORY AND THE SOCIAL THEORY POSTGRADUATE ASSOCIATION, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY AT MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY, present:

 

'Modernities: Radicalism, Reflexivity, Realities

A Postgraduate Conference
22 - 23 November 2007

University of Melbourne

 

Confirmed Keynote Speakers:

John Rundell (Director of the Ashworth Program in Social Theory)

Jean-Philippe Deranty (Macquarie University)

Justin Clemens (University of Melbourne)

 

Conference Registration:

no registration required

 

About the Conference:

'Modernities: Radicalism, Reflexivity, Realities' is the third in a series of conferences on social and critical theory organised by The Ashworth Program in Social Theory and the Social Theory Postgraduate Association, University of Melbourne, in collaboration with the Department of Philosophy at Macquarie University.  The conference is held annually, being hosted alternately by the University of Melbourne and Macquarie University in Sydney.  The inaugural conference on 'The Future of Critical Theory' was held in Melbourne in 2005; in 2006 the second instalment of the series was held at Macquarie University and was entitled 'Critical Theory in Crisis'.

 

Conferennce Venue:

Graduate Centre (1888 Building), University of Melbourne. Parkville

 

Conferennce Program:

Modernities Conference Program

Modernities Speaker Abstracts

 

Call for Papers:

Recent theories of modernity suggest that a significant shift has taken place from simple, industrial modernity to a second (be it late, post-, reflexive) modernity.  While this thesis suggests that industrial modernity is centred upon teleological narratives of progress, class-based theories of collective radicalism and the hegemony of the nation-state, the idea of second modernity is more associated with self-reflexivity and non-structuralist agency, global economic and political interconnections, and the delegitimation of totalising approaches to knowledge in both science and life-world.  In light of these emerging narratives concerning modernity this conference aims to establish a forum whereby the validity and implications of this 'second modernity thesis,' understood as a concrete-historical shift and/or a set of interpretive themes, can be tested and interrogated.

We welcome any 'genealogical' presentation, that is any partial (perhaps very partial) historical tracing of an idea, thing or value, which might shed light on the experiences, histories and theories of any number of modernities (regional, political, artistic etc.), and which could open up perspectives on the following questions:

  • Is second modernity, or its characteristic features, new?  Or is it in fact 'modern-all-too-modern'?
  • If, as in recent approaches in sociology and anthropology, we conceptualise the self as a decentred subject, with multiple boundaries and overlapping identities, to what forms of sociality, sociability and unsociability might such a self correspond (e.g. network, virtual, sub-cultural forms of society)?  What is becoming of agency, autonomy, the subject-object dualism?
  • What possibilities for political contestation are emergent or receding in second modernity e.g. the possibility of contestation without grand narratives, the possibility of global social movements?  Is democracy itself becoming more or less reflexive about its institutions and ethical-philosophical underpinnings?
  • As not only social but natural science engages in ongoing negotiations with the hermeneutic dimension to knowledge, what truths, axioms, paradigms are becoming evident or less evident?  What special conditions are presented for knowledge by second modernity e.g. complexity, contingency, non-linearity, indeterminacy, informationality?
  • How are the dimensions of second modernity reflected in emerging art-forms or vice versa?  What changing roles or modes has aesthetic judgement in the contemporary world?

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    Please send abstracts of 200 words or less, with name, no., and university affiliation to l.ward2@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au by August 31 2007.

     

    Questions about the conference can be sent to members of the STPA executive:

    President: Lucy Ward

    Vice-President: Yoni Molad

    Secretary: James Field

    Treasurer: Dan O'Meara

     

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