Deadline for proposals: 27 July 2006=20
For a conference sponsored by Rethinking Marxism (journal); U. of Mass., =
Amherst, 10/26-28/06.

CFP: The Reduction of Thought in Modernity=20

Apparently there exists an obverse relationship between mastery of the =
world and alienation from it. As Hannah Arendt says in her "The Vita =
Activa and the Modern Age," the human imagination reduces distances; in =
other words, the imagination performs a surveying function. Modern =
philosophy's emphasis upon the notion of Self has developed concurrently =
with this human capacity to imagine the globe and thereby grasp being in =
its global extension. Contemporary efforts to identify the operations =
of modern techno-capitalism return to similar images of the globe--as in =
Michael Hardt's and Antonio Negri's representation of imperial power =
(Empire) as "a great sea that only the winds and current move."=20

What is the history of the surveying mind? What does it mean--in the =
present market-generating historical moment--to occupy such an =
Archimedean vantage-point? Who exactly may be said to occupy this =
vantage-point and what power belongs, in the present day, to such a =
vantage-point? How does trans-national capitalism understand the =
meaning of "alien," and how does it make world-alienation useful, =
profitable? How has the duality between knowing-the-world and =
seeing-the-world been inscribed into various historically dominant =
discourses of power (patriarchy, colonialism, capitalism, racism, =
nationalism, totalitarianism, able-ism, fundamentalism)? What is the =
meaning of the indifference resulting from the establishment of =
"closeness where distance ruled before"? What events in recent history =
might continue to be over-looked (willfully or unconsciously) through =
the power implied by the metaphysics of seeing and knowing? To what =
extent does reduction of distances bring about reduction of thought in =
modernity? =20

Please mail 150- to 250-word conference paper proposals by 27 July to:

Dr. Michael M. Logan
Humanities and Social Sciences Division
Northampton Community College, Monroe
3 Old Mill Road
Tannersville, PA 18372
Or email proposals to: mmlogan_at_ptd.net.

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Received on Thu Jun 15 2006 - 08:20:25 EDT