SSPP @ Historical Materialism in NYC?

Would any members be interested in joining me in putting together a panel to present at the Historical Materialism Conference, January 14-16, 2010 in NYC?  The due date is November 1, so we would have to work fast.  I was thinking about us maybe discussing the place of Marxian methodology in academic philosophy &/or political theory in the united states, but I am open to any suggestions.

Respond in comments below, please, and, if we get a core group, we can coordinate the submission by email.

thanks,

William Lewis, treasurer and e-board member

Vote on New Fee Structure

Vote on the following issue: New fee structure

The executive board would like to reduce our membership fees significantly.  We currently charge between $30 and $45 USD.  Our fees are necessary to support our events, administration costs, and publication schemes, but we are in the process of exploring alternative avenues for publication and society administration at this time.  For a more inclusive society, we move that regular membership be reduced to $5 USD per year.  We will offer a graduated fee structure for those who interested in becoming supporting members at $20 USD/ year, and, as a non-profit organization, we can accept donations as well.

We are asking members to vote YES or NO to “new fee structure” by email, since not everyone will be at SPEP for our annual business meeting. Please vote by 29 October, 2009 from the institutional address we have on file for you: information@sspp.us

CFP: Politics of Hope/Politics of Fear

FOR THE SOCIETY’S MEETING TO BE HELD IN CONJUNCTION WITH

The Eastern APA (American Philosophical Association) in 2010

The SSPP invites papers for two conference panels. We are seeking papers that address issues pertaining to:

Politics of Hope / Politics of Fear

Hobbes famously wrote, “The passion to be reckoned upon is fear.” The connection thus established between the state and fear has been the basis not only of various political regimes, but of political theory by philosophers such as Spinoza, Hegel, Arendt and Massumi. In an age of color-coded warning systems, terrorism, and pandemic disease, the essential link between fear and politics seems beyond dispute, and demands investigation: How does fear work? Does it always reinforce authority, as Hobbes imagined? Can there be a revolt of fear? What is the connection between the fear that the masses fear and the fear they evoke in the corridors of power? More importantly, what remains of fear’s opposite, hope, in this Hobbesian world? How can hope function in a world overrun by fear? Does hope require a vision of a better world? Is there anything beyond the relation of hope and fear, a politics beyond the vacillation of these affects? For this panel we invite papers that examine either the “politics of fear” or the “politics of hope” in terms of both broad theoretical discussions (including examinations of the politics of the affects and imagination) and specific investigations into regimes of fear and hope.

Complete papers of 3000-5000 words (that can be summarized and presented in 20-30 minutes) should be submitted for consideration for the 2010 meeting (deadline: March 1, 2010). The APA Conference scheduled for December 27-30, 2010, in Boston, MA.

Authors should include their name(s) and contact information on the cover page ONLY.

Papers should be emailed as attachments in Word or RTF format to: papers@sspp.us

CFP: Politics and Ontology

FOR THE SOCIETY’S MEETINGS TO BE HELD IN CONJUNCTION WITH

SPEP (Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) in 2010

The SSPP invites papers for two conference panels. We are seeking papers that address issues pertaining to:

Politics and Ontology

We seek to explore and challenge the hypothesis that all political theory presupposes an ontology. From the presumption of universal rationality, to the potency of class consciousness, to the privileges shaped by the social existence of race, gender and sexuality, political order always is or implies an ontological order. In many respects, the ontological question is the political question. Struggles for political change are as much about the expansion (or contraction) of shared ontological categories as they are about the rewriting of legislation or the redistribution of power and resources . The traditional allocation of rights, for instance, has been determined almost entirely on the basis of who, or what, one is presumed to be. While ontology and politics share a long, interconnected history, for much of modern history the connection between them has been downplayed or denied, since liberalism is premised on bracketing such supposedly insoluble and inherently conflictual metaphysical questions. In recent decades, however, this has changed. The explicit investigation of political ontology has taken center stage and, as a consequence, what we understand to be political or ontological has changed as well. Politics is no longer limited to the state, but permeates all of social existence to include the terrain of imagination, emotions, and representation. Ontology is no longer an ultimate foundation, but is constituted through relations of power and affects. In the works of such authors as Gilles Deleuze, Elizabeth Grosz, Giorgio Agamben, William Connolly, Alain Badiou, Jacques Rancière, Jean-Luc Nancy, Antonio Negri, and many others, the subject of political ontology has surfaced in an array of new formulations. For this panel, we invite papers that extend this investigation or that challenge this resurgence, both within the context of work that has already been done and in anticipation of work yet to be conceived.

Complete papers of 3000-5000 words (that can be summarized and presented in 20-30 minutes) should be submitted for consideration for the 2010 meeting (deadline: March 1, 2010). The SPEP Conference is scheduled for October 2010, in Montreal, Canada.

 Authors should include their name(s) and contact information on the cover page ONLY.

 Papers should be emailed as attachments in Word or RTF format to: papers@sspp.us

Upcoming SSPP Events

1.  2009 Meeting at SPEP: Thursday, 29 October, 2009

General information about the SPEP annual meeting can be found at www.spep.org.

PANEL: Anarchism & Philosophy

Time: 9 am – Noon

Location: Lincoln Room

Moderator: Cory Wimberly, University of Texas – Pan American

• “This Time I’m Serious: Critchley, Anarchism, and the Question of Violence,” Peter Gratton, University of San Diego
• “Demanding Impossible Justice: Thoughts on Post-Foundationalist Anarchism,” Michael Larsen, Point Park University
• “Anarchist Philosophy and Working Class Struggle: A Brief History and Commentary,” Nathan Jun, Midwestern State University
• “Anarchist Meditations,” Alejandro de Acosta, Southwestern University

 

2.  Meeting at APA Eastern: Wednesday, 30 December, 2000

General information about the APA Eastern Division meeting can be found at: http://www.apaonline.org/divisions/eastern/index.aspx

PANEL: Environmental Philosophy as Political Philosophy

Time: 1:30-4:30 p.m.

Location: TBA

Moderator: Trent Hamann, St. John’s University

• “Creative Evolution, Today: Bergson and Contemporary Biology,” Michael Vaughan, University of Warwick-United Kingdom
• “Between Walzer and Levinas: Political Viability as a Regulative Constraint for Environmental Philosophy,” J. Aaron Simmons, Hendrix College
• “Reviving a Global Ecological Feminism: An Ecopolitics of Homeplace,” Jennifer Scuro, College of New Rochelle
• “Environmental Political Philosophy: On the Future of the Nation State,” Julie Kuhlken (Misericordia University)

CFP: Political Realism in Comparative Perspective

CALL FOR PAPERS
POLITICAL REALISM IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE
PACIFIC DIVISION MEETING OF THE APA
MARCH 31 ­ APRIL 4, 2010
SAN FRANCISCO, CA

The International Society for the Comparative Study of Chinese and Western Philosophy (ISCWP) is seeking presentations on Hobbes, Machiavelli, or any major Western political thinker committed to developing political principles within constraints set by realistic accounts of human behavior and motivation. Topics might include (but are not limited to) Hobbesian views of human nature, moral or psychological egoism, or realist accounts of state legitimacy.

The chosen presenters will share a panel with experts in Chinese political philosophy, whose papers will focus on an influential school of political realists in China. All presenters must be open to giving comments and criticisms to the other panelists during the discussion period. However, no familiarity with Chinese philosophy is required or even expected.

Guidelines:
Submission Deadline: September 30, 2009.

1. To submit a paper proposal, please provide a 250-300 word abstract. Submissions need to include presenter’s name, institutional affiliation, paper title, and email address.

2. Announcement of papers and/or panels selected for presentation will be made in mid-October.

3. Address all submissions and inquires to: Professor Steve Angle, email: sangle@wesleyan.edu