[eccr] Conference: The Dromocratic Condition

>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 
><http://www.bergpublishers.com/uk/culture/culture_about.htm>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 (p.j.crosthwaite /at/ ncl.ac.uk) 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 
><http://www.visitnewcastlegateshead.com/conferenceViewer.php?confcode=NGCB%202314>conference 
>web site (http://www.dromocratic.visitnewcastlegateshead.com).
>
>

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Carpentier Nico (Phd)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Katholieke Universiteit Brussel - Catholic University of Brussels
Vrijheidslaan 17 - B-1081 Brussel - Belgium
T: ++ 32 (0)2-412.42.78
F: ++ 32 (0)2/412.42.00
Office: 4/0/18
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Free University of Brussels
Centre for Media Sociology (CeMeSO)
Pleinlaan 2 - B-1050 Brussels - Belgium
T: ++ 32 (0)2-629.18.30
F: ++ 32 (0)2-629.28.61
Office: 5B.454
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
European Consortium for Communication Research
Web: http://www.eccr.info
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-mail: (Nico.Carpentier /at/ kubrussel.ac.be)
Web: http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~ncarpent/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  


----------------
ECCR-Mailing list
---
To unsubscribe, send an email message to (majordomo /at/ listserv.vub.ac.be)
with in the body of the message (NOT in the subject): unsubscribe eccr
---
ECCR - European Consortium for Communications Research
Secretariat: P.O. Box 106, B-1210 Brussels 21, Belgium
Tel.: +32-2-412 42 78/47
Fax.: +32-2-412 42 00
Email: (freenet002 /at/ pi.be) or (Rico.Lie /at/ pi.be)
URL: http://www.eccr.info
----------------