[ecrea] CFP: Graduate student papers for EMPIRE: A RETROSPECTIVE (deadline April 20)

>Call for Papers
>
>
>
>"Empire:  A Retrospective"
>
>
>
>The Second Biannual Faculty and Graduate Students Colloquium
>
>Organized by
>
>The Graduate Program for Cultural Studies at the University of Pittsburgh
>
>November 18-21 2010
>
>
>  This conference will address the 10th anniversary of the publication of
>Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri's seminal book Empire, the first volume of a
>trilogy that saw its completion in October 2009 with the publication of the
>third volume, Commonwealth.  The second volume, Multitudes, came out in
>2004.
>
>However, we are not italicizing the word "Empire" in the conference title
>because we want to address the questions raised by the books much more than
>glossing the texts themselves.  The response in the academic world to the
>trilogy has been extremely fertile, causing, among other things, a
>rediscovery of Italian political thought, a questioning of historical and
>cultural categories related to postmodernity, and the reframing of the
>political stakes implicit in theoretical interventions. The dialogue that
>other critics have opened with Negri and Hardt - sometimes sympathetic,
>sometimes skeptical or outright polemical - will also be a fundamental part
>of the conference.  Figures such as Jameson and Zizek are only the tip of
>the iceberg. Furthermore, current historical developments in the
>international arena, also directly  addressed in the trilogy, have pushed us
>in the last decade us to reflect once  more on the political and cultural
>form "empire", and  we feel there is no better moment for this discussion to
>take place.
>
>
>
>We are looking for graduate student papers that will address the following
>topics:
>
>
>
>*       How have the categories developed by Hardt and Negri inflected the
>critical approach to specific fields of study, such as cultural analysis,
>political theory or anthropological reflection?
>*       What traditions of thought are mobilized anew in Hardt and Negri's
>discourse?  How does this new reading of past texts generate new insights in
>current debates?
>*       What are the blind spots in the trilogy, in terms both of theory and
>of political commentary?  How can one deconstruct Hardt and Negri's
>discourse, and what is the advantage of engaging in this kind of critical
>dialogue with it?
>*       Are the international exempla of political engagement and struggle
>mentioned in Hardt and Negri's trilogy considered in a historically and
>theoretically useful manner?  How can specialists of each regional history
>benefit from the book's intervention?
>
>
>
>We need to receive 500- words abstracts by April 20, 2010.  All submissions
>should be attached via e-mail to the following address (cultural /at/ pitt.edu),
>with names and university affiliations.  The papers will be rendered
>anonymous for the review process.
>
>
>
>We will give our responses by May 10.  Those graduate student participants
>chosen from outside the University of Pittsburgh will receive a $300
>scholarship from the Graduate Program for Cultural Studies at the University
>of Pittsburgh in order to help defray traveling costs.
>
>
>
>Both Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri have agreed to give the final keynote
>address.
>
>The format of the conference will include 4 panels, each anchored by an
>external, invited scholar able to address authoritatively the issues at
>hand.
>
>We are looking forward to receive graduate student submissions at your
>earliest convenience.
>
>
>
>The whole CFP can be found on our website here:
>
>http://www.pitt.edu/~cultural/EMPIRE_CFP.htm
>
>
>
>

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Nico Carpentier (Phd)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Free University of Brussels
Centre for Studies on Media and Culture (CeMeSO)
Pleinlaan 2 - B-1050 Brussels - Belgium
T: ++ 32 (0)2-629.18.56
F: ++ 32 (0)2-629.36.84
Office: 5B.401a
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
European Communication Research and Education Association
Web: http://www.ecrea.eu
----------------------------
E-mail: (Nico.Carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
Web: http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~ncarpent/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------
ECREA-Mailing list
----------------
This mailing list is a free service from ECREA.
---
To unsubscribe, please visit http://www.ecrea.eu/mailinglist
---
ECREA - European Communication Research and Education Association
Postal address:
ECREA
Université Libre de Bruxelles
c/o Dept. of Information and Communication Sciences
CP123, avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50, b-1050 Bruxelles, Belgium
Email: (info /at/ ecrea.eu)
URL: http://www.ecrea.eu
----------------