[ecrea] Representing the Event: Power and Newness in Modernity

> Representing the Event: Power
> and Newness in Modernity
> A Joint One Day Conference Sponsored by Swansea University and
> Cardiff University 
>
> Date: November 1st 2010
>
> Location: Swansea University
>
> Time: 9 pm – 5pm
>
> Organisers: Dr. Peter Bloom (Swansea University), Dr. Casper
> Hoedemakers
> (Cardiff           
> University), Dr. Andrea Whittle (Cardiff University)
>
> Confirmed Speakers: 
> Keynote: Professor Ian Buchanan (Cardiff University)
> Dr. Peter Bloom (School of Business and Economics, Swansea
> University)
> Professor Marcus Doel (School of the Environment and Society, Swansea
> University)
> Dr. Heiko Feldner  (Cardiff Centre for Ideology Critique and Zizek
> Studies, Cardiff University)
> Dr. Alan Finlayson (Politics and International Relations, Swansea
> University)
> Dr. Richard G. Smith (School of the Environment and Society, Swansea
> University)
> Dr. Fabio Vighi (Cardiff Centre for Ideology Critique and Zizek Studies,
> Cardiff University)
>
> “I name ‘event’ a rupture of the laws of the situation...an event is not
> the realization/variation of a possibility that resides inside the
> situation. An event is the creation of a new possibility. An event
> changes not only the real, but also the possible. An event is at the
> level not of simple possibility, but at the level of possibility of
> possibility." 
> — Alain Badiou
>
> “Try and relax and enjoy the crisis”
> Ashleigh Brilliant
>
> In the space of a mere decade the 21st century has witnessed
> occurrences that few would have thought possible. September
> 11th and the War on Terror. The election of an African
> American US President. The Global Financial Collapse.  Indeed this
> new century is marked both socially and politically by the prospect of
> crisis and possibility in seemingly equal measure. Such themes of
> transformation link theoretically to critical theories and philosophies
> emphasizing the radical possibilities associated with dislocation,
> ranging from Deleuzian and more recently Badiouian notions of the “event”
> to Rancier’s idea of “politics” intervening against an existing order to
> Laclau and Mouffe’s concept of hegemonic dislocation. Each champions in
> their own way the ability of what Deleuze refers to as an “untimely”
> event to challenge and transform dominant understandings and social
> relations.  
> Yet whether celebrating or lamenting this apparent head long rush into a
> new age, there remains a fundamental question which must be asked. Are
> these crisis and seemingly unprecedented social, political and
> organisational happenings a true prelude to dramatic ideological and
> social transformation? In short have they served to redefine the possible
> in our midst? Or are they by contrast merely another way in which power,
> through the concrete strategies of politics, seeks to maintain a status
> quo and its accompanying ideologies. This is especially relevant in the
> onslaught of a ubiquitous 24/7 communication culture which thrives on
> ever new crisis while often leaving unquestioned the deeper beliefs and
> practices shaping our present reality. 
> A key consideration in this respect is how the popular representation of
> the “unforeseen” and “unprecedented”, instantiated in ideas of the
> “event” and “crisis”, acts equally to challenge and paradoxically
> stabilize dominant socio-political orders. This reflects upon broader
> issues of the ways the articulation of the “event”, manifested in
> continuous fears of crisis or more positively that which is construed as
> “historically unprecedented”, are important, perhaps necessary,
> components of modern organisations and in turn practices of organising
> themselves. Increasingly work across the social sciences is recognizing
> the dynamic rather than simply stable character of order. Within both
> mainstream and critical studies of politics scholars emphasize the
> importance concretely of social movements (Oberschall, 1974; Foweraker,
> 1995) and philosophically values of “agonism” (Mouffe,   2005;
> Connolly, 2008) for stabilizing social relations.  This perspective
> echoes organisational studies revealing how forms of resistance and
> dis-identification reinforce rather than simply challenge power (Fleming
> and Spicer, 2003; Contu, 2008). Further, institutions themselves are more
> and more understood as never purely “fixed, but in motion, never resting
> and constantly trembling” (Linstead and Thanem, 2007). Finally, theorists
> are illuminating the deeper relation of the social’s fundamental
> contingency with the phenomena of order and ideological domination (Bloom
> and Dallyn, 2011).
> This conference explores how ideas of the event are portrayed within mass
> culture for better understanding its function in structuring modern
> identity construction and social relations. Themes include
>
> Re-thinking the theoretical relationship between order and event,
> specifically as related to themes of identity and ideology.
> Examining the event in terms of popular representation of “crisis” and
> the “new” 
> Assessing the role of the “event” symbolically for shaping organisational
> practices and behaviour 
> Exploring themes of pluralism as it relates to the possibility and
> representation of the event
> Empirically assessing how idea of the event is deployed tactically within
> strategies of organisational control and social regulation.
> Understanding how public presentations of crisis and event are shaping
> modern narratives of progress and processes of ideological
> domination.
> Relating these discussions to concrete issues such as the global
> financial downturn, climate change, and contemporary democratic
> politics.
>
> To express interest in attending this event as an attendee please contact
> Peter Bloom (School of Business and Economics, Swansea University)
> at  HYPERLINK
> "
> mailto:(p.n.bloom /at/ swansea.ac.uk)"
> (p.n.bloom /at/ swansea.ac.uk).
> Spaces are limited thus first come, first served principles
> apply.