Historical Materialism 2017 Conference

[jondwhite]

Quote:

*CALL FOR PAPERS*

*HISTORICAL MATERIALISM 2017 ANNUAL CONFERENCE*

*Revolutions Against /Capital/, Capital Against Revolutions?*

*Central London, 9-12 November 2017*

http://conference.historicalmaterialism.org/ [1]

 

Deadline for abstracts: 1 May 2017

 

One hundred years ago, hailing the Russian Revolution, Antonio Gramsci
characterised the Bolsheviks’ success as a ‘revolution
against /Capital/’. As against the interpretations of mechanical
‘Marxism’, the Russian Revolution was the ‘crucial proof’ that
revolution need not be postponed until the ‘proper’ historical
developments had occurred.
2017 will witness both the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution and
the 150th anniversary of the first publication of Marx’s /Capital/.
Fittingly, the journal /Historical Materialism/will celebrate its own
twentieth anniversary.
In his time, Gramsci qualified his title by arguing that his criticism was
directed at those who use ‘the Master’s works to draw up a superficial
interpretation, dictatorial statements which cannot be disputed’, by
contrast, he argues, the Bolsheviks ‘live out Marxist thought’. From its
inception, /Historical Materialism/ has been committed to a project of
collective research in critical Marxist theory which actively counters any
mechanical application of Marxism qua doctrine. How the Russian Revolution
was eventually lived out – with all of its aftershocks, reversals,
counter-revolutions, and ultimate defeat – also calls not just for a work
of memory but for one of theorisation.
We might view the alignment of these anniversaries, then, as disclosing the
changing fates of the Marxist tradition and its continued attempt to analyse
and transform the world. Especially once it is read against the grain of the
mechanical and determinist image affixed to it by many of the official
Marxisms of the 20th Century, and animated by the liberation movements that
followed in its wake, the work-in-progress that was /Capital/ seems vitally
relevant to an understanding of the forces at work in our crisis-ridden
present. The Russian Revolution, on the contrary, risks appearing as a
museum-piece or lifeless talisman. By retrieving Gramsci’s provocation, we
wish to unsettle the facile gesture that would praise Marxian theory all the
better to bury Marxist politics.
Gramsci also remarks that Marx ‘predicted the predictable’ but could not
predict the particular leaps and bounds human society would take. Surveying
today’s political landscape that seems especially true. Since 2008, we have
witnessed a continuing crisis of capitalism, contradictory revolutionary
upsurges – and brutal counterrevolutions – across the Middle East and
North Africa and a resurgent ‘populist’ right represented by Trump, the
right-wing elements of the Brexit campaign, the authoritarian turn in central
Europe and populist right wing politics in France; the power of Putin's
Russia and authoritarian state power in Turkey, Israel, Egypt and India. Even
the ‘pink tide’ of Latin America appears to be turning. Disturbingly, we
seem to face a wave of reaction, and in some domains a recrudescence of
fascism, much greater in scope and intensity than the revolutionary impetus
that preceded and sometimes occasioned it. There is a new virulence to the
politics of revanchist nationalism, ethno-racial supremacy, and aggressive
patriarchy, but its articulation to the imperatives of capital accumulation
or the politics of class remains a matter of much (necessary) debate.
This year’s Historical Materialism Conference seeks to use the ‘three
anniversaries’ as an opportunity to reflect on the history of the Marxist
tradition and its continued relevance to our historical moment. We welcome
papers which unpack the complex and under-appreciated legacies of
Marx’s /Capital/ and the Russian Revolution, exploring their global
scope, their impact on the racial and gendered histories of capitalism and
anti-capitalism, investigating their limits and sounding out their
yet-untapped potentialities. We also wish to apply the lessons of these
anniversaries to our current perilous state affairs: dissecting its political
and economic dynamics and tracing its possible revolutionary potentials. 

 

N.B. CFPs for streams running throughout the Conference will be circulated
soon.

 

Abstracts should be between 250 and 350 words. Panels should include
abstracts for all individual presentations.

 

First important notice: while we are very open to preconstituted panels, we
insist that all papers in such panels must have their own abstract and
speaker details. Do NOT simply send us a list of names please. We also
reserve the right to reject certain abstracts in such panels and to
reconstitute them with other speakers.

 

Second important announcement: all participants are expected to make every
reasonable effort to participate in THE ENTIRETY of the conference and be
able to have their paper at any slot therein. Any *absolutely
imperative* reasons why you cannot speak on day X or Y or at time X or Y
MUST BE COMMUNICATED TO US WHEN THE ABSTRACT IS SUBMITTED as we WILL NOT be
making last minute changes to the timetable as in previous years.
Participants are also expected to be *actually able to participate in the
conference* when they submit their abstracts. Of course, medical emergencies
or visa denials cannot be predicted, but all other cases of last minute
withdrawals cause us unnecessary stress and create chaotic conditions for a
final timetable, so all teaching arrangements or other possible impediments
must be checked when submitting, not when the timetable is already
established.

[1] http://conference.historicalmaterialism.org/

[Anonymous]

jondwhite wrote:

Quote:

 One hundred years ago, hailing the Russian Revolution, Antonio Gramscicharacterised the Bolsheviks’ success as a ‘revolutionagainst /Capital/’. As against the interpretations of mechanical‘Marxism’, the Russian Revolution was the ‘crucial proof’ thatrevolution need not be postponed until the ‘proper’ historicaldevelopments had occurred. 

I guess those 'mechanical' marxists have been proved correct. The material conditions for socialism did not exist.       

[jondwhite]

The deadline for the HM London Conference has been extended until 15 May.CALL FOR PAPERSRevolutions Against Capital, Capital Against Revolutions?http://conference.historicalmaterialism.org/index.php/hmlondon/annual14/schedConf/cfp

[jondwhite]

This is a few weeks away.

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