Iwona Janicka | Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (original) (raw)

Monographs by Iwona Janicka

This book provides a set of conceptual tools offering a theoretical model of ‘slow’ social transf... more This book provides a set of conceptual tools offering a theoretical model of ‘slow’ social transformation, a modality of social change that explicitly differs from the irruptive model of a revolution or a paradigm-changing event. Instead, it proposes the two concepts of mimetic contagion and solidarity with singularity which allow us to understand what is currently happening in the activist milieu. By bringing together some of today’s most important thinkers, including Judith Butler, René Girard, Alain Badiou, and Peter Sloterdijk this book suggests a philosophical lens to look at the alternative living projects that contemporary left-wing activists undertake in practice. At the heart of their projects lie the pressing concerns that these contemporary philosophers currently debate.

Breaking from the conceptual apparatus of the Marxian tradition, Theorizing Contemporary Anarchism takes Hegelian concepts and feeds them through the thought of contemporary theorists in order to form an original, productive, and inclusive scaffold with which to understand today’s world of social and political movements.

Journal articles by Iwona Janicka

Textual Practice, 2023

This article offers an in-depth analysis of the concept of translation in Bruno Latour’s oeuvre –... more This article offers an in-depth analysis of the concept of translation in Bruno Latour’s oeuvre – an ambiguous and constantly morphing term. It considers the various conceptual reformulations of translation throughout his writing, concentrating on its fundamental importance for the operation of his modes of existence. A special emphasis is put on the influence of A. J. Greimas’s semiotics on Latour’s theoretical framework. The aim here is to trace how translation is different from transformation, and why it remains a core concept in Latour’s work, despite the fact that he strays far beyond the confines of linguistics alone in his theorisation.

Theory, Culture & Society, 2024

In this interview, Vinciane Despret discusses the importance of Bruno Latour to her work. In part... more In this interview, Vinciane Despret discusses the importance of Bruno Latour to her work. In particular, she addresses the questions of methodology. She examines why it is necessary to invent a new method for each new object we study and how we can become more attentive as scientists, especially those specialising in ethology, to the ways in which humans and non-humans are interested in each other. Finally, Despret considers how we can inherit from Bruno Latour's work for our future thinking.

Migrating Minds: Journal of Cultural Cosmopolitanism, 2024

An important shift is taking place in environmental philosophy with regard to one of the field's ... more An important shift is taking place in environmental philosophy with regard to one of the field's most fundamental concepts. The notion of ecological "sustainability" is being slowly replaced by the notion of the "habitability" of Earth in much contemporary discussion of environmentalism. This article focuses on two philosophies of habitability that have significantly impacted our thinking about climate change in recent years: planetarity and cosmopolitics. The two frameworks are frequently combined in various formulations of a more-than-human politics. Yet the philosophical paradigms, and their political implications, are, in fact, radically different, as this analysis will demonstrate. These crucial differences are amply evidenced through a comparative analysis of Dipesh Chakrabarty's recent writing on planetarity and Isabelle Stengers' work on cosmopolitics. The article argues, ultimately, that planetarity and cosmopolitics are incompatible. Further, the adoption of either approach corresponds to a specific philosophical and political choice that materially shapes the ways in which we think about politics with nonhumans in the 21 st century.

Parrhesia. A Journal of Critical Philosophy, 2023

The article examines the internal tensions in Jacques Rancière’s conceptualization of equality in... more The article examines the internal tensions in Jacques Rancière’s conceptualization of equality in order to explore the possibility of including nonhumans in his politics. It demonstrates how Rancière sketches the contours of two different equalities, one in human politics and the other in literature, and how these equalities exponentially multiply and contradict each other. The first part of the article focuses on the diverse meanings and paradoxes of equality in Rancière’s writing on human politics. Notably, it points out a paradox with regard to Rancière’s interpretation of Aristotelian logos that, to some extent, undercuts his explicit rejection of nonhumans as possible political subjects. In the second part, the article argues that Rancière’s turn to literature to deal with a ‘politics of matter’ was perhaps not necessary, if we consider the parameters of his philosophical framework. The article argues that, if we take Rancière’s concept of politics to its logical conclusion, we have to include nonhumans too. It shows how the internal tensions between various paradigms of equality can be productively explored for nonhumans and politics alike. The main claim of this article is that Rancière’s philosophy, with its tacit assumptions and internal logic, can be made to think nonhuman politics without a detour into literature.

Humanities 9.4, 123, 2020

In recent years, scholars in broadly considered posthumanities have attempted to reconceptualize ... more In recent years, scholars in broadly considered posthumanities have attempted to reconceptualize politics in order to better account for the role of nonhuman entities in political processes. In this context, the article instantiates a dialogue between Jacques Rancière and Bruno Latour on one of the fundamental questions of politics, that is, the question of logos. Even though Latour and Rancière differ considerably in their theoretical and political orientations, each of them revisits the question of 'who can speak?' in order to examine the ways in which speechless entities gain a voice, thereby becoming intelligible as political entities. In this article, I confront Rancière's reservations about nonhumans as political agents, showing how Latour offers pathways beyond Rancière's apparent bias towards the human, a bias that is, I argue, fundamentally contradictory to the latter's broader conceptualization of politics as aesthetics. I formulate a Latourian rebuttal of Rancière's reservations and analyse the utility of Latour's thought in overcoming Rancière's limitations. Latour's reorientation of logos towards the concept of 'articulation' makes it possible to evacuate, to some extent, the human exceptionalism from Rancière's philosophy. Combining Latour with Rancière permits to fundamentally rearticulate the parameters of left-wing thinking about nonhumans.

Anarchist Studies 24.1. (2016): 62-84

The question of solidarity is an important one for anarchism. However, to date solidarity as a co... more The question of solidarity is an important one for anarchism. However, to date solidarity as a concept has not been given the philosophical attention it deserves. In this paper I wish to fill in this gap in the anarchist literature and discuss solidarity from the perspective of Peter Sloterdijk's work. I will examine the key features of Sloterdijk's theory of spheres and claim that his spherology can be useful for thinking about solidarity in the context of anarchism. Sloterdijk's work also allows for a theoretical support of the anarchist idea of slow, everyday transformation that is often contrasted with its main counter model for social change – revolution. It also offers an alternative to the usual philosophical reference that anarchists turn to in order to describe anarchist collectives, that is, Félix Guattari and Gilles Deleuze's rhizomes. Although not an anarchist himself, Sloterdijk provides a theoretical framework to understand and constructively think about anarchism and contemporary anarchist movements.

Contagion: Journal of Violence, Mimesis and Culture (Spring 2015), pp. 43-64

This article attempts to respond to the fractional presence of feminist discourse around René Gir... more This article attempts to respond to the fractional presence of feminist discourse around René Girard’s theory of mimetic desire. First I briefly examine the relevant critical stands on mimesis, and then proceed to rehabilitate it for feminism via an analysis of Judith Butler’s theory of performative gender. By bringing together selected aspects of Girard and Butler’s work, it is possible to build a constructive dialogue between the two thinkers. Girard is concerned with giving an account of conflictual mimetic desire in social and cultural formation. I follow a slightly different direction and concentrate on non-acquisitive, peaceful mimesis in identity formation, particularly with regard to gender. What is more, I treat gender as a particular case of mimesis starting from an assumption that we perform gender as we perform mimesis. This acts as a kind of intellectual experiment that allows me to explore the complexities of the relationship between gender and mimetic desire. The theories of Butler and Girard can be productively read together in order to explore new ways of thinking about gender. I show that the “failure” in mimesis, that is the constant approximation to the perfect imitation, guarantees unrestricted differentiation in gender, for which Butler argues. This combination of Girard and Butler aims to open up Girardian theory to exchanges with feminism, queer and transgender studies. In the second part of this article I present a case study featuring Sigmund Freud’s masculine “little girl.” There I demonstrate how a Girardian reading solves theoretical problems that both Freud and Butler encounter in interpreting this masculine “little girl.” I argue that Girard’s theory of mimesis offers Butler new possibilities for thinking about gender and identification. My claim is that the psychoanalytical framework that Butler draws upon is the cause of theoretical impasses that she encounters and that Girard’s theory allows for overcoming these deadlocks.

Paragraph: A Journal of Modern Critical Theory 36 (3): 361–75. , Nov 2013

The purpose of this article is twofold. First, it aims to confront Hegel’s ideas on the interacti... more The purpose of this article is twofold. First, it aims to confront Hegel’s ideas on the interaction between universality, particularity and singularity with those of Butler and to show that Butler’s universal is dynamic and infinitely self-renewing. Second, it aims to engage with Butler’s politics of translation and to demonstrate how a Levinasian perspective on Hegelian dialectics changes the functioning of the universal. In relation to this claim, the article will also demonstrate how the structural failure in translation and performativity allows for the constant circulation of the universal and, as a consequence, brings about social and political transformation.

Romanica Silesiana. Gendered Constructions (8): 138–150. , 2013

Adolphe Belot’s bestseller Mademoiselle Giraud, ma femme (1870) is a striking example of narratol... more Adolphe Belot’s bestseller Mademoiselle Giraud, ma femme (1870) is a striking example of narratological tension between implied readers and the narrator. Adrien’s narrative, recounting the story of his unhappy marriage to a lesbian Paul Giraud, is significantly influenced by homosocial bonds with the male reading public - the implied readers of the text. Conscious of clear expectations towards a heterosexual man and a husband, the narrator reverts to hyper-heterosexual narration in order to give legitimacy to his story and his desires. However, his narrative strategies backfire on him and, in consequence, undermine his credibility. The paper shows how tension in the choice of narrative tools subverts the blatantly anti-lesbian message of the text. By using René Girard’s theory of triangular desire and mimesis, the article also proves that the narrator is a male lesbian who had to subscribe to 19th century convention of a husband.

Welt der Slaven: Internationale Halbjahresschrift für Slavistik LV (1): 45–66. , 2010

Fredric Jameson, in his Foreword to the English translation of Greimas’ “On Meaning”, states that... more Fredric Jameson, in his Foreword to the English translation of Greimas’ “On Meaning”, states that “the Greimassian semiotics…[is], pragmatically, richly usable and full of practical development” (in Greimas 1987, xxii). How valid this statement is can be partly recognized in the following article. Its principal aim is to explore the conditions of discourse in Bruno Schulz’s collection of short stories entitled “Sklepy Cynamonowe”. For this purpose I work with the semiotic theory developed by Algirdas Julien Greimas and apply it to the selected stories by Bruno Schulz: “Ptaki” and “Karakony”. I demonstrate how Schulz’s fiction explores the elementary structures of signification proposed by Greimas, how it transgresses them and effectively subverts the apparent unity of the model. This is demonstrated on the Father figure.

Book Reviews by Iwona Janicka

Anarchist Studies, 2020

Review of Jon Asimakopoulos and Richard Gilman-Opalsky (eds.). Against Capital in Twenty-First-Ce... more Review of Jon Asimakopoulos and Richard Gilman-Opalsky (eds.). Against Capital in Twenty-First-Century: A Reader of Radical Undercurrents (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2018), Anarchist Studies 28.1: 103. DOI:10.3898/AS.28.1.06

Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, Dec 23, 2014

Call for Papers by Iwona Janicka

Call for Papers: Rethinking Wild Europe: European Perspectives on Wilderness, Rewilding and Biodi... more Call for Papers: Rethinking Wild Europe: European Perspectives on Wilderness, Rewilding and Biodiversity Conservation

The International Society for Environmental Ethics (ISEE) and the Center for Environmental and Technology Ethics - Prague (CETE-P) joint Winter Workshop 2025

7-8 February 2025, University of Vienna, Austria

Migrating Minds: Journal of Cultural Cosmopolitanism invites submissions for its first regular is... more Migrating Minds: Journal of Cultural Cosmopolitanism invites submissions for its first regular issue, 1 (1), Spring 2024.

Migrating Minds: Journal of Cultural Cosmopolitanism is a new peer-reviewed, open-access scholarly journal devoted to interdisciplinary research on cultural cosmopolitanism from a comparative perspective. It provides a unique, international forum for innovative critical approaches to cosmopolitanism emerging from literatures, cultures, media, and the arts in dialogue with other areas of the humanities and social sciences, across temporal, spatial, and linguistic boundaries. By placing creative expressions at the center of a wide range of contemporary and historical intercultural relationships, the journal explores forms of belonging and spaces of difference and dissidence that challenge both universalist and exclusionary paradigms.

Confirmed keynotes: Jane Bennett, Alexis Shotwell, Nicole Seymour Confirmed invited speakers: ... more Confirmed keynotes: Jane Bennett, Alexis Shotwell, Nicole Seymour

Confirmed invited speakers: Martin Savransky, Matthew Adams, Andy Flack, Michelle Bastian

The interdisciplinary conference aims to examine various sensations generated by natural environments in an era of climate change. It intends to explore how ecological mutation reconfigures the way we feel, sense, desire and what long term effects these changes have on mental health of individuals and communities. How do we sustain ourselves, mentally and emotionally, when our environments are destroyed? How do we compose more-than-human collectives that provide favourable conditions not only for survival but also for thriving for humans and nonhumans alike?

The conference will take place on 13-14 October 2022 at Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies in Denmark.

Funding for travel & accommodation available for early-career and untenured academics travelling from Europe.

Link: https://aias.au.dk/events/aias-conference-earth-sensations

5 – 7 July 2021, Prague, Czech Republic (online) Organiser: Petr Kouba The conference will ... more 5 – 7 July 2021, Prague, Czech Republic (online)

Organiser: Petr Kouba

The conference will address the complex relation between territory and population, thus reflecting on the broad philosophical, political, and anthropological context of Deleuze´s and Guattari´s work. It will investigate the territorial migrations of peoples, groups, images, and concepts. It will also explore problems of social and symbolic condensations as well as problems of depopulation related to the deterritorialization of inhabited territories. Notably, the conference will focus on the historical experience of Central Europe and its historical traumas that re-emerge in today´s global context.

Confirmed keynote speakers: Catherine Malabou, Alain Badiou, Etienne Balibar, Arjun Appadurai, Miguel de Beistegui

This book provides a set of conceptual tools offering a theoretical model of ‘slow’ social transf... more This book provides a set of conceptual tools offering a theoretical model of ‘slow’ social transformation, a modality of social change that explicitly differs from the irruptive model of a revolution or a paradigm-changing event. Instead, it proposes the two concepts of mimetic contagion and solidarity with singularity which allow us to understand what is currently happening in the activist milieu. By bringing together some of today’s most important thinkers, including Judith Butler, René Girard, Alain Badiou, and Peter Sloterdijk this book suggests a philosophical lens to look at the alternative living projects that contemporary left-wing activists undertake in practice. At the heart of their projects lie the pressing concerns that these contemporary philosophers currently debate.

Breaking from the conceptual apparatus of the Marxian tradition, Theorizing Contemporary Anarchism takes Hegelian concepts and feeds them through the thought of contemporary theorists in order to form an original, productive, and inclusive scaffold with which to understand today’s world of social and political movements.

Textual Practice, 2023

This article offers an in-depth analysis of the concept of translation in Bruno Latour’s oeuvre –... more This article offers an in-depth analysis of the concept of translation in Bruno Latour’s oeuvre – an ambiguous and constantly morphing term. It considers the various conceptual reformulations of translation throughout his writing, concentrating on its fundamental importance for the operation of his modes of existence. A special emphasis is put on the influence of A. J. Greimas’s semiotics on Latour’s theoretical framework. The aim here is to trace how translation is different from transformation, and why it remains a core concept in Latour’s work, despite the fact that he strays far beyond the confines of linguistics alone in his theorisation.

Theory, Culture & Society, 2024

In this interview, Vinciane Despret discusses the importance of Bruno Latour to her work. In part... more In this interview, Vinciane Despret discusses the importance of Bruno Latour to her work. In particular, she addresses the questions of methodology. She examines why it is necessary to invent a new method for each new object we study and how we can become more attentive as scientists, especially those specialising in ethology, to the ways in which humans and non-humans are interested in each other. Finally, Despret considers how we can inherit from Bruno Latour's work for our future thinking.

Migrating Minds: Journal of Cultural Cosmopolitanism, 2024

An important shift is taking place in environmental philosophy with regard to one of the field's ... more An important shift is taking place in environmental philosophy with regard to one of the field's most fundamental concepts. The notion of ecological "sustainability" is being slowly replaced by the notion of the "habitability" of Earth in much contemporary discussion of environmentalism. This article focuses on two philosophies of habitability that have significantly impacted our thinking about climate change in recent years: planetarity and cosmopolitics. The two frameworks are frequently combined in various formulations of a more-than-human politics. Yet the philosophical paradigms, and their political implications, are, in fact, radically different, as this analysis will demonstrate. These crucial differences are amply evidenced through a comparative analysis of Dipesh Chakrabarty's recent writing on planetarity and Isabelle Stengers' work on cosmopolitics. The article argues, ultimately, that planetarity and cosmopolitics are incompatible. Further, the adoption of either approach corresponds to a specific philosophical and political choice that materially shapes the ways in which we think about politics with nonhumans in the 21 st century.

Parrhesia. A Journal of Critical Philosophy, 2023

The article examines the internal tensions in Jacques Rancière’s conceptualization of equality in... more The article examines the internal tensions in Jacques Rancière’s conceptualization of equality in order to explore the possibility of including nonhumans in his politics. It demonstrates how Rancière sketches the contours of two different equalities, one in human politics and the other in literature, and how these equalities exponentially multiply and contradict each other. The first part of the article focuses on the diverse meanings and paradoxes of equality in Rancière’s writing on human politics. Notably, it points out a paradox with regard to Rancière’s interpretation of Aristotelian logos that, to some extent, undercuts his explicit rejection of nonhumans as possible political subjects. In the second part, the article argues that Rancière’s turn to literature to deal with a ‘politics of matter’ was perhaps not necessary, if we consider the parameters of his philosophical framework. The article argues that, if we take Rancière’s concept of politics to its logical conclusion, we have to include nonhumans too. It shows how the internal tensions between various paradigms of equality can be productively explored for nonhumans and politics alike. The main claim of this article is that Rancière’s philosophy, with its tacit assumptions and internal logic, can be made to think nonhuman politics without a detour into literature.

Humanities 9.4, 123, 2020

In recent years, scholars in broadly considered posthumanities have attempted to reconceptualize ... more In recent years, scholars in broadly considered posthumanities have attempted to reconceptualize politics in order to better account for the role of nonhuman entities in political processes. In this context, the article instantiates a dialogue between Jacques Rancière and Bruno Latour on one of the fundamental questions of politics, that is, the question of logos. Even though Latour and Rancière differ considerably in their theoretical and political orientations, each of them revisits the question of 'who can speak?' in order to examine the ways in which speechless entities gain a voice, thereby becoming intelligible as political entities. In this article, I confront Rancière's reservations about nonhumans as political agents, showing how Latour offers pathways beyond Rancière's apparent bias towards the human, a bias that is, I argue, fundamentally contradictory to the latter's broader conceptualization of politics as aesthetics. I formulate a Latourian rebuttal of Rancière's reservations and analyse the utility of Latour's thought in overcoming Rancière's limitations. Latour's reorientation of logos towards the concept of 'articulation' makes it possible to evacuate, to some extent, the human exceptionalism from Rancière's philosophy. Combining Latour with Rancière permits to fundamentally rearticulate the parameters of left-wing thinking about nonhumans.

Anarchist Studies 24.1. (2016): 62-84

The question of solidarity is an important one for anarchism. However, to date solidarity as a co... more The question of solidarity is an important one for anarchism. However, to date solidarity as a concept has not been given the philosophical attention it deserves. In this paper I wish to fill in this gap in the anarchist literature and discuss solidarity from the perspective of Peter Sloterdijk's work. I will examine the key features of Sloterdijk's theory of spheres and claim that his spherology can be useful for thinking about solidarity in the context of anarchism. Sloterdijk's work also allows for a theoretical support of the anarchist idea of slow, everyday transformation that is often contrasted with its main counter model for social change – revolution. It also offers an alternative to the usual philosophical reference that anarchists turn to in order to describe anarchist collectives, that is, Félix Guattari and Gilles Deleuze's rhizomes. Although not an anarchist himself, Sloterdijk provides a theoretical framework to understand and constructively think about anarchism and contemporary anarchist movements.

Contagion: Journal of Violence, Mimesis and Culture (Spring 2015), pp. 43-64

This article attempts to respond to the fractional presence of feminist discourse around René Gir... more This article attempts to respond to the fractional presence of feminist discourse around René Girard’s theory of mimetic desire. First I briefly examine the relevant critical stands on mimesis, and then proceed to rehabilitate it for feminism via an analysis of Judith Butler’s theory of performative gender. By bringing together selected aspects of Girard and Butler’s work, it is possible to build a constructive dialogue between the two thinkers. Girard is concerned with giving an account of conflictual mimetic desire in social and cultural formation. I follow a slightly different direction and concentrate on non-acquisitive, peaceful mimesis in identity formation, particularly with regard to gender. What is more, I treat gender as a particular case of mimesis starting from an assumption that we perform gender as we perform mimesis. This acts as a kind of intellectual experiment that allows me to explore the complexities of the relationship between gender and mimetic desire. The theories of Butler and Girard can be productively read together in order to explore new ways of thinking about gender. I show that the “failure” in mimesis, that is the constant approximation to the perfect imitation, guarantees unrestricted differentiation in gender, for which Butler argues. This combination of Girard and Butler aims to open up Girardian theory to exchanges with feminism, queer and transgender studies. In the second part of this article I present a case study featuring Sigmund Freud’s masculine “little girl.” There I demonstrate how a Girardian reading solves theoretical problems that both Freud and Butler encounter in interpreting this masculine “little girl.” I argue that Girard’s theory of mimesis offers Butler new possibilities for thinking about gender and identification. My claim is that the psychoanalytical framework that Butler draws upon is the cause of theoretical impasses that she encounters and that Girard’s theory allows for overcoming these deadlocks.

Paragraph: A Journal of Modern Critical Theory 36 (3): 361–75. , Nov 2013

The purpose of this article is twofold. First, it aims to confront Hegel’s ideas on the interacti... more The purpose of this article is twofold. First, it aims to confront Hegel’s ideas on the interaction between universality, particularity and singularity with those of Butler and to show that Butler’s universal is dynamic and infinitely self-renewing. Second, it aims to engage with Butler’s politics of translation and to demonstrate how a Levinasian perspective on Hegelian dialectics changes the functioning of the universal. In relation to this claim, the article will also demonstrate how the structural failure in translation and performativity allows for the constant circulation of the universal and, as a consequence, brings about social and political transformation.

Romanica Silesiana. Gendered Constructions (8): 138–150. , 2013

Adolphe Belot’s bestseller Mademoiselle Giraud, ma femme (1870) is a striking example of narratol... more Adolphe Belot’s bestseller Mademoiselle Giraud, ma femme (1870) is a striking example of narratological tension between implied readers and the narrator. Adrien’s narrative, recounting the story of his unhappy marriage to a lesbian Paul Giraud, is significantly influenced by homosocial bonds with the male reading public - the implied readers of the text. Conscious of clear expectations towards a heterosexual man and a husband, the narrator reverts to hyper-heterosexual narration in order to give legitimacy to his story and his desires. However, his narrative strategies backfire on him and, in consequence, undermine his credibility. The paper shows how tension in the choice of narrative tools subverts the blatantly anti-lesbian message of the text. By using René Girard’s theory of triangular desire and mimesis, the article also proves that the narrator is a male lesbian who had to subscribe to 19th century convention of a husband.

Welt der Slaven: Internationale Halbjahresschrift für Slavistik LV (1): 45–66. , 2010

Fredric Jameson, in his Foreword to the English translation of Greimas’ “On Meaning”, states that... more Fredric Jameson, in his Foreword to the English translation of Greimas’ “On Meaning”, states that “the Greimassian semiotics…[is], pragmatically, richly usable and full of practical development” (in Greimas 1987, xxii). How valid this statement is can be partly recognized in the following article. Its principal aim is to explore the conditions of discourse in Bruno Schulz’s collection of short stories entitled “Sklepy Cynamonowe”. For this purpose I work with the semiotic theory developed by Algirdas Julien Greimas and apply it to the selected stories by Bruno Schulz: “Ptaki” and “Karakony”. I demonstrate how Schulz’s fiction explores the elementary structures of signification proposed by Greimas, how it transgresses them and effectively subverts the apparent unity of the model. This is demonstrated on the Father figure.

Call for Papers: Rethinking Wild Europe: European Perspectives on Wilderness, Rewilding and Biodi... more Call for Papers: Rethinking Wild Europe: European Perspectives on Wilderness, Rewilding and Biodiversity Conservation

The International Society for Environmental Ethics (ISEE) and the Center for Environmental and Technology Ethics - Prague (CETE-P) joint Winter Workshop 2025

7-8 February 2025, University of Vienna, Austria

Migrating Minds: Journal of Cultural Cosmopolitanism invites submissions for its first regular is... more Migrating Minds: Journal of Cultural Cosmopolitanism invites submissions for its first regular issue, 1 (1), Spring 2024.

Migrating Minds: Journal of Cultural Cosmopolitanism is a new peer-reviewed, open-access scholarly journal devoted to interdisciplinary research on cultural cosmopolitanism from a comparative perspective. It provides a unique, international forum for innovative critical approaches to cosmopolitanism emerging from literatures, cultures, media, and the arts in dialogue with other areas of the humanities and social sciences, across temporal, spatial, and linguistic boundaries. By placing creative expressions at the center of a wide range of contemporary and historical intercultural relationships, the journal explores forms of belonging and spaces of difference and dissidence that challenge both universalist and exclusionary paradigms.

Confirmed keynotes: Jane Bennett, Alexis Shotwell, Nicole Seymour Confirmed invited speakers: ... more Confirmed keynotes: Jane Bennett, Alexis Shotwell, Nicole Seymour

Confirmed invited speakers: Martin Savransky, Matthew Adams, Andy Flack, Michelle Bastian

The interdisciplinary conference aims to examine various sensations generated by natural environments in an era of climate change. It intends to explore how ecological mutation reconfigures the way we feel, sense, desire and what long term effects these changes have on mental health of individuals and communities. How do we sustain ourselves, mentally and emotionally, when our environments are destroyed? How do we compose more-than-human collectives that provide favourable conditions not only for survival but also for thriving for humans and nonhumans alike?

The conference will take place on 13-14 October 2022 at Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies in Denmark.

Funding for travel & accommodation available for early-career and untenured academics travelling from Europe.

Link: https://aias.au.dk/events/aias-conference-earth-sensations

5 – 7 July 2021, Prague, Czech Republic (online) Organiser: Petr Kouba The conference will ... more 5 – 7 July 2021, Prague, Czech Republic (online)

Organiser: Petr Kouba

The conference will address the complex relation between territory and population, thus reflecting on the broad philosophical, political, and anthropological context of Deleuze´s and Guattari´s work. It will investigate the territorial migrations of peoples, groups, images, and concepts. It will also explore problems of social and symbolic condensations as well as problems of depopulation related to the deterritorialization of inhabited territories. Notably, the conference will focus on the historical experience of Central Europe and its historical traumas that re-emerge in today´s global context.

Confirmed keynote speakers: Catherine Malabou, Alain Badiou, Etienne Balibar, Arjun Appadurai, Miguel de Beistegui

To take place on 22-23 January 2016 at Hannover Institute for Philosophical Research, Germany A... more To take place on 22-23 January 2016 at Hannover Institute for Philosophical Research, Germany

Abstract submission: by 15 October 2015
Notifications: by 1 November 2015

Programme and further details: https://cetep.eu/rethinking-wild-europe/ This conference addresse... more Programme and further details: https://cetep.eu/rethinking-wild-europe/

This conference addresses the ethics and narratives surrounding wilderness, wildness, rewilding, and ecological restoration in Europe. We aim to assess the impact of these concepts and approaches on the European landscape, which has historically been a hybrid mixture of wildlife and human culture.

Organisers: Martin Crowley (Cambridge) and Emily Apter (NYU) Recent work in philosophy and socia... more Organisers: Martin Crowley (Cambridge) and Emily Apter (NYU)

Recent work in philosophy and social thought – and new French philosophy in particular – has examined the relation between ontology and the financialization of existence, focusing on notions of measured life, and its antithesis: that which is unaccountable, non-capitalized, non-optimized, non-transcendent, non-equivalent or untranslatable as a measure of economic, political and existential value. This free conference aims to recognize and analyse this body of work as a significant social and intellectual phenomenon, and to probe and develop its potential for understanding the forces shaping contemporary social existence.