Just published: Graham Adams, "Christ and the Other: In Dialogue with Hick and Newbigin" (Ashgate, October 2010):
www.ashgatepublishing.com/default.aspx?page=637&calcTitle=1&title_id=9967&edition_id=12703
Publisher's description: "How should we relate to 'others' – those within a particular tradition, those of different traditions, and those who are oppressed? In the light of these anxieties, and building on the work of Andrew Shanks, this book offers a vision of Christ as 'the Shaken One', rooted in community with others. Shaped through dialogue with the theologies of John Hick and Lesslie Newbigin, Adams urges Christian communities to attend more deeply to the demands of ecumenical, dialogical and political theologies, to embody an ever greater 'solidarity of others' – a quality of community better demonstrating Christlike 'other-regard'."
Endorsement: "Adams reviews the Christological thinking of two well-known figureheads of the debate on theological pluralism (John Hick) and Christian exclusivism (Lesslie Newbigin) with empathy, but not without criticism. In their ambition to universalize their particular visions of Jesus/Christ, both show in fact some sectarian tendencies. Very different, however, from the partisanship that characterizes both camps of the discussion, Adams enters into a theological conversation with both of them – a conversation, interestingly, that Hick and Newbigin themselves, though being active at the same time and in the same city, never had. The outcome is a Christology which is serious about decolonizing universalist concepts such as 'truth' and 'humanity', having open membranes towards the otherness around it and, inevitably, is resistant to the temptation of closure. Like all good theology, Adams' theological proposal does not lead us to God but to ourselves and to those around us." (Werner Ustorf, University of Birmingham)
Graham Adams is a minister with Lees Street Congregational Church, Manchester, and Training Development and Advocacy Enabler with the Congregational Federation. He holds a PhD from the University of Leeds.
31 December 2010
Book: The City of Translation: Poetry and Ideology in Nineteenth-Century Colombia
José María Rodríguez García, "The City of Translation: Poetry and Ideology in Nineteenth-Century Colombia" (Palgrave Macmillan, August 2010):
http://us.macmillan.com/thecityoftranslation
Publisher's description: "The two principal questions that The City of Translation sets out to answer are: how did poetry, philology, catechesis, and literary translation legitimate a coterie of right-wing literati's [sic] rise to power in Colombia? And how did these men proceed to dismantle a long-standing liberal-democratic state without derogating basic constitutional freedoms? To answer those questions, José María Rodríguez García investigates the emergence, development, and decline of what he calls 'the reactionary city of translation' – a variation on, and a correction to, Ángel Rama's understanding of the nineteenth-century 'lettered city' as a primarily liberal and modernizing project. The City of Translation makes the tropes of 'translatio' the conceptual nucleus of a comprehensive analysis that cuts across academic disciplines, ranging from political philosophy and the history of concepts to the relationship of literature to religious doctrine and the law."
The last chapter of the book is titled "Conclusion: On Lettered Cities, Political Theologies, and the Writing of Lyric".
Endorsements: "Few books deserve to be described as necessary. This one does. Rodríguez García brings remarkable rigor and insight to his examination of the nineteenth-century debates that defined the first decades of the Colombian republic. Particularly significant are his penetrating reconstructions of conservative thought, a much neglected area since 'progressive' historians often seem more interested in finding antecedents for their own ideas rather than taking seriously the arguments of Catholic imbued anti-liberalism. He also brings remarkable insight to the ways that notions of proper grammatical usage and belle-lettriste literature were early marshaled to support conservative, hierarchical notions of society and government. In sum, this is an excellent book and a major contribution to nineteenth-century studies." (Nicolas Shumway, Rice University)
"The City of Translation elucidates the complex strategies of the reactionary Colombian political elite to usher in new legislation under the guise of a homogenizing national project. The author's keen insights on the pivotal role of lyrical production, translation (in theory and practice), and the mediating agency of the translator/lyricist in political objectives constitute an outstanding contribution to Latin American intellectual history, one that will compel us to expand our understanding of the term 'foundational fictions.'" (Carlos J. Alonso, Columbia University)
Spanish-born José María Rodríguez García is Associate Professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies at Duke University.
http://us.macmillan.com/thecityoftranslation
Publisher's description: "The two principal questions that The City of Translation sets out to answer are: how did poetry, philology, catechesis, and literary translation legitimate a coterie of right-wing literati's [sic] rise to power in Colombia? And how did these men proceed to dismantle a long-standing liberal-democratic state without derogating basic constitutional freedoms? To answer those questions, José María Rodríguez García investigates the emergence, development, and decline of what he calls 'the reactionary city of translation' – a variation on, and a correction to, Ángel Rama's understanding of the nineteenth-century 'lettered city' as a primarily liberal and modernizing project. The City of Translation makes the tropes of 'translatio' the conceptual nucleus of a comprehensive analysis that cuts across academic disciplines, ranging from political philosophy and the history of concepts to the relationship of literature to religious doctrine and the law."
The last chapter of the book is titled "Conclusion: On Lettered Cities, Political Theologies, and the Writing of Lyric".
Endorsements: "Few books deserve to be described as necessary. This one does. Rodríguez García brings remarkable rigor and insight to his examination of the nineteenth-century debates that defined the first decades of the Colombian republic. Particularly significant are his penetrating reconstructions of conservative thought, a much neglected area since 'progressive' historians often seem more interested in finding antecedents for their own ideas rather than taking seriously the arguments of Catholic imbued anti-liberalism. He also brings remarkable insight to the ways that notions of proper grammatical usage and belle-lettriste literature were early marshaled to support conservative, hierarchical notions of society and government. In sum, this is an excellent book and a major contribution to nineteenth-century studies." (Nicolas Shumway, Rice University)
"The City of Translation elucidates the complex strategies of the reactionary Colombian political elite to usher in new legislation under the guise of a homogenizing national project. The author's keen insights on the pivotal role of lyrical production, translation (in theory and practice), and the mediating agency of the translator/lyricist in political objectives constitute an outstanding contribution to Latin American intellectual history, one that will compel us to expand our understanding of the term 'foundational fictions.'" (Carlos J. Alonso, Columbia University)
Spanish-born José María Rodríguez García is Associate Professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies at Duke University.
30 December 2010
CFP: The "New Monarchy" and political theology
Research Conference "The 'New Monarchy': Rethinking the Relations of Elites and Princes in Europe's Iron Century – 1590s to 1720s" of the European Science Foundation (ESF), Scandic Linköping Väst (hotel), Linköping, Sweden, 5-9 September 2011
www.esf.org/activities/esf-conferences/details/2011/confdetail358.html
Call for papers
Papers on early-modern political theology are particularly invited (see perspective B below).
Description: "Since the 1955 congress of European historians in Rome, the assumption of a completion of institutional absolutist state-building by the later seventeenth century has been steadily eroded. During the last fifty years, a large number of studies has emphasized that unprecedented wars and war related burdens were a major stimulus for crucial changes in the relation of regimes and elites during the seventeenth century, but that these changes should not be characterized primarily in terms of the building of a bureaucratic coercive tax state increasingly independent from society and its pressure groups. The actual early modern innovation was public debt on a hitherto unknown scale. Whatever relevance taxes had gained by 1500 (as in France, England or Castile), the exploding costs of the European arms- and war race severely qualified their contribution to paying overall cost; hence the fact of exploding public debt.
"The new monarchies such as Valois and Bourbon France, Stuart Britain, Habsburg Spain or Vasa Sweden were rather characterized by participation in an unprecedented war- and arms race and the consequences of confessionalisation, subsequent unprecedented rise in public funds, mainly financed by unprecedented debt, and a whole range of new opportunities for profit and challenges for the preservation of status for new and old elites. Rather then [sic] experiencing the emancipation of an institutional bureaucratic state from its social and ecclesiastical elites by way of secure regular enforceable taxes, regimes became increasingly dependant on old and new elites to organize and broker public debt, farm taxes, and buy or pre-finance offices, while these elites became more dependant on the vagrancies on [sic] national politics to participate in new forms of income and protect their assets.
"As Lucien Bely put it with reference to Louis XIV, 'les creanciers du roi sont des groupes financiers, et derriere eux, la noblesse et la bourgeoisie qui pretent ses avoirs'. While certain groups profited from these changes, others felt left behind. Jim Collins described for Brittany as Ronald Hutton for the officers of the royal army in the Civil War the emergence of new elites. Debates and struggles ensued among elites about the distribution of resources and privileges, about access to offices and spoils, about the best course in costly foreign wars and about the legitimacy of the whole process. In these debates, new modes of argument and ritual developed, such as national rhetoric and the imagery of monarchy as a whole. The resulting new modes of government were neither characterized by the power of a bureaucratic state nor did they resemble late medieval relationships between crown, magnates and nobility. They were rather determined by relations of the various units of the dynastic agglomerate among each other and by the new relations of regimes to old and new elites; hence the focus of this conference to compare patterns of relations among regimes and elites across Europe during the crucial 'Iron Century'.
"The most important current collections of essays dealing with the relation of regimes and elites under the impact of war, various volumes of the ESF series on the origins of the modern state, cover in each volume the whole period from 1300 to 1800. Though their value is undisputed, they necessarily attempt to capture very general developments across many centuries and cannot pinpoint the precise impact of the unprecedented burden of war on European societies precisely in Europe's Iron Century. For example, since the overriding importance of public debt is freely acknowledged and documented for the later sixteenth and seventeenth century, the volumes do not draw conclusions from this but rather insist on the long term importance of state taxes over the whole period from 1300 to 1800. Current research suggests three perspectives for the comparison here attempted, each to be approached via three topics:
"A: Representation and Integration: Negotiating Allegiance. This perspective focuses on the strategies of regimes to integrate the elites of their agglomerate polities. The emphasis here is on the forging of the unity of the agglomerate polity by whatever means (including national rhetoric) and on the representation of the regime in relation to their various political nations. Issues include constitutional responses to crises of the agglomerate polity by improvising alleged fundamental laws and constitutions embedded in an alleged 'national' past, coins, paintings, flags, coronation rites as means of political integration, and the role of the court as points of contact. B: Contemporary Analyses of the Agglomerate Polity. New kinds of analysis, in particular comparing the new regimes with the principate and emperorship of Rome, but also with the tyranny of Tiberius and the regime of favorites running illegitimate resources of power, attempted to come to terms with the new nature of politics under the pressure of war and the new needs for legitimacy and persuasion. Issues will be in particular Tacitism and Historiography and the new Political Theology.
"C: Societal Architecture and Social Integration under Pressure of War. The conference will look at the societal architecture under the pressure of war, at the new service elites and the way in which both lower nobility and burgesses and the higher aristocracy and magnates adapted to the shifts in influence happening around them. It is now widely accepted that 'as public (i.e. princely) service became a decisive criterion for social status', nobilities ceased to be elites 'constituted by their own self-consciousness and by the comportment that authorized them', but became dependant on the 'military, ecclesiastical and civil offices and privileges of precedence granted by the ruler'. But while the ability and willingness of nobilities to exercise force with means independent of the crown had significantly shrunken by 1700, we also now know that this resulted in anything but centralized modern bureaucracies. Groups that will be addressed include new service elites such as financiers and officers in church, army, and administration; lower Gentry and 'Noblesse Seconde', Magnates and Higher Aristocracy."
Invited senior scholars will participate in all parts of the programme. The ESF invites younger scholars to apply for participation with a short talk or a poster. Travel grants and financial support for up to 25 younger researchers (PhD required) are available.
Please find further information and an online application form on the above website.
Deadline: 9 June 2011
www.esf.org/activities/esf-conferences/details/2011/confdetail358.html
Call for papers
Papers on early-modern political theology are particularly invited (see perspective B below).
Description: "Since the 1955 congress of European historians in Rome, the assumption of a completion of institutional absolutist state-building by the later seventeenth century has been steadily eroded. During the last fifty years, a large number of studies has emphasized that unprecedented wars and war related burdens were a major stimulus for crucial changes in the relation of regimes and elites during the seventeenth century, but that these changes should not be characterized primarily in terms of the building of a bureaucratic coercive tax state increasingly independent from society and its pressure groups. The actual early modern innovation was public debt on a hitherto unknown scale. Whatever relevance taxes had gained by 1500 (as in France, England or Castile), the exploding costs of the European arms- and war race severely qualified their contribution to paying overall cost; hence the fact of exploding public debt.
"The new monarchies such as Valois and Bourbon France, Stuart Britain, Habsburg Spain or Vasa Sweden were rather characterized by participation in an unprecedented war- and arms race and the consequences of confessionalisation, subsequent unprecedented rise in public funds, mainly financed by unprecedented debt, and a whole range of new opportunities for profit and challenges for the preservation of status for new and old elites. Rather then [sic] experiencing the emancipation of an institutional bureaucratic state from its social and ecclesiastical elites by way of secure regular enforceable taxes, regimes became increasingly dependant on old and new elites to organize and broker public debt, farm taxes, and buy or pre-finance offices, while these elites became more dependant on the vagrancies on [sic] national politics to participate in new forms of income and protect their assets.
"As Lucien Bely put it with reference to Louis XIV, 'les creanciers du roi sont des groupes financiers, et derriere eux, la noblesse et la bourgeoisie qui pretent ses avoirs'. While certain groups profited from these changes, others felt left behind. Jim Collins described for Brittany as Ronald Hutton for the officers of the royal army in the Civil War the emergence of new elites. Debates and struggles ensued among elites about the distribution of resources and privileges, about access to offices and spoils, about the best course in costly foreign wars and about the legitimacy of the whole process. In these debates, new modes of argument and ritual developed, such as national rhetoric and the imagery of monarchy as a whole. The resulting new modes of government were neither characterized by the power of a bureaucratic state nor did they resemble late medieval relationships between crown, magnates and nobility. They were rather determined by relations of the various units of the dynastic agglomerate among each other and by the new relations of regimes to old and new elites; hence the focus of this conference to compare patterns of relations among regimes and elites across Europe during the crucial 'Iron Century'.
"The most important current collections of essays dealing with the relation of regimes and elites under the impact of war, various volumes of the ESF series on the origins of the modern state, cover in each volume the whole period from 1300 to 1800. Though their value is undisputed, they necessarily attempt to capture very general developments across many centuries and cannot pinpoint the precise impact of the unprecedented burden of war on European societies precisely in Europe's Iron Century. For example, since the overriding importance of public debt is freely acknowledged and documented for the later sixteenth and seventeenth century, the volumes do not draw conclusions from this but rather insist on the long term importance of state taxes over the whole period from 1300 to 1800. Current research suggests three perspectives for the comparison here attempted, each to be approached via three topics:
"A: Representation and Integration: Negotiating Allegiance. This perspective focuses on the strategies of regimes to integrate the elites of their agglomerate polities. The emphasis here is on the forging of the unity of the agglomerate polity by whatever means (including national rhetoric) and on the representation of the regime in relation to their various political nations. Issues include constitutional responses to crises of the agglomerate polity by improvising alleged fundamental laws and constitutions embedded in an alleged 'national' past, coins, paintings, flags, coronation rites as means of political integration, and the role of the court as points of contact. B: Contemporary Analyses of the Agglomerate Polity. New kinds of analysis, in particular comparing the new regimes with the principate and emperorship of Rome, but also with the tyranny of Tiberius and the regime of favorites running illegitimate resources of power, attempted to come to terms with the new nature of politics under the pressure of war and the new needs for legitimacy and persuasion. Issues will be in particular Tacitism and Historiography and the new Political Theology.
"C: Societal Architecture and Social Integration under Pressure of War. The conference will look at the societal architecture under the pressure of war, at the new service elites and the way in which both lower nobility and burgesses and the higher aristocracy and magnates adapted to the shifts in influence happening around them. It is now widely accepted that 'as public (i.e. princely) service became a decisive criterion for social status', nobilities ceased to be elites 'constituted by their own self-consciousness and by the comportment that authorized them', but became dependant on the 'military, ecclesiastical and civil offices and privileges of precedence granted by the ruler'. But while the ability and willingness of nobilities to exercise force with means independent of the crown had significantly shrunken by 1700, we also now know that this resulted in anything but centralized modern bureaucracies. Groups that will be addressed include new service elites such as financiers and officers in church, army, and administration; lower Gentry and 'Noblesse Seconde', Magnates and Higher Aristocracy."
Invited senior scholars will participate in all parts of the programme. The ESF invites younger scholars to apply for participation with a short talk or a poster. Travel grants and financial support for up to 25 younger researchers (PhD required) are available.
Please find further information and an online application form on the above website.
Deadline: 9 June 2011
CONF: Society of Christian Ethics annual meeting
2011 Annual Meeting of the Society of Christian Ethics (SCE), the Society of Jewish Ethics, and the Society for the Study of Muslim Ethics, Astor Crowne Plaza Hotel, New Orleans, LA, USA, 6-9 January 2011
www.scethics.org/annual-meetings/all/2011
A number of sessions on political theology have been scheduled for this conference, including:
Pieter Dronkers (Protestant Theological University, Utrecht), "The Netherlands: One Nation under God? Christendom, Citizenship and the Re-sacralization of National Loyalty" (7 January, 11.00 am-12.30 pm, room: Grand Ballroom B)
Abstract: "Globalization puts the question what makes a good citizen on top of the Dutch public agenda. Today, some political parties define citizenship in secularist terms, limiting the space for public religious engagement. Others argue that undivided loyalty to the Dutch nation is required. Sometimes Christendom is used to frame and sacralize this allegiance. From a political-theological perspective, the paper evaluates the Dutch debate and especially the remarkable return of Christendom. It argues that the Christian conviction that allegiance to the state is temporal is an important antidote against the idea that absolute civic or national loyalty is a precondition for building a secure society."
John E. Senior (Emory University), "Cruciform Political Agency: Politics Between the Penultimate and the Ultimate" (7 January, 4.00-5.30 pm, room: Bourbon)
Abstract: "The dominant norm of political agency in both political theory and political theology is cooperative, relational, and public discourse. But what, if any, theological sense can be made of political agency when it is uncooperative, instrumental, and even aggressive? This paper first critiques recent Augustinian ontologies of political life, arguing that these fail to respond to the morally ambiguous character of political agency. The paper then develops an alternative model of political agency, which it terms 'cruciform political agency.' This framing posits a political ontology that negotiates the tension between the world and the eschaton and thereby renders theologically intelligible complex configurations of political agency."
Karen V. Guth (University of Virginia), "Beyond Nonviolence: The Feminist/Womanist Political Theology of Martin Luther King, Jr." (8 January, 9.00-10.30 am, room: Bienville)
Abstract: "Scholars often view Martin Luther King Jr.'s contributions to political theology in terms of his philosophy of nonviolence. Drawing on feminist and womanist thought, I argue that King's theo-political practice extends beyond nonviolent resistance to include any 'agapic activity' that forms and sustains community. I uncover in King's thought a conception of agape that resonates with a number of feminists' emphases on the relational and community-oriented nature of love, and I draw on womanist thought to highlight the role of creativity in King's thought. Both suggest a vision of the church's political role as a community of creativity."
Interest Group "Ethics and Catholic Theology" session on "Racism: A Theological Analysis", with the speakers J. Kameron Carter (Duke University) and Bryan N. Massingale (Marquette University; 9 January, 9.00-10.30 am, room: St. Charles B)
Abstract: "Prof. Jay Carter will speak on 'The Christological Problem Revisited; or, The Imperial God-Man and the Catholic Invention of Race' which is material for a book theorizing at the intersection of [C]hristology and political theology. Prof. Bryan Massingale will speak on 'Idolatry/Heresy and the Challenge of Cross-Racial Solidarity,' which will examine the liberationist contention that racism represents not simply an ethical failure, but a theological defect, one which qualifies the task of the virtue of solidarity in Catholic social thought. After their presentations, our speakers will have an opportunity to briefly respond to each other, with ample time for audience questions following."
A few sessions on liberation theology have also been scheduled.
Please find additional information, a full programme, and a registration form on the above website.
www.scethics.org/annual-meetings/all/2011
A number of sessions on political theology have been scheduled for this conference, including:
Pieter Dronkers (Protestant Theological University, Utrecht), "The Netherlands: One Nation under God? Christendom, Citizenship and the Re-sacralization of National Loyalty" (7 January, 11.00 am-12.30 pm, room: Grand Ballroom B)
Abstract: "Globalization puts the question what makes a good citizen on top of the Dutch public agenda. Today, some political parties define citizenship in secularist terms, limiting the space for public religious engagement. Others argue that undivided loyalty to the Dutch nation is required. Sometimes Christendom is used to frame and sacralize this allegiance. From a political-theological perspective, the paper evaluates the Dutch debate and especially the remarkable return of Christendom. It argues that the Christian conviction that allegiance to the state is temporal is an important antidote against the idea that absolute civic or national loyalty is a precondition for building a secure society."
John E. Senior (Emory University), "Cruciform Political Agency: Politics Between the Penultimate and the Ultimate" (7 January, 4.00-5.30 pm, room: Bourbon)
Abstract: "The dominant norm of political agency in both political theory and political theology is cooperative, relational, and public discourse. But what, if any, theological sense can be made of political agency when it is uncooperative, instrumental, and even aggressive? This paper first critiques recent Augustinian ontologies of political life, arguing that these fail to respond to the morally ambiguous character of political agency. The paper then develops an alternative model of political agency, which it terms 'cruciform political agency.' This framing posits a political ontology that negotiates the tension between the world and the eschaton and thereby renders theologically intelligible complex configurations of political agency."
Karen V. Guth (University of Virginia), "Beyond Nonviolence: The Feminist/Womanist Political Theology of Martin Luther King, Jr." (8 January, 9.00-10.30 am, room: Bienville)
Abstract: "Scholars often view Martin Luther King Jr.'s contributions to political theology in terms of his philosophy of nonviolence. Drawing on feminist and womanist thought, I argue that King's theo-political practice extends beyond nonviolent resistance to include any 'agapic activity' that forms and sustains community. I uncover in King's thought a conception of agape that resonates with a number of feminists' emphases on the relational and community-oriented nature of love, and I draw on womanist thought to highlight the role of creativity in King's thought. Both suggest a vision of the church's political role as a community of creativity."
Interest Group "Ethics and Catholic Theology" session on "Racism: A Theological Analysis", with the speakers J. Kameron Carter (Duke University) and Bryan N. Massingale (Marquette University; 9 January, 9.00-10.30 am, room: St. Charles B)
Abstract: "Prof. Jay Carter will speak on 'The Christological Problem Revisited; or, The Imperial God-Man and the Catholic Invention of Race' which is material for a book theorizing at the intersection of [C]hristology and political theology. Prof. Bryan Massingale will speak on 'Idolatry/Heresy and the Challenge of Cross-Racial Solidarity,' which will examine the liberationist contention that racism represents not simply an ethical failure, but a theological defect, one which qualifies the task of the virtue of solidarity in Catholic social thought. After their presentations, our speakers will have an opportunity to briefly respond to each other, with ample time for audience questions following."
A few sessions on liberation theology have also been scheduled.
Please find additional information, a full programme, and a registration form on the above website.
Book: The Politics of Redemption: The Social Logic of Salvation
Just published: Adam Kotsko, "The Politics of Redemption: The Social Logic of Salvation" (Continuum, October 2010):
www.continuumbooks.com/books/detail.aspx?BookId=157985
Publisher's description: "Recent decades have witnessed an explosion of new perspectives on 'atonement theory,' the traditional name for reflections on the meaning of Christ's work. These new theologies view Christ as a political figure and mobilize social theory to understand the contemporary context and Christ's meaning for that context. Politics of Redemption demonstrates that pre-modern theologians also understood Christ's role in a fundamentally social way. The argument proceeds by analysing the most important and original contributors to the tradition of atonement theory (Irenaeus, Gregory of Nyssa, Anselm, and Abelard). The investigation reveals that they all work within a shared social-relational logic based on the solidarity of all human beings and the irreducible relatedness of humanity and the rest of creation. Having brought this social-relational logic to the surface, the work concludes by sketching out a fresh atonement theory as a way of showing that our understanding of Christ's work and of its relevance for our life together is enriched by foregrounding the question of how creation, and particularly the human social sphere, is structured."
Endorsement: "An indispensable contribution to the thorny theory of atonement. Hip to the feminist critique, inflected by the postmodern return to political theology, and steeped in the depths and potentialities of the doctrinal tradition, Kotsko's relational ontology for the doctrine of redemption offers a lucid and erudite resource for a wide spectrum of Christian theology." (Catherine Keller, Drew University)
Adam Kotsko is Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion at Kalamazoo College.
www.continuumbooks.com/books/detail.aspx?BookId=157985
Publisher's description: "Recent decades have witnessed an explosion of new perspectives on 'atonement theory,' the traditional name for reflections on the meaning of Christ's work. These new theologies view Christ as a political figure and mobilize social theory to understand the contemporary context and Christ's meaning for that context. Politics of Redemption demonstrates that pre-modern theologians also understood Christ's role in a fundamentally social way. The argument proceeds by analysing the most important and original contributors to the tradition of atonement theory (Irenaeus, Gregory of Nyssa, Anselm, and Abelard). The investigation reveals that they all work within a shared social-relational logic based on the solidarity of all human beings and the irreducible relatedness of humanity and the rest of creation. Having brought this social-relational logic to the surface, the work concludes by sketching out a fresh atonement theory as a way of showing that our understanding of Christ's work and of its relevance for our life together is enriched by foregrounding the question of how creation, and particularly the human social sphere, is structured."
Endorsement: "An indispensable contribution to the thorny theory of atonement. Hip to the feminist critique, inflected by the postmodern return to political theology, and steeped in the depths and potentialities of the doctrinal tradition, Kotsko's relational ontology for the doctrine of redemption offers a lucid and erudite resource for a wide spectrum of Christian theology." (Catherine Keller, Drew University)
Adam Kotsko is Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion at Kalamazoo College.
27 December 2010
Book: Wild Materialism: The Ethic of Terror and the Modern Republic
Jacques Lezra, "Wild Materialism: The Ethic of Terror and the Modern Republic" (Fordham University Press, September 2010):
www.fordhampress.com/detail.html?id=9780823232369
Publisher's description: "Wild Materialism speaks to three related questions in contemporary political philosophy. How, if different social interests and demands are constitutively antagonistic, can social unity emerge out of heterogeneity? Does such unity require corresponding universals, and, if so, what are they, where are they found, or how are they built? Finally, how must the concept of democracy be revised in response to economic globalization, state and nonstate terrorism, and religious, ethnic, or national fundamentalism? Polemically rehabilitating the term terror, Lezra argues that it can and should operate as a social universal. Perched perilously somewhere between the private and the public domains, terror is an experience of unboundable, objectless anxiety. It is something other than an interest held by different classes of people; it is not properly a concept (like equality or security) of the sort universal claims traditionally rest on. Yet terror's conceptual deficiency, Lezra argues, paradoxically provides the only adequate, secular way to articulate ethical with political judgments. Social terror, he dramatically proposes, is the foundation on which critiques of terrorist fundamentalisms must be constructed.
"Opening a groundbreaking methodological dialogue between Freud's work and Althusser's late understanding of aleatory materialism, Lezra shows how an ethic of terror, and in the political sphere a radically democratic republic, can be built on what he calls 'wild materialism.' Wild Materialism combines the close reading of cultural texts with detailed treatment of works in the radical-democratic and radical-republican traditions. The originality of its closely argued theses is matched and complemented by the breadth of its focus – encompassing the debates over the 'ticking bomb' scenario; the circumstances surrounding ETA's assassination of Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco in Madrid in 1973; the films of Gillo Pontecorvo; Sade's republican writing; Marx's Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right; and the roots of contemporary radical republicanism in early modern political theology (Bodin, Shakespeare, Parsons, Siliceo)." (some italics originally bold)
Endorsement: "An urgently contemporary study of the relation between 'terror' as a state of expectancy in relation to an event to come, and 'terrorism' as the deadly deployment of force in situations of radical exploitation and oppression." (Julia Reinhard Lupton, University of California, Irvine)
Jacques Lezra is Professor of Comparative Literature and Spanish and Portuguese at New York University.
www.fordhampress.com/detail.html?id=9780823232369
Publisher's description: "Wild Materialism speaks to three related questions in contemporary political philosophy. How, if different social interests and demands are constitutively antagonistic, can social unity emerge out of heterogeneity? Does such unity require corresponding universals, and, if so, what are they, where are they found, or how are they built? Finally, how must the concept of democracy be revised in response to economic globalization, state and nonstate terrorism, and religious, ethnic, or national fundamentalism? Polemically rehabilitating the term terror, Lezra argues that it can and should operate as a social universal. Perched perilously somewhere between the private and the public domains, terror is an experience of unboundable, objectless anxiety. It is something other than an interest held by different classes of people; it is not properly a concept (like equality or security) of the sort universal claims traditionally rest on. Yet terror's conceptual deficiency, Lezra argues, paradoxically provides the only adequate, secular way to articulate ethical with political judgments. Social terror, he dramatically proposes, is the foundation on which critiques of terrorist fundamentalisms must be constructed.
"Opening a groundbreaking methodological dialogue between Freud's work and Althusser's late understanding of aleatory materialism, Lezra shows how an ethic of terror, and in the political sphere a radically democratic republic, can be built on what he calls 'wild materialism.' Wild Materialism combines the close reading of cultural texts with detailed treatment of works in the radical-democratic and radical-republican traditions. The originality of its closely argued theses is matched and complemented by the breadth of its focus – encompassing the debates over the 'ticking bomb' scenario; the circumstances surrounding ETA's assassination of Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco in Madrid in 1973; the films of Gillo Pontecorvo; Sade's republican writing; Marx's Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right; and the roots of contemporary radical republicanism in early modern political theology (Bodin, Shakespeare, Parsons, Siliceo)." (some italics originally bold)
Endorsement: "An urgently contemporary study of the relation between 'terror' as a state of expectancy in relation to an event to come, and 'terrorism' as the deadly deployment of force in situations of radical exploitation and oppression." (Julia Reinhard Lupton, University of California, Irvine)
Jacques Lezra is Professor of Comparative Literature and Spanish and Portuguese at New York University.
CFP: The Neighbor
Interdisciplinary German Studies Conference "The Neighbor" at the University of California, Berkeley, USA, 11-13 March 2011
http://german.berkeley.edu/newsevents/showevent.php?id=183
Call for papers
Description: "The image of 'the neighbor' evokes both nearness and distance, familiarity and foreignness, belonging and isolation. Pregnant with implications for kinship, community, and affiliation particular to the German-speaking world, the concept of 'the neighbor' has engendered numerous meditations on hospitality and love by thinkers from Luther and Kant to Freud, Schmitt, and Rosenzweig. At the same time, the presence of neighbors has often served as the basis for ostracism and exclusion, as an incitement to war, or as fuel for fantasies about local and global neighborhoods. How do we identify a 'neighbor' or 'neighborhood' in our current age of increased migration and mobility? How might an examination of these themes enrich our understanding of not only genocide and violence but also exchange, aid, and co-operation? For the conference, we are encouraging a comparative approach by seeking perspectives on 'neighbors' and 'neighborhoods' from scholars working in literature, history, linguistics, film, media studies, anthropology, and the social sciences.
"Possible topics include but are not limited to: The Notion of Neighbors Inside and Outside the European Union; Reactions in Theology, Philosophy, or Ethics to the Imperative 'Love Your Neighbor'; The Role of the Neighbor in Identity Formation and Identity Politics; The Status of Friends, Enemies, and Neighbors in Geographical and Territorial Disputes; Rivalries and Diplomacy between Neighbors on a Local, Regional, or National Scale; The Construction of Dialects vis-à-vis Neighbors; Linguistic Interaction between Neighboring Regions; Community, Isolation, or Gentrification in Urban Neighborhoods; The Kiez in Berlin, Grätzl in Vienna, or Veedel in Cologne; Images of Neighborhoods in Suburban and Rural Settings; The Subjection of Neighbors to Suspicion and Surveillance; Cohabitation, Intimacy and Proximity in Collective Memory; The Status of the Neighbor Before and After die Wende; Media and Neighbors in the Global Village"
Keynote speaker: Kenneth Reinhard (Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature at UCLA and co-author, with Slavoj Žižek and Eric L. Santner, of "The Neighbor: Three Inquiries in Political Theology" [University of Chicago Press, 2005])
To participate, please send a 250-word abstract in English or German with a separate cover sheet indicating the proposed title, author's name, affiliation, and e-mail address to: neighbor@berkeley.edu
Deadline: 3 January 2011
http://german.berkeley.edu/newsevents/showevent.php?id=183
Call for papers
Description: "The image of 'the neighbor' evokes both nearness and distance, familiarity and foreignness, belonging and isolation. Pregnant with implications for kinship, community, and affiliation particular to the German-speaking world, the concept of 'the neighbor' has engendered numerous meditations on hospitality and love by thinkers from Luther and Kant to Freud, Schmitt, and Rosenzweig. At the same time, the presence of neighbors has often served as the basis for ostracism and exclusion, as an incitement to war, or as fuel for fantasies about local and global neighborhoods. How do we identify a 'neighbor' or 'neighborhood' in our current age of increased migration and mobility? How might an examination of these themes enrich our understanding of not only genocide and violence but also exchange, aid, and co-operation? For the conference, we are encouraging a comparative approach by seeking perspectives on 'neighbors' and 'neighborhoods' from scholars working in literature, history, linguistics, film, media studies, anthropology, and the social sciences.
"Possible topics include but are not limited to: The Notion of Neighbors Inside and Outside the European Union; Reactions in Theology, Philosophy, or Ethics to the Imperative 'Love Your Neighbor'; The Role of the Neighbor in Identity Formation and Identity Politics; The Status of Friends, Enemies, and Neighbors in Geographical and Territorial Disputes; Rivalries and Diplomacy between Neighbors on a Local, Regional, or National Scale; The Construction of Dialects vis-à-vis Neighbors; Linguistic Interaction between Neighboring Regions; Community, Isolation, or Gentrification in Urban Neighborhoods; The Kiez in Berlin, Grätzl in Vienna, or Veedel in Cologne; Images of Neighborhoods in Suburban and Rural Settings; The Subjection of Neighbors to Suspicion and Surveillance; Cohabitation, Intimacy and Proximity in Collective Memory; The Status of the Neighbor Before and After die Wende; Media and Neighbors in the Global Village"
Keynote speaker: Kenneth Reinhard (Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature at UCLA and co-author, with Slavoj Žižek and Eric L. Santner, of "The Neighbor: Three Inquiries in Political Theology" [University of Chicago Press, 2005])
To participate, please send a 250-word abstract in English or German with a separate cover sheet indicating the proposed title, author's name, affiliation, and e-mail address to: neighbor@berkeley.edu
Deadline: 3 January 2011
CFP: Resistance to Finance
"Polygraph: An International Journal of Culture & Politics", an annual interdisciplinary publication affiliated with the Literature Programme and edited by humanities graduate students of Duke University, is planning an issue (no. 24) on "Resistance to Finance", to be published in 2012, and has released a call for papers. They particularly invite contributors with a background in political theology.
www.duke.edu/web/polygraph/cfp24.html
Description: "What does financial capitalism demand of us in thought and in action today? Financial capital is one of the fundamental structuring forces in our world. Evidence of this is ubiquitous: the severity and extent of the most recent global financial crisis, the collapse of whole national economies (as in Greece and Iceland), the steadily progressing securitization of pensions and savings, a growing volume of derivatives trading that already dwarfs 'real' global GDP. Yet many critical accounts of corporate globalization, free trade, neoliberalism, and so on all too rarely emphasize the fact that high finance constitutes the very condition of possibility of capitalism as we know it. Other available forms of economic critique, from world-systems theory to dependency theory to theories of Empire, often do grant high finance the central role that it in reality occupies, but rarely go beyond critique to directly address the question of resistance. Too often, critique remains mired in highlighting isolated acts and agents of malfeasance rather than producing totalizing, systemic claims with real leverage.
"We now know this state of affairs to be in need of immediate rectification. We also know that action is demanded, but its contours are not yet well defined. The clout of finance capital has received ample attention in Marxist economics, neo-classical economics, and other quarters – yet the accounts produced thus far of what is to be done have been less than satisfactory. What political responses on the part of on-the-ground social movements and both current and potential bodies of governance are necessary? Are some already underway but obscured from view? What alternative economic futures can we begin to construct out of the wreckage of the most recent crisis and the structural shifts that produced and accompany it? Is it necessary to break the global economy of its speculative bent and return it to its 'real' roots, or is this antithesis, stemming from Hilferding's classic critique of 'fictitious capital,' fundamentally ill-conceived? Should the focus of political action be shifted away from past struggles – against multinational corporations, free trade, and the powerful political allies of both – in the direction of the financial crux of the global economy? What would such a change in focus entail?
"Potential topics: Financial capitalism and Marxism (The continued efficacy or potential obsolescence of previous critical outlooks [world systems theory, Empire theory, etc.] in confronting global finance; The centrality of the question of global finance in any meaningful
critical engagement with globalization; Systemic global inequality, post-Fordism and crisis); Resistance (Forms of political subjectivity capable of comprehending and acting within [and against] high finance as it stands; What is the role of the state in confronting financial capital?; Real and hypothetical political movements and direct action; Strategies of flight and subtractive action, whether individual [e.g. walking away from mortgage contracts] or institutional [e.g. Argentina's post-crisis debt restructuring]; Alternative financial institutions and orders (Jacques Sapir's recent call for a 'new Bretton Woods' system [akin to Antonio Negri's call for a 'new New Deal']; Microfinance and financial decentralization; The global Tobin tax on of [sic] financial transactions and other forms of regulation; Neo-Luddism and the return to the 'real' economy; Radical political economy and the pursuit of anti-capitalist alternatives); Other (Historical perspectives on high finance, dealing with periodization, secular trends, particular crises and institutions, and exemplary modes of resistance; Mystification, abstraction and the 'new' digital/virtual economy; Epistemological barriers to adequate critique of the global financial system; Perception and belief as primary structural forces in the financial system; Artistic representations of the financial world as possible critical tools; Socio-political underpinnings of the financialization of the world)"
"Polygraph" welcomes work from a variety of disciplines, including political economy, critical geography, cultural anthropology, political theology, science studies, and systems theory. They also encourage the submission of a variety of formats and genres, i.e. field reports, surveys, interviews, photography, essays, etc.
Please e-mail complete manuscripts to the editor of this issue, Lucas Perkins (Duke University): lucas.perkins@duke.edu
Deadline: 31 January 2011
www.duke.edu/web/polygraph/cfp24.html
Description: "What does financial capitalism demand of us in thought and in action today? Financial capital is one of the fundamental structuring forces in our world. Evidence of this is ubiquitous: the severity and extent of the most recent global financial crisis, the collapse of whole national economies (as in Greece and Iceland), the steadily progressing securitization of pensions and savings, a growing volume of derivatives trading that already dwarfs 'real' global GDP. Yet many critical accounts of corporate globalization, free trade, neoliberalism, and so on all too rarely emphasize the fact that high finance constitutes the very condition of possibility of capitalism as we know it. Other available forms of economic critique, from world-systems theory to dependency theory to theories of Empire, often do grant high finance the central role that it in reality occupies, but rarely go beyond critique to directly address the question of resistance. Too often, critique remains mired in highlighting isolated acts and agents of malfeasance rather than producing totalizing, systemic claims with real leverage.
"We now know this state of affairs to be in need of immediate rectification. We also know that action is demanded, but its contours are not yet well defined. The clout of finance capital has received ample attention in Marxist economics, neo-classical economics, and other quarters – yet the accounts produced thus far of what is to be done have been less than satisfactory. What political responses on the part of on-the-ground social movements and both current and potential bodies of governance are necessary? Are some already underway but obscured from view? What alternative economic futures can we begin to construct out of the wreckage of the most recent crisis and the structural shifts that produced and accompany it? Is it necessary to break the global economy of its speculative bent and return it to its 'real' roots, or is this antithesis, stemming from Hilferding's classic critique of 'fictitious capital,' fundamentally ill-conceived? Should the focus of political action be shifted away from past struggles – against multinational corporations, free trade, and the powerful political allies of both – in the direction of the financial crux of the global economy? What would such a change in focus entail?
"Potential topics: Financial capitalism and Marxism (The continued efficacy or potential obsolescence of previous critical outlooks [world systems theory, Empire theory, etc.] in confronting global finance; The centrality of the question of global finance in any meaningful
critical engagement with globalization; Systemic global inequality, post-Fordism and crisis); Resistance (Forms of political subjectivity capable of comprehending and acting within [and against] high finance as it stands; What is the role of the state in confronting financial capital?; Real and hypothetical political movements and direct action; Strategies of flight and subtractive action, whether individual [e.g. walking away from mortgage contracts] or institutional [e.g. Argentina's post-crisis debt restructuring]; Alternative financial institutions and orders (Jacques Sapir's recent call for a 'new Bretton Woods' system [akin to Antonio Negri's call for a 'new New Deal']; Microfinance and financial decentralization; The global Tobin tax on of [sic] financial transactions and other forms of regulation; Neo-Luddism and the return to the 'real' economy; Radical political economy and the pursuit of anti-capitalist alternatives); Other (Historical perspectives on high finance, dealing with periodization, secular trends, particular crises and institutions, and exemplary modes of resistance; Mystification, abstraction and the 'new' digital/virtual economy; Epistemological barriers to adequate critique of the global financial system; Perception and belief as primary structural forces in the financial system; Artistic representations of the financial world as possible critical tools; Socio-political underpinnings of the financialization of the world)"
"Polygraph" welcomes work from a variety of disciplines, including political economy, critical geography, cultural anthropology, political theology, science studies, and systems theory. They also encourage the submission of a variety of formats and genres, i.e. field reports, surveys, interviews, photography, essays, etc.
Please e-mail complete manuscripts to the editor of this issue, Lucas Perkins (Duke University): lucas.perkins@duke.edu
Deadline: 31 January 2011
26 December 2010
Book: Paul's New Moment: Continental Philosophy and the Future of Christian Theology
Just published: John Milbank, Slavoj Žižek, and Creston Davis, "Paul's New Moment: Continental Philosophy and the Future of Christian Theology" (Brazos Press, November 2010):
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=0477683E4046471488BD7BAC8DCFB004&nm=&type=PubCom&mod=PubComProductCatalog&mid=BF1316AF9E334B7BA1C33CB61CF48A4E&tier=3&id=ADFAD5A4E6444C54BA7481B53085B80B
Publisher's description: "Are there moments in Christian history when non-Christians in some ways understand Christianity better than Christians? The church fathers and mothers often did especially acute theology because they could remember well what it meant to inhabit non-Christian philosophies and religions. The Hindu Gandhi saw and acted on something in Christ's witness that many confessing Christians overlooked. Today some leading secular thinkers have turned to a surprising source: the apostle Paul. The rediscovery of Paul by atheistic or agnostic European philosophers is one of the most striking recent developments in philosophy – and certainly one of keen interest to the church. Bringing together Radical Orthodox theologian John Milbank, Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek, and Creston Davis, who has been a student of both, this book reflects on Paul's new moment in secular philosophy. In a debate format, Zizek brings Marxist and post-Marxist ideas into a discussion with Milbank about the influence of Paul. The book also includes a contribution from Catherine Pickstock."
Endorsement: "What is at stake is nothing less than our escape from the ubiquity of multitudinous fundamentalisms, bourgeois liberalism, and the late capitalism that has captured the West today. For those navigating theology and the political, this collection of essays is timely, riveting, and well worth our focus and attention." (David Fitch, Northern Seminary)
A year ago, Davis announced this book on his blog as being "on St. Paul, the Liturgy, and Political Theology".
John Milbank is Professor in Religion, Politics and Ethics at the University of Nottingham.
Slavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philosopher and psychoanalyst, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Sociology, University of Ljubljana, and International Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at Birkbeck College, University of London.
Creston Davis is Assistant Professor of Religion at Rollins College.
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=0477683E4046471488BD7BAC8DCFB004&nm=&type=PubCom&mod=PubComProductCatalog&mid=BF1316AF9E334B7BA1C33CB61CF48A4E&tier=3&id=ADFAD5A4E6444C54BA7481B53085B80B
Publisher's description: "Are there moments in Christian history when non-Christians in some ways understand Christianity better than Christians? The church fathers and mothers often did especially acute theology because they could remember well what it meant to inhabit non-Christian philosophies and religions. The Hindu Gandhi saw and acted on something in Christ's witness that many confessing Christians overlooked. Today some leading secular thinkers have turned to a surprising source: the apostle Paul. The rediscovery of Paul by atheistic or agnostic European philosophers is one of the most striking recent developments in philosophy – and certainly one of keen interest to the church. Bringing together Radical Orthodox theologian John Milbank, Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek, and Creston Davis, who has been a student of both, this book reflects on Paul's new moment in secular philosophy. In a debate format, Zizek brings Marxist and post-Marxist ideas into a discussion with Milbank about the influence of Paul. The book also includes a contribution from Catherine Pickstock."
Endorsement: "What is at stake is nothing less than our escape from the ubiquity of multitudinous fundamentalisms, bourgeois liberalism, and the late capitalism that has captured the West today. For those navigating theology and the political, this collection of essays is timely, riveting, and well worth our focus and attention." (David Fitch, Northern Seminary)
A year ago, Davis announced this book on his blog as being "on St. Paul, the Liturgy, and Political Theology".
John Milbank is Professor in Religion, Politics and Ethics at the University of Nottingham.
Slavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philosopher and psychoanalyst, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Sociology, University of Ljubljana, and International Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at Birkbeck College, University of London.
Creston Davis is Assistant Professor of Religion at Rollins College.
Book: The Sacrifice of Africa: A Political Theology for Africa
Just published: Emmanuel Katongole, "The Sacrifice of Africa: A Political Theology for Africa" (Eerdmans, December 2010).Publisher's description: "Modern Africa, scarred by its founding narratives of colonial oppression and nation-state politics, has been especially vulnerable to chaos, war, and corruption. Its people – mired within a seemingly endless cycle of violence, plunder, and poverty – have seen their resources exploited and their lives wantonly sacrificed time and again to the greed and ambition of oppressive regimes. In The Sacrifice of Africa Emmanuel Katongole confronts this painful legacy and shows how it continues to warp the imaginative landscape of African politics and society. He demonstrates the real potential of Christianity to interrupt and transform entrenched political imaginations and create a different story for Africa – a story of self-sacrificing love that values human dignity and 'dares to invent' a new and better future for all Africans. Compelling accounts of three African Christian leaders and their work – Bishop Paride Taban in Sudan, Angelina Atyam in Uganda, and Maggy Barankitse in Burundi – cap off Katongole's inspiring vision of hope for Africa."
www.eerdmans.com/shop/product.asp?p_key=9780802862686
Endorsements: "Drawn from the wells of Emmanuel Katongole's faith and faith on the ground, The Sacrifice of Africa is a work of singular importance and power. Its insights and implications are prophetic and compelling. One of the most visionary theologians of our day, Katongole helps the whole church see itself in a new way. This is the theology we need – and indeed must have." (Mark R. Gornik, City Seminary of New York)
"Sometimes churches are the only viable, if inadequate, social institutions left to shoulder the burden of society. [...] The demands of the moment require the sacrifice of the churches on behalf of Africa's long-suffering peoples. This book is a valuable installment in that cause." (Lamin Sanneh, Yale)
Ugandan-born Emmanuel Katongole is Associate Professor of Theology and World Christianity at Duke University and a priest in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kampala.
Book: Robert Bellarmine and Thomas Hobbes: Political theologies in comparison (in Italian)
For those able to read Italian: Enrica Fabbri, "Roberto Bellarmino e Thomas Hobbes: Teologie politiche a confronto" (Robert Bellarmine and Thomas Hobbes: Political theologies in comparison; my translation; Aracne editrice, 2009):
http://store.aracneeditrice.com/it/libro_new.php?id=2810
Publisher's description: "In the wake of the renewed urgency of the issue of the relationship between religion and politics and, more specifically, the themes of political theology, the book explores some aspects of the thought of Thomas Hobbes, on the one hand offering a possibly more analytical reconstruction of the presence of Robert Bellarmine in his texts, on the other problematizing the relationship between the theologico-political views of the English philosopher and those of the Presbyterians. The basic intention is to account for the continued interest in theology shown by Hobbes and to highlight the specifically political reasons for this attention, in order to propose a reading of Hobbesian thought that, while it cannot disregard Carl Schmitt's interpretation, aims to show its problematic, especially on the side of the question of neutralization of religious conflicts." (my very rough translation, helped by Google Translate)
Enrica Fabbri holds a research doctorate in Political Studies from the University of Turin and is continuing her research in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Florence.
http://store.aracneeditrice.com/it/libro_new.php?id=2810
Publisher's description: "In the wake of the renewed urgency of the issue of the relationship between religion and politics and, more specifically, the themes of political theology, the book explores some aspects of the thought of Thomas Hobbes, on the one hand offering a possibly more analytical reconstruction of the presence of Robert Bellarmine in his texts, on the other problematizing the relationship between the theologico-political views of the English philosopher and those of the Presbyterians. The basic intention is to account for the continued interest in theology shown by Hobbes and to highlight the specifically political reasons for this attention, in order to propose a reading of Hobbesian thought that, while it cannot disregard Carl Schmitt's interpretation, aims to show its problematic, especially on the side of the question of neutralization of religious conflicts." (my very rough translation, helped by Google Translate)
Enrica Fabbri holds a research doctorate in Political Studies from the University of Turin and is continuing her research in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Florence.
10 December 2010
CFP: The Political in Bonhoeffer's Theology Reconsidered
XI. International Bonhoeffer Congress "A Spoke in the Wheel: The Political in Bonhoeffer's Theology Reconsidered", at the Sigtuna Foundation, Sigtuna, Sweden, 27 June-1 July 2012
Call for papers
Description: "On account of its Christology and ecclesiology, Dietrich Bonhoeffer's theology is intrinsically political. On the one hand, his theological convictions make possible opposition to government authority. Already early on in his critical engagement against the Nazi regime, in 'The Church and the Jewish Question' (1933), Bonhoeffer expected the church to oppose the state when the rights of those disdained by the state were violated. Ultimately, this stance resulted in Bonhoeffer's participation in the resistance and his violent death. On the other hand, however, Bonhoeffer advocated a conservative non-democratic political order for Germany after the war. How can one explain these seeming contradictions? How should we understand Bonhoeffer's political theology? The aim of the XI. International Bonhoeffer Congress is to encourage reflections on the continuing relevance of Bonhoeffer's political theology and ethics for the Christian church in a world that is characterized by an increasing gap between the rich and the poor. Is the church once again expected to put up political resistance?"
Sigtuna is the historical place where Bonhoeffer during the war met Bishop George Bell in secret mission. The historical Sigtuna Foundation is located only 15 minutes from the international airport of Stockholm (Arlanda). President of the congress is Bishop Martin Lind (Linköping).
The planning committee of the congress invites paper proposals for the three working days of the conference, each of which will consist of main speakers in the morning and seminar sessions in the afternoon. The topics of the three days are: "Bonhoeffer's Political Resistance" (28 June, with the subtopics: Democracy; Nationalism; Politics and Oikoumene; Europe and the Refugees), "Bonhoeffer on Church, State and Civil Society" (29 June, subtopics: Human Rights; Public Theology; Lutheran Heritage), and "How Do We Live Responsibly?" (30 June, subtopics: Religion and Ethics; Migration and Refugee Studies; Global Economy; Climate Change). The subtopics should not be seen as binding for the proposals. The organizers welcome papers discussing other dimensions of the topic of the day than the ones mentioned.
The proposals, which should explain topic, main arguments, and conclusions of the paper, should have no more than 500 words. They can be written in German or English, and the presentations at the conference can be held in English or German. Younger scholars, e.g. PhD students, are especially invited to propose papers. Proposals are to be submitted to Kirsten Busch Nielsen (University of Copenhagen): bonhoeffer2012@teol.ku.dk
Deadline: 1 June 2011
The decision, taken by a small committee, as to which proposals are accepted will be communicated via e-mail by the end of August 2011. The afternoon on which the accepted papers will be placed is not necessarily connected to the topic of the day.
Registration for the congress will be possible from June/July 2011. Congress fees, including accommodation and meals at the venue, will be approximately 500 Euro. Information about reduced fees for students is to follow.
Call for papers
Description: "On account of its Christology and ecclesiology, Dietrich Bonhoeffer's theology is intrinsically political. On the one hand, his theological convictions make possible opposition to government authority. Already early on in his critical engagement against the Nazi regime, in 'The Church and the Jewish Question' (1933), Bonhoeffer expected the church to oppose the state when the rights of those disdained by the state were violated. Ultimately, this stance resulted in Bonhoeffer's participation in the resistance and his violent death. On the other hand, however, Bonhoeffer advocated a conservative non-democratic political order for Germany after the war. How can one explain these seeming contradictions? How should we understand Bonhoeffer's political theology? The aim of the XI. International Bonhoeffer Congress is to encourage reflections on the continuing relevance of Bonhoeffer's political theology and ethics for the Christian church in a world that is characterized by an increasing gap between the rich and the poor. Is the church once again expected to put up political resistance?"
Sigtuna is the historical place where Bonhoeffer during the war met Bishop George Bell in secret mission. The historical Sigtuna Foundation is located only 15 minutes from the international airport of Stockholm (Arlanda). President of the congress is Bishop Martin Lind (Linköping).
The planning committee of the congress invites paper proposals for the three working days of the conference, each of which will consist of main speakers in the morning and seminar sessions in the afternoon. The topics of the three days are: "Bonhoeffer's Political Resistance" (28 June, with the subtopics: Democracy; Nationalism; Politics and Oikoumene; Europe and the Refugees), "Bonhoeffer on Church, State and Civil Society" (29 June, subtopics: Human Rights; Public Theology; Lutheran Heritage), and "How Do We Live Responsibly?" (30 June, subtopics: Religion and Ethics; Migration and Refugee Studies; Global Economy; Climate Change). The subtopics should not be seen as binding for the proposals. The organizers welcome papers discussing other dimensions of the topic of the day than the ones mentioned.
The proposals, which should explain topic, main arguments, and conclusions of the paper, should have no more than 500 words. They can be written in German or English, and the presentations at the conference can be held in English or German. Younger scholars, e.g. PhD students, are especially invited to propose papers. Proposals are to be submitted to Kirsten Busch Nielsen (University of Copenhagen): bonhoeffer2012@teol.ku.dk
Deadline: 1 June 2011
The decision, taken by a small committee, as to which proposals are accepted will be communicated via e-mail by the end of August 2011. The afternoon on which the accepted papers will be placed is not necessarily connected to the topic of the day.
Registration for the congress will be possible from June/July 2011. Congress fees, including accommodation and meals at the venue, will be approximately 500 Euro. Information about reduced fees for students is to follow.
09 December 2010
CFP: Daniel Paul Schreber: The Modern Experience and the Performance of Paranoia
International Conference "Daniel Paul Schreber: 100 Years Later: The Modern Experience and the Performance of Paranoia" of the Center for Literary and Cultural Research Berlin (Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung Berlin), Tel Aviv University, the Saxon Memorial Foundation (Stiftung Sächsische Gedenkstätten), and the International Research Center for Cultural Studies (Internationales Forschungszentrum Kulturwissenschaften), at Sonnenstein Castle, near Dresden, Germany, 13-15 April 2011
Call for papers
Description: "Since its publication in 1903, Daniel Paul Schreber's Denkwürdigkeiten eines Nervenkranken [English: Memoirs of My Nervous Illness] fascinated a broad spectrum of scholars spanning from Freud and Lacan to Canetti, Foucault and Deleuze, giving rise to a wide variety of interpretations. Schreber's experience, manifested in his Denkwürdigkeiten, exposes paradoxes, a crisis of meaning and the problematic forms of his own subjective mental and physical existence. It seems that Schreber leaves none of the conventional dichotomies intact, be it man/woman, body/soul, conscious/unconscious, private/collective, God/human, etc. Consequently Schreber's unique account of his mental condition and therapy also constitutes a radical perspective on modernity.
"His transgressions and displacements open up a whole array of discursive fields, turning the discomfort and unease shared by many of Schreber's readers into a fruitful journey that has been evoking inspiring and critical ideas ever since. Exactly two hundred years after the establishment of the fortress Sonnenstein as a mental asylum (in 1811) and one hundred years after the death of Daniel Paul Schreber (on April 14, 1911) we would like to rethink Schreber's legacy through an interactive, interdisciplinary seminar, to take place at the Gedenkstätte Sonnenstein, where Schreber was hospitalized. Sonnenstein ironically gives an example to one of the most horrific consequences that modern political theology has caused, a theme we will reflect upon by bringing these two topics together spatially and conceptually.
"The seminar will be comprised of four main sessions, each focusing on one central theme, with three presentations in each session, followed by discussions. In addition we will hold reading sessions in small groups as well as an art installation and a musical performance. The first association evoked by the word Schreber in German is the Schrebergarten, an allotment garden, named after Daniel Paul's father who pursued various educational techniques inventing iron machines to control behaviour and movement of children – not least his own. Contrary to his father's constraining realm, Daniel Paul Schreber's world retains none of the fatherly visions and reveals to some extent where the moles are in Schreber's garden that rather turns out to be a paranoid park."
The conference organizers ask potential participants to submit a 300-word abstract of their interest in Schreber, the conference, and the context, together with a short biographical note. Unfortunately, their call for papers does not specify what kind of papers are invited. For further questions or assistance, or to submit an abstract, please contact: anton.pluschke@fu-berlin.de
Deadline: 9 January 2011
Speakers include: Friedrich Kittler (Humboldt University of Berlin), Eric Santner (University of Chicago), José Brunner (Tel Aviv University), Alan Read (King's College London), Zvi Lothane (Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City), and Moshe Zuckermann (Tel Aviv University)
Call for papers
Description: "Since its publication in 1903, Daniel Paul Schreber's Denkwürdigkeiten eines Nervenkranken [English: Memoirs of My Nervous Illness] fascinated a broad spectrum of scholars spanning from Freud and Lacan to Canetti, Foucault and Deleuze, giving rise to a wide variety of interpretations. Schreber's experience, manifested in his Denkwürdigkeiten, exposes paradoxes, a crisis of meaning and the problematic forms of his own subjective mental and physical existence. It seems that Schreber leaves none of the conventional dichotomies intact, be it man/woman, body/soul, conscious/unconscious, private/collective, God/human, etc. Consequently Schreber's unique account of his mental condition and therapy also constitutes a radical perspective on modernity.
"His transgressions and displacements open up a whole array of discursive fields, turning the discomfort and unease shared by many of Schreber's readers into a fruitful journey that has been evoking inspiring and critical ideas ever since. Exactly two hundred years after the establishment of the fortress Sonnenstein as a mental asylum (in 1811) and one hundred years after the death of Daniel Paul Schreber (on April 14, 1911) we would like to rethink Schreber's legacy through an interactive, interdisciplinary seminar, to take place at the Gedenkstätte Sonnenstein, where Schreber was hospitalized. Sonnenstein ironically gives an example to one of the most horrific consequences that modern political theology has caused, a theme we will reflect upon by bringing these two topics together spatially and conceptually.
"The seminar will be comprised of four main sessions, each focusing on one central theme, with three presentations in each session, followed by discussions. In addition we will hold reading sessions in small groups as well as an art installation and a musical performance. The first association evoked by the word Schreber in German is the Schrebergarten, an allotment garden, named after Daniel Paul's father who pursued various educational techniques inventing iron machines to control behaviour and movement of children – not least his own. Contrary to his father's constraining realm, Daniel Paul Schreber's world retains none of the fatherly visions and reveals to some extent where the moles are in Schreber's garden that rather turns out to be a paranoid park."
The conference organizers ask potential participants to submit a 300-word abstract of their interest in Schreber, the conference, and the context, together with a short biographical note. Unfortunately, their call for papers does not specify what kind of papers are invited. For further questions or assistance, or to submit an abstract, please contact: anton.pluschke@fu-berlin.de
Deadline: 9 January 2011
Speakers include: Friedrich Kittler (Humboldt University of Berlin), Eric Santner (University of Chicago), José Brunner (Tel Aviv University), Alan Read (King's College London), Zvi Lothane (Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City), and Moshe Zuckermann (Tel Aviv University)
07 December 2010
CFP: Representation: Kantorowicz and the Consequences
4. Berliner Kolloquium Junge Religionsphilosophie (Fourth Berlin Colloquium Young Philosophy of Religion) "Repräsentation: Kantorowicz und die Folgen" (Representation: Kantorowicz and the Consequences; my translation) of the Hanover Institute of Philosophical Research (Forschungsinstitut für Philosophie Hannover), the Catholic Academy in Berlin (Katholische Akademie in Berlin), and Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University Frankfurt's Chair for Philosophy of Religion, taking place at the Katholische Akademie, Hannoversche Strasse 5, Berlin, Germany, 24-26 February 2011
www.katholische-akademie-berlin.de/1:5431/Veranstaltungen/2011/02/30179_Repraesentation-Kantorowicz-und-die.html
Call for papers
Description: "[This colloquium] carries in its title a key term of political philosophy, legal philosophy and political theology and has [...] once more chosen a classic as the patron of our reflections: Ernst Hartwig Kantorowicz (1895-1963), who both as an intellectual and a scientist made important observations on the question of representation, particularly in his 1957 classic, The King's Two Bodies (Princeton University Press). Invited are proposals that thematize questions of the (institutional) representation of power in the context of the challenges posed by political science, jurisprudence, philosophy and theology; explore questions of the representation of the sacred and religion in art history, iconography or poetology; study the relationship of truth and myth, authority and authorship, symbolism, embodiment of power and incarnation; concern themselves with the writings of Ernst Hartwig Kantorowicz inasfar as they can be brought into fruitful tensions with the topic of the colloquium." (my translation)
The conference language is German, but papers may be proposed and presented in English. Young researchers particularly in philosophy and theology, but also other humanities and social sciences disciplines, with an interest in the philosophy of religion, are invited to send proposals (full manuscripts or outlines of presentations) to Martin Knechtges (Katholische Akademie): knechtges@katholische‐akademie‐berlin.de
Deadline: 15 December 2010
The organizers write that presentations should not exceed 5,000 characters – that is around two pages A4. Before submitting a proposal, you may want to inquire if they do not rather mean a maximum of 5,000 words.
Each presenter will be allocated 45 minutes (20 minutes for presentation, the rest presumably for discussion). All presenters are guests of the conference and will be given free accommodation and registration. They will however have to pay for their own transportation to and from Berlin. The registration fee for non-presenting participants is 75 Euro (including meals) and they can book accommodation at 100 Euro (single room) or 70 Euro (bed in a double room) for two nights. An additional night (departure on Sunday) is 50/35 Euro. The organizers write that the number of participants is limited to 30. From the website, I am not clear, though, if this includes or excludes presenters (or non-presenters).
Registration forms (in German) for both presenting and non-presenting participants are to be found on the above website. If you are going to propose a paper, please send the appropriate registration form together with your proposal. Non-presenting participants have until 30 January 2011 to register.
Keynote speakers: Ulrich Haltern (University of Hanover), Jürgen Manemann (Hanover Institute of Philosophical Research), and Thomas M. Schmidt (Goethe-University Frankfurt)
www.katholische-akademie-berlin.de/1:5431/Veranstaltungen/2011/02/30179_Repraesentation-Kantorowicz-und-die.html
Call for papers
Description: "[This colloquium] carries in its title a key term of political philosophy, legal philosophy and political theology and has [...] once more chosen a classic as the patron of our reflections: Ernst Hartwig Kantorowicz (1895-1963), who both as an intellectual and a scientist made important observations on the question of representation, particularly in his 1957 classic, The King's Two Bodies (Princeton University Press). Invited are proposals that thematize questions of the (institutional) representation of power in the context of the challenges posed by political science, jurisprudence, philosophy and theology; explore questions of the representation of the sacred and religion in art history, iconography or poetology; study the relationship of truth and myth, authority and authorship, symbolism, embodiment of power and incarnation; concern themselves with the writings of Ernst Hartwig Kantorowicz inasfar as they can be brought into fruitful tensions with the topic of the colloquium." (my translation)
The conference language is German, but papers may be proposed and presented in English. Young researchers particularly in philosophy and theology, but also other humanities and social sciences disciplines, with an interest in the philosophy of religion, are invited to send proposals (full manuscripts or outlines of presentations) to Martin Knechtges (Katholische Akademie): knechtges@katholische‐akademie‐berlin.de
Deadline: 15 December 2010
The organizers write that presentations should not exceed 5,000 characters – that is around two pages A4. Before submitting a proposal, you may want to inquire if they do not rather mean a maximum of 5,000 words.
Each presenter will be allocated 45 minutes (20 minutes for presentation, the rest presumably for discussion). All presenters are guests of the conference and will be given free accommodation and registration. They will however have to pay for their own transportation to and from Berlin. The registration fee for non-presenting participants is 75 Euro (including meals) and they can book accommodation at 100 Euro (single room) or 70 Euro (bed in a double room) for two nights. An additional night (departure on Sunday) is 50/35 Euro. The organizers write that the number of participants is limited to 30. From the website, I am not clear, though, if this includes or excludes presenters (or non-presenters).
Registration forms (in German) for both presenting and non-presenting participants are to be found on the above website. If you are going to propose a paper, please send the appropriate registration form together with your proposal. Non-presenting participants have until 30 January 2011 to register.
Keynote speakers: Ulrich Haltern (University of Hanover), Jürgen Manemann (Hanover Institute of Philosophical Research), and Thomas M. Schmidt (Goethe-University Frankfurt)
05 December 2010
CFP: Religion in the Public Square and Private Worship
International and interdisciplinary seminar "Religion in the Public Square and Private Worship: in light of Hobbes' reading of 2 Kings 5:18-19" of the Italian academic journal "Politica e Religione" and the Department of Philosophy, History, and Cultural Heritage at the University of Trento, Italy, 9-10 June 2011
Call for papers
Since 2007, the journal "Politica e Religione" has been promoting seminars on the history of theological-political concepts and metaphors at the University of Trento, covering topics such as the Angels of the Nations; the Katéchon and the Antichrist; and the Spirit and the Power: Questions of Political Pneumatology. The proceedings of previous seminars have been published in the journal. Scholars from a variety of religious and disciplinary backgrounds (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, History, Philosophy, Theology, Law, Political Science, etc.) are invited to submit proposals for a contribution during the next seminar.
Description: "In the Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes reads the episode of Naaman the Syrian (2 Kings 5:18-19) as an example and a symbol of the right of a political power to control the public manifestations of any religious act. According to the biblical story, Naaman, the captain of the army of an Aramean king, converted to the faith of Israel after having been healed from leprosy, but he asked and obtained permission by a Jewish prophet to publicly worship the god Rimmon because of his obedience to the king. By distinguishing between interior conviction and external worship, the English philosopher[,] on the one hand, opens the way to the modern conception of the freedom of conscience, understood as a political tool for the resolution of religious conflicts and prevention of civil war; on the other hand, puts in doubt the ecclesiastic claims of interfering in any political and public issue precisely by making the interior convictions of the citizens irrelevant (insofar as they obey the laws of the king).
"Hobbes underlines that, by asking only for the interior faith and not for public actions, Jesus has exonerated the Church from judging the civil and political powers. And in the case when royal laws are in contradiction with the norms of the Church, or simply with the interior convictions of the citizens, they should obey those laws because such an act does not impede obtaining eternal salvation. In Hobbes' eyes, this argument frees the same concern for the eternal salvation from any political concern and puts it only within the individual, spiritual sphere. External obedience to the royal laws does not compromise the personal adhesion to norms of the Holy Scriptures. Hobbes' reflections on the biblical episode mentioned above may serve as the opportunity to think again about the relationship between public or political acts of religion, private worship, and interior convictions, in the framework of the complex process of forging the modern concept of 'religious freedom' as the foundation of all modern, secular political institutions.
"The recent claim by almost all traditional religions of a major public role in the global village is a challenge and a stimulus to renew the reflection on how states and politics should regulate the public manifestations of any religious credos in a context of pluralistic societies. Possible themes for a proposed paper: Innovative exegesis and interpretations of the biblical story of 2 Kings 5:18-19; Possible comparison with John 3:1-19 and Gal 2:11-21; How the story of Naaman was received by the Fathers of the Church; Developments of the theme in Jewish, Islamic, and Christian-Orthodox traditions; Development of the theme in the Scholastic schools of thought; The exegetical sources of Hobbes' text on the subject; New interpretations of the subject in the Modern era; Reception of Hobbes's reflections in C. Schmitt, R. Schnur, and R. Koselleck; Relationship between interior faith, domestic worship, and public acts of religion; Developments of the theme in contemporary theology."
Presentations may be given in Italian, English, French, German, or Spanish. Each proposal should include a title, the list of the disciplinary areas involved, an abstract (max. 300 words), and a limited bibliography. Proposals will be accepted on the basis of cogency and consistency with the topic and the method of the seminar. Please send proposals to Michele Nicoletti and Francesco Ghia (both University of Trento): michele.nicoletti@unitn.it, francesco.ghia@unitn.it
Deadline: 28 February 2011
The selected participants are required to submit full papers (max. 2,500-3,000 words) by 9 May 2011.
The best presented papers will be published in the journal (after the usual peer review).
Further information on the journal is to be found here:
www.morcelliana.it/or4/or?uid=morcelliana.main.index&oid=23165
Call for papers
Since 2007, the journal "Politica e Religione" has been promoting seminars on the history of theological-political concepts and metaphors at the University of Trento, covering topics such as the Angels of the Nations; the Katéchon and the Antichrist; and the Spirit and the Power: Questions of Political Pneumatology. The proceedings of previous seminars have been published in the journal. Scholars from a variety of religious and disciplinary backgrounds (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, History, Philosophy, Theology, Law, Political Science, etc.) are invited to submit proposals for a contribution during the next seminar.
Description: "In the Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes reads the episode of Naaman the Syrian (2 Kings 5:18-19) as an example and a symbol of the right of a political power to control the public manifestations of any religious act. According to the biblical story, Naaman, the captain of the army of an Aramean king, converted to the faith of Israel after having been healed from leprosy, but he asked and obtained permission by a Jewish prophet to publicly worship the god Rimmon because of his obedience to the king. By distinguishing between interior conviction and external worship, the English philosopher[,] on the one hand, opens the way to the modern conception of the freedom of conscience, understood as a political tool for the resolution of religious conflicts and prevention of civil war; on the other hand, puts in doubt the ecclesiastic claims of interfering in any political and public issue precisely by making the interior convictions of the citizens irrelevant (insofar as they obey the laws of the king).
"Hobbes underlines that, by asking only for the interior faith and not for public actions, Jesus has exonerated the Church from judging the civil and political powers. And in the case when royal laws are in contradiction with the norms of the Church, or simply with the interior convictions of the citizens, they should obey those laws because such an act does not impede obtaining eternal salvation. In Hobbes' eyes, this argument frees the same concern for the eternal salvation from any political concern and puts it only within the individual, spiritual sphere. External obedience to the royal laws does not compromise the personal adhesion to norms of the Holy Scriptures. Hobbes' reflections on the biblical episode mentioned above may serve as the opportunity to think again about the relationship between public or political acts of religion, private worship, and interior convictions, in the framework of the complex process of forging the modern concept of 'religious freedom' as the foundation of all modern, secular political institutions.
"The recent claim by almost all traditional religions of a major public role in the global village is a challenge and a stimulus to renew the reflection on how states and politics should regulate the public manifestations of any religious credos in a context of pluralistic societies. Possible themes for a proposed paper: Innovative exegesis and interpretations of the biblical story of 2 Kings 5:18-19; Possible comparison with John 3:1-19 and Gal 2:11-21; How the story of Naaman was received by the Fathers of the Church; Developments of the theme in Jewish, Islamic, and Christian-Orthodox traditions; Development of the theme in the Scholastic schools of thought; The exegetical sources of Hobbes' text on the subject; New interpretations of the subject in the Modern era; Reception of Hobbes's reflections in C. Schmitt, R. Schnur, and R. Koselleck; Relationship between interior faith, domestic worship, and public acts of religion; Developments of the theme in contemporary theology."
Presentations may be given in Italian, English, French, German, or Spanish. Each proposal should include a title, the list of the disciplinary areas involved, an abstract (max. 300 words), and a limited bibliography. Proposals will be accepted on the basis of cogency and consistency with the topic and the method of the seminar. Please send proposals to Michele Nicoletti and Francesco Ghia (both University of Trento): michele.nicoletti@unitn.it, francesco.ghia@unitn.it
Deadline: 28 February 2011
The selected participants are required to submit full papers (max. 2,500-3,000 words) by 9 May 2011.
The best presented papers will be published in the journal (after the usual peer review).
Further information on the journal is to be found here:
www.morcelliana.it/or4/or?uid=morcelliana.main.index&oid=23165
04 December 2010
CFP: Radical Orthodoxy: A Journal of Theology, Philosophy and Politics
"Radical Orthodoxy: A Journal of Theology, Philosophy and Politics" is a new international peer reviewed journal dedicated to exploring academic and policy debates that interface between theology, philosophy, and the social sciences. The editors describe the journals policy as "radically non-partisan" and welcome submissions from scholars and intellectuals "with interesting and relevant things to say about the nature and trajectory of the times in which we live".
They explain that the journal will normally be published four times a year – each volume comprising of standard, special, review, and current affairs issues. The journal will also attempt to pursue an innovative editorial policy by publishing pieces both longer and shorter than those typically published in mainstream academic journals (along with those of standard length).
The first issue of the journal will appear online in autumn 2011: a double special issue on the theology, philosophy, and politics of life. This issue will explore the wider intellectual ramifications of so-called new vitalist philosophical discourses as well as the growing importance of controversies about the nature and significance of life to contemporary theological and social-scientific debates. In particular, submissions are invited on the following subjects: Life and creativity; Everyday life; Life and the gift; Grace and nature; Thomism and vitalism; Life and phenomenology; Michel Henry; The historical significance of 'Deleuzianism'; Nihilism and eliminative materialism; Bio-politics; The philosophy of biology; The theology, philosophy, politics of the neurosciences; Life and cybernetics.
Deadline for submissions for the special issue: 31 August 2011
All paper submissions (for the special issue and later regular issues) should be sent to Neil Turnbull (Editor) or Eric Austin Lee (Managing Editor): papersubmissions@radicalorthodoxy.org
They explain that the journal will normally be published four times a year – each volume comprising of standard, special, review, and current affairs issues. The journal will also attempt to pursue an innovative editorial policy by publishing pieces both longer and shorter than those typically published in mainstream academic journals (along with those of standard length).
The first issue of the journal will appear online in autumn 2011: a double special issue on the theology, philosophy, and politics of life. This issue will explore the wider intellectual ramifications of so-called new vitalist philosophical discourses as well as the growing importance of controversies about the nature and significance of life to contemporary theological and social-scientific debates. In particular, submissions are invited on the following subjects: Life and creativity; Everyday life; Life and the gift; Grace and nature; Thomism and vitalism; Life and phenomenology; Michel Henry; The historical significance of 'Deleuzianism'; Nihilism and eliminative materialism; Bio-politics; The philosophy of biology; The theology, philosophy, politics of the neurosciences; Life and cybernetics.
Deadline for submissions for the special issue: 31 August 2011
All paper submissions (for the special issue and later regular issues) should be sent to Neil Turnbull (Editor) or Eric Austin Lee (Managing Editor): papersubmissions@radicalorthodoxy.org
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