CFP: "The Solitary Being" – Symposium in the Botanical Garden

Please circulate widely!

CALL FOR PAPERS

Fifth Anniversary International Symposium "The Solitary Being"

Organized by: Sussex Centre for the Individual and Society (SCIS)

Location: Orangery of the Botanical Garden of the University of Bern, Switzerland

Date: 26-27 May 2011

The "solitary man" is a staple of popular culture as much as philosophy. From medieval religious hermits to people medically diagnosed with autism or antisocial personality disorder, from the lone wolf of American frontier romanticism to the loner running amok in a university, from Ibn Bajjah/Avempace's "The Governance of the Solitary" to Nietzsche's "Übermensch", from the reclusive artist to Japan's tens of thousands of "hikikomori" voluntarily choosing to withdraw from society, examples are not limited to the arguably individualistic modern West, but rather seem to range across all societies, cultures, and times. There always have been those who do not fit the stereotype of man as a social being. Nevertheless, people who keep to themselves and do not engage in collaborative social action tend to be overlooked by social and political researchers and are therefore understudied.

The solitary human being (male or female) has been one of the interests of the Sussex Centre for the Individual and Society (SCIS) since its foundation in 2006. To celebrate our fifth anniversary in 2011, we will be organizing a rare symposium on "The Solitary Being" in the unique settings of a Botanical Garden. Previous SCIS symposia drew participants from the world over. Our anniversary symposium is set to be equally international and interdisciplinary in scope. We invite affiliated academics, independent scholars, and doctoral students and candidates from a wide range of disciplines, such as Anthropology, Sociology, Philosophy, Political Theory, Political Science, Cultural Studies, Literature, Theology, Religious Studies, Psychology, Cognitive Science, Law, History, Education, and so on. Papers may cover any and all aspects of "the solitary being" and/or his or her interaction with the (social) world. Papers may be theoretical and/or empirical in nature. Work in progress is welcome too.

We expect that 15-20 participants will be attending this workshop-style symposium. Over the course of two full days, each presenter will have 45-60 minutes (depending on the number of participants) to present his or her paper and discuss it with all others. The symposium starts early on Thursday and ends Friday late in the afternoon. Due to the small size of the symposium, all participants are expected to attend both days (unless an exception has been agreed in advance, i.e. for religious observance on Friday).

As with all SCIS events, no fees will be charged from participants, and no funding is available to cover participants' travel and accommodation expenses. We will be glad to issue letters of acceptance on request to assist participants in securing funding from their usual sources. The city of Bern – Switzerland's capital –, is connected to both the Zurich and Geneva international airports by direct train (approx. one hour from Zurich, two hours from Geneva) and offers a choice of accommodation. The historic town centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Botanical Garden of the University of Bern is arranged in descending terraces on the slopes of the river Aar, a tributary of the Rhine. On more than two hectares, it showcases vegetation from various ecological zones, in greenhouses and outdoors, such as alpine plants from Europe, Asia, and North America, tropical and subtropical plants (including orchids, palms, ferns, and cacti), Mediterranean, cold steppe, and semi-desert plants, woodland, water, medical, and fibre plants. Around six thousand plant species will make our anniversary symposium a feast of the senses, forms, fragrances, and colours. Further information will be provided to confirmed participants.

Please send your proposal to: e.kofmel@sussexcentre.org

Extended deadline: 30 April 2011

Later submissions may still be accepted, but early submission is strongly advised and proposals may be accepted as they come in.

Cordially,

Erich Kofmel
Managing Director / Research Professor of Political Theory
Sussex Centre for the Individual and Society (SCIS)
www.sussexcentre.org
E-mail: e.kofmel@sussexcentre.org

Postal address:
Sussex Centre for the Individual and Society
1200 Geneva
Switzerland

SCIS is an international association under Swiss law.
Founded 2006 at the University of Sussex.

Imprint Academic book covers compared

The new book (co-edited with András Körösényi and Gabriella Slomp) by Joseph V. Femia, Professor of Political Theory at the University of Liverpool and a former Senior Research Associate of SCIS, has just been published by Imprint Academic. The book's title is "Political Leadership in Liberal and Democratic Theory".

Released on 1 December 2009, precisely a year after my own collection "Anti-Democratic Thought" was published by Imprint Academic, it is interesting to note – and quite likely no one but me would note – that the new book cover shows the exact same picture of an ancient Greek temple that is to be seen on my own book.

One feels compelled to compare.

As good as some of the Imprint Academic cover art may be, the design of the Femia book belongs squarely into the category "awful". While the cover of my own book (to be seen in the left-hand column of this blog) is held in shiny blue, possibly promising a new day and the advent of a non-democratic future, and the temple can symbolize both democratic and anti-democratic political forms that were in existence in ancient Greece, the derivative new cover, held in black and white, plasters Abraham Lincoln and Nelson Mandela across the temple's base and pillars and somehow manages to have Winston Churchill float in the air above the building like a giant balloon.

www.booksonix.com/imprint/bookshop/title.php?9781845401726

Here anyway the publisher's description: "The working hypothesis of this book is that the issue of leadership is neglected by mainstream democratic and liberal theories. This deficiency has especially become evident in the last three or four decades, which have witnessed a revival of deontological liberalism and radical theories of participatory and 'deliberative' democracy. The contributors examine, discuss and evaluate descriptive, analytical and normative arguments regarding the role of leadership in liberal and democratic theory. The volume seeks to provoke debate and to foster new research on the significance and function of leaders in liberal democracies. The book (as a whole and in its constitutive chapters) works on two levels. First, it aims to expose the lack of systematic treatment of leadership in mainstream liberal and democratic theory. Second, it explores the reasons for this neglect. Overall, the book tries to convince the reader that liberal and democratic theories should revive the issue of leadership."

P.S. I'm currently also awaiting Alexandre J.M.E. Christoyannopoulos' monograph "Christian Anarchism: A Political Commentary on the Gospel", which was scheduled for publication by Imprint Academic on 1 January 2010, but does not seem to have been released yet. In 2008, Alex contributed a chapter, "Tolstoy's Anarchist Denunciation of State Violence and Deception", to my "Anti-Democratic Thought":

http://books.google.com/books?printsec=frontcover&id=KkMdJtaaeOYC

Manipal University, India, promotional video

Well worth watching:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW_92tOcJfs

This video was shown to me by a graduate of Manipal University, a top-ranking private institution in India, and like most alumni (judging from the comments left on Youtube) he seems to think it captures the spirit of the place pretty well. Manipal he translates as "many pals".

The video has the charm of a Bollywood film, which to western eyes may seem naïve. I recommend viewing it two or three times to really "get it".

You will be enthralled by the Hindi remix of the Bryan Adams classic "Summer of '69".

What other university has its own theme song?

The "burning dove" motif

A few months back, I was asked by the publishers of my forthcoming second book, "Anti-Liberalism and Political Theology", if I had an idea for a suitable cover image. Having already given it some thought, I proposed to them a "burning dove", or dove in flames.

I chose this image being fully aware that neither "anti-liberalism" nor "political theology" lend themselves to easy depiction, or representation, by any picture or design (let alone both of them together in their interaction).

Now, the "burning dove" is a motif that is not very well known. Seldomly, it is used in Christian iconography to depict the Holy Spirit.

The white dove, though, has a similar meaning in all monotheistic religions that will be discussed in this comparative book (Christianity, Islam, Judaism) as well as in politics (symbolizing peace).

In the context of "Anti-Liberalism and Political Theology", I see the white dove as symbolizing liberal peace and privatized religion. The burning dove would then symbolize a breakout from this state of normalcy. A theology that may employ violence (symbolized by the flames) to overcome liberalism.

As you can see, the dove burns in flames of a strong and bright red and orange. Let it be clear: The dove is on fire, the world must change.

Male and Female Slave Universities

The “multidisciplinary art practice” Atelier Van Lieshout in the Netherlands has developed architectural models of what they call a Male Slave University and a Female Slave University – dystopian comments on the ongoing commodification and marketization of higher education under present-day managerialism.

Both Slave Universities form part of ALV's “SlaveCity”, where people are held captive and enslaved by capitalism and virtual(ly worthless) money.

SlaveCity is “rational, efficient and profitable”. In tune with current thinking, it is the world's “first 'zero energy' town; [...] a green town where everything [including humans] is recycled and a city that does not squander the world's resources”:

www.ateliervanlieshout.com/works/slavecity.htm

On arrival in SlaveCity, people [including students] “have to pass the Welcoming Center. [...] Old, cripple[d], sick and bad tasting people will be recycled in the biogas digester”:

www.ateliervanlieshout.com/works/welcomingcentre.htm

The people at ALV describe the Male Slave University as “made to train the slaves for better performance and [...] linked to a[n] environmental friendly biogas installation”:

www.ateliervanlieshout.com/works/maleslaveunivesity.htm

The Female Slave University is an “elegant and efficiently designed education center [...], a contemporary labour camp”:

www.ateliervanlieshout.com/works/femaleslaveunivesity.htm

Professors “are the only ones receiving payment for their work”. Students “are being educated to function good and efficient within the objectives of SlaveCity”, which notably resembles our own society. Living conditions afforded to slaves in SlaveCity are reminiscent of those of employees in any urban sprawl of our days. Working conditions of students and young researchers and academics are as precarious as those at most universities we may know.

It is where democracy and the massification of higher education lead. Egalitarianism means equal enslavement.