The Centre For Cultural Studies Research at the University of East London will be hosting a major international conference on September 8th-9th, 2011 which will re-assess Michel Foucault’s contribution to radical thought and the application of his ideas to contemporary politics. What does it mean to draw on Foucault as a resource for radical politics, and how are we to understand the politics which implicitly informs his work?
Keynote speakers will be Stuart Elden, Professor in the Department of Geography, Durham University, one of the founding editors of Foucault Studies and Mark Kelly, Lecturer in Philosophy, Middlesex University, author of The Political Philosophy of Michel Foucault(Routledge, 2009). Please see full call for papers here.
On December 8th 2010 CCSR held a seminar on the implications of ideas of shared ‘pain’ which have become so central to the coalition government’s discourse of austerity. Speakers were Kate Pickett (co-author of The Spirit Level), Michael Rustin (of UEL and Soundings), and Jeremy Gilbert. Matthew Reisz, writing in the THE, noted how the event coincided with students taking to the streets ‘ahead of last week’s tuition-fees vote’ and the occupation of part of UEL’s campus. An Audio Recording of the seminar is available here and a copy of Jeremy’s paper ‘Sharing the Pain’ is available here.
A full audio recording is now available of the first of our series of seminars examining the meaning of Debt, Pain and Work in the era of austerity and coalition politics.
The Politics of Debt: Concepts and experiences of debt have become central to the management of contemporary capitalism, to understandings of its consequences and to social experience at every scale. National debt, personal debt, ecological debt are key issues for understanding contemporary culture and politics. But what exactly is debt? Can we manage without it? Are current levels of personal, national, corporate and ecological debt sustainable; and what are the origins of this most fundamental concept?
Professor Maggie Humm of CCSR has been invited to give the opening talk: ‘The 1930s, Photography and Virginia Woolf’s Flush’ in The Photographers’ Gallery London new series: ‘Writing Photography’. The series is in collaboration with the Journal of Photography and Culture with journal authors speaking about their articles and research.
Focusing on the themes of debt, pain, and work, the coalition government has attempted to build a new common sense around the need for deep public sector spending cuts, the curtailment of strategic health authority and local governmental influence in the provision of health and education, and the sweeping shift from public sector to private sector delivery. This academic year the Centre for Cultural Studies Research at UEL is holding three linked seminars on the themes of Debt (13 October), Pain (December 1) and Work (date to be confirmed) in order to interrogate the substance of the government’s strategy. Each event will be held at UEL’s Docklands Campus in East London, and will feature speakers from a range of activist, journalistic and research backgrounds.
CCSR Co-director Mica Nava recently conducted a public interview with Handel Kashope Wright, Canada Research Chair of Comparative Cultural Studies, David Lam Chair of Multicultural Education, Director of the Centre for Culture, Identity and Education and Professor in the Educational Studies Department at the University of British Columbia, Canada. Professor Wright is also on the CCSR Advisory Board. The interview was conducted as part of the Learning Lab series, sponsored by FOMACS and the British Council in Ireland. The Director of FOMACS, Aine O’Brien, is also a member of the CCSR Advisory Board. Video of the interview can be viewed here.
CCSR co-director Professor Maggie Humm has been invited to speak at the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2010 on August 22nd in Peppers Theatre. The talk is about her recently published The Edinburgh Companion to Virginia Woolf and the Arts, EUP that was launched on May 20th, 2010 at a very successful seminar and wine reception hosted by CCSR and University of Notre Dame London Centre.
Our second annual lecture, on 16th June, 2010 featured Marshall Berman, Distinguished Professor of Political Science at City University of New York and CUNY Graduate Centerand author of All That is Solid Melts Into Air, Adventures in Marxism, The Politics of Authenticity and, most recently, On The Town (all published by Verso).
Professor Berman’s speech, ‘Urban Ruins: City Life with Urbicide’, explained the phenomena of ‘urbicide’ – the distinct form of violence against the built environment. Full report here
