CFP: Collectives in Contemporary French Thought

In recent years, philosophers working in the Anglo-American tradition have paid a significant amount of attention to groups. Particular areas of focus have included collective intentionality, the ontology of collective action, and collective responsibility. On the other hand, while not necessarily sharing the same concerns, French philosophical thought in the 20th and 21st centuries has seen the proliferation of a number of novel ways of thinking about groups and other collective phenomena: Lacan's work on the 'big Other'; Sartre's analysis of the formation and structure of groups in the Critique of Dialectical Reason; Simondon's work on psychic and collective individuation; Deleuze's and Guattari's thinking about the relation between 'collective assemblages of enunciation' and 'machinic assemblages of bodies'; Badiou's (but also Rancière's) work on collective political subjects, and so on.

This workshop aims to bring together researchers interested in exploring the contributions that contemporary French thought can make to recent philosophical theorizing about groups. In particular, we are interested in exploring novel ways to conceptualize the relation between individuals who can be said to 'share' intentions and agency. A small number of speaking slots are available. Prospective speakers are asked to email a short summary of their proposed papers (no more than 300 words) to [email protected] by Monday, 1 September 2014.

The workshop is hosted by the European Philosophy and the History of Ideas research group (http://www.deakin.edu.au/arts-ed/centre-for-citizenship-and-globalisation/research/thematic-research-groups/ephi).