THE AESTHETICS OF DEMOCRATIC LIFE-FORMS
\nInternational Graduate Conference
\nGoethe-University Frankfurt
\nSeptember 21&ndash\;23\, 2023
\nSince its birth at the end of the 18th century\, modern democracy has proved to be more than a system of government: forms of governance and ways of living dovetail as to formulate its structural complexity. Already in classical antiquity\, politicians and thinkers observed the profound influence of the self-governing collective in shaping individual sensibilities\; the modern democratic mechanism of representation increases and foregrounds such structural complexity\, seeing the self-actualization of the demos and selection of political representatives via aesthetic media and strategies. Indeed\, the aesthetic dimensions reveal modern democracies to be life-forms. That is\, democracies reach deep into the fabric of life\, cultivating certain modes of conduct\, forms of communication\, artistic practices\, individual as well as collective forms of experience &ndash\; all of which intertwine and shape the lives of those involved. \;
\nThe international graduate conference The Aesthetics of Democratic Life-Forms thus seeks to understand aesthetics not as a disparate\, hostile sphere in relation to democracy&ndash\; an assumption which posits the aestheticization of politics to be inherently anti-democratic&ndash\;\, nor as a structurally analogous foil for democratic politics. Rather\, this conference hopes to shed light on how aesthetic practices and phenomena provide insight into democratic life-forms\, as well as how political practices and discussions implicate modes of conduct whose aesthetic dimensions lend themselves to productive analysis.
\nThis call for abstracts invites contributions engaging with the topic via:
\n(1) theoretical concepts leading double aesthetic-political lives (representation\, form\, style\, theatricality\, realism\, affect\, experience\, criticism\, and others)
\n(2) analyses of object-side phenomena (literary texts\, artworks\, public space\, fashion trends\, social media\, pop culture\, climate movements\, hustle- and scam culture\, and others)
\n(3) insights from individual theoretical discourses (post-colonialism\, phenomenology\, feminism\, ecocriticism\, legal theories\, theories of judgment\, theories of the Anthropocene\, biopolitics\, and others) as well as schools of thought (Wittgenstein and Cavell\, Marxism\, Critical Theory\, Pragmatism\, Radical Democracy\, and others). \;
\nSelected participants will be invited to present their research in interdisciplinary panels\, each being allotted 20 minutes for speaking and 10 minutes for questions from the audience. \;
\nThe conference will take place from September 21&ndash\;23\, 2023 in person at Goethe-University Frankfurt. Thursday evening will open with a keynote from Martin Jay (UC Berkeley)\, followed by a podium discussion\; full-day panels will ensue on Friday and Saturday. This event was organized by the university initiative The Aesthetics of the Democratic Life-Form in collaboration with the Institute for Social Research\, the Cluster Initiative ConTrust at the Research Institute Normative Orders\, and Netzwerk Paulskirche.
\nThe deadline for the submission of abstracts (500-1000 words) is June 15\, 2023. Contributions from students in advanced stages of master programs and doctoral students are expressly welcomed. A portion of travel and accommodation costs for participants can potentially be covered\; the publication of conference contributions is being considered. \;
\nThe conference will take place in English and German\; abstracts may be submitted in both languages. Submissions and inquiries to be sent to aedl.grade@gmail.com. \;
\nAll the best\,
\n\nClaudia Park\, Dominik Herold\, Julius Schwarzwä\;lder and Martin Renz
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