&lsquo\;This\, then\, is Havel&rsquo\;s tragedy: his authentic ethical stance has become a \;moralising idiom cynically appropriated by the knaves of capitalism. His \;heroic insistence on doing the impossible has ended up serving those \;who &lsquo\;realistically&rsquo\; argue that any real change in today&rsquo\;s world is \;impossible.&rsquo\; \;Slavoj Žižek
On 23 December 2011\, the funeral mass of Vá\;clav Havel was celebrated with \;a degree of ceremony that not only commemorated his personal achievement \;but also signalled the end of an era. \;Havel&rsquo\;s death apparently confirmed \;the transformation of one of the most astonishing events in post-war \;Europe&mdash\;the collapse of Communism&mdash\;from living memory into complete \;historical narrative. Yet\, the dramatic story of 1970s and 80s dissidents \;and the path to 1989\, this story of private individuals helping to bring \;about what seemed impossible\, has assumed ever greater relevance to the \;present.
Today\, the structures that appeared to have triumphed in 1989\, and in what \;followed\, are now themselves the subjects of contestation in\, inter alia\, \;the Arab Spring\, China&rsquo\;s Charter 08\, Greek anti-austerity protests\, \;Wikileaks and pirate parties\, and the Occupy Movement. \;Thus\, a
triumphalist narrative\, with its implied &lsquo\;they all lived happily ever \;after&rsquo\;\, cannot provide the end to the story. Rather than a closed \;chapter\, &lsquo\;East European dissidence&rsquo\; and its conception of politics as the \;art of the impossible appear an open book.
This conference seeks to identify the political\, cultural\, and \;philosophical questions that underlie &lsquo\;East European dissidence&rsquo\; and to \;consider their implications for dissent today.
Individual proposals of no more than 300 words\, and brief biographies of \;no more than 100 words\, should be sent to: ssees-artofimpossible@ucl.ac.uk \; \;by 10 December 2012.
Further inquiries can be addressed to the conference organizers\, Tim \;Beasley-Murray and Peter Zusi\, at the above email address.
Conference registration fee: £\;50 standard\, £\;30 students and other \;concessions\, free for University of London students
Proposals may address\, but need not be limited to\, the following topics.
Thinking dissent
Practicing dissent
\nDissent\, the private and public
\nFigures of dissident
\nGenealogies of dissent
\nDissent today
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