CFP: Drive, Desire and Dissent: Philosophy at the Intersection of Politics and Psychoanalysis

Paper submissions: Dissent from the status quo, desire for change, and the drive for reorganization stand at the forefront of the current political landscape. What role does desire play in the struggle for social and economic change? What drives are at work in both conservative and revolutionary ways of thinking the political? The psychoanalytic tradition can help to illuminate the motivations and aims of political thought and action; throughout the last half century, this tradition has become fused with philosophy in order to provide a framework for both understanding and shaping political activity. Some theories, however, have defined themselves in opposition to psychoanalysis. Our conference seeks to examine the achievements, possibilities, tensions, frustrations, and limitations of the relationship between psychoanalysis, politics, and philosophy.

We welcome submissions from the broadest range of philosophical and interdisciplinary traditions, and we highly encourage submissions treating one or more aspects of the conference theme. Submissions from both graduate and undergraduate students will be considered.

Format: Please prepare papers for blind review. Email complete papers (no longer than 4,000 words), preceded by an abstract, to [email protected] in Word or PDF format; include in the body of your email 1) title of paper, 2) author’s name, 3) university or institutional affiliation, 4) word count, and 5) contact details.

Please refrain from providing any selfidentifying information in either the paper or the abstract.

Possible themes and figures:

Freud, Lacan, Marx, Deleuze & Guatarri, Foucault, Irigaray, Badiou, Kristeva, Žižek, Malabou, the Frankfurt School, psychoanalytic readings of philosophers and political theorists, philosophical responses to psychoanalysis, political theory in opposition to psychoanalysis, methodological problems of psychoanalysis, questions raised by advances in the neurosciences, comparisons with non-Western philosophy and political thought, related themes in film and literature.

Please contact [email protected] with any questions.