Brave New World 2025 - Manchester Centre for Political Theory

Brave New World 2025: Call for Papers

The Brave New World conference series is a leading international forum dedicated to the discussion of postgraduate research in political theory. Participants have the chance to meet and discuss their work with eminent academics, including members of the faculty from the University of Manchester, as well as the guest speakers.

This year’s Brave New World is the 29th annual postgraduate conference organised by the Manchester Centre for Political Theory (MANCEPT). The conference will take place on the 26th and 27th of June 2025. We are pleased to announce as our keynote speakers:

• Duncan Ivison (University of Manchester), who researches liberalism, multiculturalism, and postcolonialism, highlighting the rights of, and injustices faced by, indigenous people. Prof. Ivison is also the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester.
• Valeria Ottonelli (University of Genova), whose research into democracy, ethics, and justice focuses on justifying democratic institutions, the virtues and ethics of democratic citizens, and the rights of migrants. Prof. Ottonelli’s work also highlights the normative issues surrounding voting and temporary migration.
• Filipe Carreira Da Silva (University of Cambridge), who researches social theory, Habermasian theory, and civic republicanism, with a focus on the public sphere, democracy, and decolonial theory. Prof. Carreira Da Silva has also published on populism and the articulation of logics of resentment.

Submission Guidelines

If you would like to present a paper, please send an abstract of approximately 300 words in PDF format to [email protected] no later than the 17th of April 2025. The documentmust not contain your name or institution, as they are to be reviewed blind, but please state your name and institutional affiliation in the email. Papers focusing on any area of political theory or political philosophy are welcome. Notices of acceptance will be sent by the 1st of May 2025

Please note that we are asking all speakers and attendees to pay a registration fee of £20. The sole purpose of this fee is to ensure that we are able to provide a number of partial and full bursaries for speakers who would otherwise not be able to attend. As these bursaries will be allocated according to need, please include a brief description of your funding situation when submitting your abstract if you wish to be considered for a bursary.

For any questions, feel free to contact Maurits Bekkers, Jim Morrison, or Tim Siew at [email protected].