International Conference on Critical Realism

From the anatomy of the global crisis…

Since 2008, what began with an initial collapse of the financial system has catalysed into an economic and political crisis of global dimensions. Lurking in the shadows of the financial crisis and occasionally breaching daylight is the ecological crisis. Global warming and climate change hangs like a sword of Damocles over the future of humanity. This is to say nothing of business as usual: growing inequality and impoverishment, continuing discrimination and exploitation, all of which functions to foster moral, psychological and existential crises. Current orthodoxy suggests that such crises are only temporary deviations from an otherwise well-functioning system. Prevailing pessimism suggests that it is easier to imagine global catastrophe and the destruction of the world rather than a change in the status quo able to avert such an outcome.

...to the ontology of human flourishing

In light of the global poly-crisis two questions are now before us; 'how are we to understand our current situation?' and 'what are we to do?' Albert Einstein is widely accredited as answering this by suggesting "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." This new thinking is what critical realism aspires to provide, as a philosophy of science and social science it cuts across questions of causality, epistemology, ontology, ethics, and sociology to present a strong critique of western metaphysics as based in the epistemic fallacy. This new thinking is perhaps what we need more than ever.

Delegates' Rates

The following Early Bird discounted rates are available until 15 May:

• £240.00 - IACR members
• £320.00 - non-IACR members
• £195.00 - Students and unwaged

Schedule
Wednesday 16 - Thursday 17 July

• Pre-conference workshop on critical realism
  Led by Roy Bhaskar, originator of the philosophy of critical realisim (and metaReality) and Alan Norrie, president of IACR

Friday 18 July

• Educating for the future
  - The ecological crisis
  - Forms of realism
• Book launch with drinks reception

Saturday 19 July

• The political-economic crisis
  - Ethics, emancipation and metaReality in action
  - Dialectic and critical realism
• Conference Dinner

Sunday 20 July

• Ontology of flourishing
  - Love, sexuality and feminism in the 21st century
  - Religion, spirituality and secularism
• IACR Annual General Meeting

Monday 21 July

Half day

• Where do we go from here?
  - Educating for a better future
  - Concrete eutopianism
• ICCR Annual General Meeting and a workshop on the philosophy of metaReality

Speakers

• Priscilla Alderson (Institute of Education)
• Richard Andrews (Institute of Education)
• Margaret Archer (Warwick University)
• Alison Assiter (University of Western England)
• Roy Bhaskar (Institute of Education)
• Alex Callinicos (Kings College London)
• Berth Danermark (Orebro, Sweden)
• Hans Despain (Nichols College, Massachussets)
• Sean Esbjörn-Hargens (Meridian, California)
• Lena Gunnarsson (Orebro, Sweden)
• David Graeber (London School of Economics)
• Mervyn Hartwig (IACR/ICCR)
• Nick Hostettler (Queen Mary, University of London)
• Chris Husbands (Institute of Education)
• Bob Jessop (Lancaster University)
• Petter Næss (Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Oslo)
• Alan Norrie (Warwick University)
• Christopher Norris (Cardiff University)
• Alister McGrath (Oxford University)
• Doug Porpora (Drexel)
• Richard Pring (Oxford University)
• Michael Reiss (Institute of Education)
• David Scott (Institute of Education)
• Christian Smith (Notre Dame University)
• George Steinmetz (Michigan University)
• Michael Schwartz (Georgia Regents University)
• Frederic Vandenberghe (UERJ, Brazil)
• Michael Young (Institute of Education)