CFP: Futures of Queer Theory: A Right to Philosophy

Submission deadline: January 31, 2017

Conference date(s):
April 13, 2017 - April 15, 2017

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Conference Venue:

The New School for Social Research
New York, United States

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Submissions should be sent to [email protected] by January 31, 2017

In a recent dialogue with Sara Ahmed published in Sexualities, Judith Butler had the opportunity to reflect on the reception of Gender Trouble among academic philosophers at the time of its original publication. Describing herself as having attempted to write a book on the “philosophical foundations of gender,” Butler recalls how, in the name of disciplinary purity, philosophy departments at the time dismissed the writings of what would come to be called “queer theory” as non-philosophical. Following Butler, one might say that throughout its history queer theory has been disavowed in both the practice and institutions of philosophy—not unlike the non-normative bodies, genders and sexualities for which it has sought to account, queer theory has often been said to be incoherent, illegible and unintelligible. Nevertheless, as Butler observes, this disavowal also had at least one fortuitous consequence: many queer theorists, having been trained in departments of philosophy or philosophical traditions, but denied the institutional recognition of the titles “philosopher” and “philosophy,” were forced to develop interdisciplinary forms of solidarity, fashioning intellectual identities and traditions of thought that would have been otherwise impossible. Faced with what Butler describes as a kind of “disciplinary power or cruelty in academic life,” one might say that queer theory was forged from the fire of this ambivalent relation-without-relation to what has been called “philosophy.”

Given this state of affairs, while it might be and often has been tempting to disengage queer theorizing from philosophy altogether, the premise of this conference is that what distinguishes queer theory as a tradition for thinking non-normative sex and gender is the implicit claim that queer people have a certain right to philosophy, and that to insist on this right is to insist on the critique and transformation of the practice and institutions of philosophy. In this spirit, the organizers of this conference hope to facilitate a series of conversations surrounding the following questions: What philosophical traditions and resources have made queer theorizing possible? What sorts of blindnesses have characterized the philosophical foundations of queer theory? What new forms of solidarity might be forged among queer theory and other bodies of knowledge on the margins of philosophy (transgender studies, disability studies, the philosophy of race, etc.) What, if anything, should queer people expect from philosophy? Is it possible today (and if so, what does it mean) to be a queer philosopher?

In posing these questions, we hope to not only encourage the submission of papers that will further scholarly reflection on those traditions of philosophy germane to queer theory, but also to provide a space for students, activists, and scholars to critically reflect on the academic institutions in which they (do or do not) find themselves. Needless to say, submissions are encouraged from a diverse array of disciplinary and institutional affiliations.

We invite the submission of papers no longer than 3,000 words prepared for a 20-25 minute presentation. Papers should be submitted as .pdf files and formatted for blind review. Please include as a separate document a cover letter including your name, paper title, institution and contact information. 

Submissions should be sent to [email protected] by January 31, 2017

Possible Topics:
 Queer phenomenology
 The ethics of queer theory
 Queer theory and the philosophy of race
 Queer theory and intersectional feminism
 Deconstruction and queer theory
 Speech act theory and queer theory
 Queer theory and disability studies
 Queer thought and Black Lives Matter
 The teaching of queer theory
 The status of queers in philosophy
 De-subjugated knowledge
 Queer theory outside academia
 The place of experience in queer theory
 Philosophy, science, and queer theory
 Queer theory in relation to postcolonial and decolonial theory
 Queer theory and transgender studies
 Queer theory and Marxism
 Queer theory and French Feminism

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