Call For Proposals – Migration, Mobility, And Mass Displacements – Toward a “Political Theology” Appropriate To An Age Of Global Disorder

The Department of Religious Studies  and the Centre for Critical Theory at the University of Kent in co-operation with the Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory and The New Polis announce a call for proposals for an international conference on the subject “Migration, Mobility, and Mass Displacements – Toward a “Political Theology” Appropriate to an Age of Global Disorder.” 

Proposals should be a maximum of 600 words and may be submitted for individual papers, presentations, or critical conversations among no more than three panelists.  In the case of panels, proposals must be accompanied by signed statements from each named participant declaring that they will indeed be in attendance and that they are likely to obtain funding for travel.  Proposals must be submitted along with a curriculum vitae for each participant to [email protected] no later than May 1, 2020. 

Proposals should address in some format, or minimally touch on significantly, one or more of the following questions:

• How has the “new world disorder”, fomented by rampant economic inequality, climate change, and political instability resulting from the struggle between neoliberal ruling elites and populist insurgencies, changed our understanding of the “political” in the 21st century and its relationship to underlying moral and religious commitments as well as embedded value systems?
• Do we need a new model of what is commonly called “political theology” to replace the older, more familiar ones in such a global environment, especially when it comes to questions of sovereignty, economy, and the character of the “political” itself?
• How has mass migration along with the accelerating movement in the economic sphere of capital and labor affected political systems around the globe, and what kinds of critical-theoretical as well as normative (especially ethical) forms of analysis, can we bring to bear in addressing responsibly and effectively the challenges wrought by its impact?
• What past and present day thinkers should we draw upon to develop this new model of “political theology”, and for what reason? 

Submit proposal no later than May 1, 2020 to [email protected]