Convenors:
Kaitie Jourdeuil (Queen&rsquo\;s University\, Canada)
Michael Luoma (University of Northern British Columbia\, Canada)
Land\, Territory\, and Justice
\n\n2026 MANCEPT Workshops in Political Theory\, 2-4 September 2026 \;
\n\nThere is now a rich debate within and across diverse traditions of political and moral thought about the meaning\, use\, and desirability of the concepts of land and territory\, and their relation to justice. These debates extend beyond analytical moral and political philosophy and include vital perspectives within Indigenous political theory\, eco-phenomenology\, critical theory\, and dialogical traditions. The goal of this workshop is to bring together researchers working in these diverse traditions to discuss both established questions concerning the relations between land\, territory\, and justice\, and new questions arising from dialogue across these traditions.
\n\n\nFor example\, the past fifteen years have been marked by an uptick in dedicated theorizing about territorial rights in contemporary Anglo-American moral and political philosophy (see for example: Miller\, 2012\; Moore\, 2014\, 2015\, 2019\; Nine\, 2012\, 2022\; Ochoa-Espejo\, 2020\; Simmons\, 2016\; Stilz\, 2019). While the first wave of this literature focused on core conceptual questions about the nature and scope of various territorial rights (including jurisdiction\, self-determination\, resource control\, and immigration)\, the kinds of agents who hold these rights\, and the normative justifications for them\, this literature has now self-reflexively entered a &ldquo\;second wave&rdquo\; characterised by a deeper concern for questions of global inequality\, decolonization\, overlapping projects of self-determination\, and the environmental crisis (Moore &\; Ugalde\, 2025). For example\, recent inquiries have asked (but not fully answered) questions such as: What is the extent of morally mandatory restitution in cases of territorial wrongdoing\, including settler colonialism (Luoma\, 2023\; Luoma and Moore\, 2024\; Moore\, 2019\; Stilz\, 2024\; Riebold\, 2022\, 2023)? How may multiple peoples\, with distinct normative and ontological systems\, overlap in the same place without retrenching relationships of structural injustice and inter-group domination (Jourdeuil 2024\, 2025a\, 2025b\; Luoma\, 2022\, 2023\, 2024\, 2025)? What forms of governance are required in ecologically integrated regions spanning borders (Nine\, 2022)? How are territorial rights contingent on respect for biodiversity and ecological integrity (Moore\, 2023\; Kwan\, 2025)? And how can the benefits and burdens of natural resources\, energy transition\, and climate change mitigation/adaptation be fairly distributed between groups (Armstrong\, 2017\; De Biaso 2024a\, 2024b\; Li\, 2022\; Moore\, 2019)?
\n\n\nConcurrently to these discourses\, Indigenous scholars\, environmental philosophers\, and eco-phenomenologists interrogate the core normative\, ontological\, and epistemological assumptions of these discourses. Indigenous theorists challenge the hegemony of rights-based territorial frameworks\, contending that the natural world is not a stockpile of &ldquo\;resources&rdquo\; to be distributed and controlled according to a theory of justice\, but is better conceived of as a kinship network populated by beings deserving of intrinsic concern and respect with whom we must live harmoniously (e.g.\, Allard-Tremblay 2023\, 2025\; Burkhart\, 2019\; Mills 2017\, 2018\, 2019\; Simpson 2011\, 2017\; Temin 2023). Eco-phenomenologists challenge conceptions of land as a neutral background container against which we exercise our agency\, demonstrating how land and place structure our lived experience and subjectivity\, our ethical encounter with the alterity of the other-than-human\, and the possibilities for political agency (Casey\, 1993\, 2018\; Ingold\, 2010\; Malpas\, 1998\; Rose\, 2005\; Seamon\, 2018\; Smith\, 2001\, 2011\; Toadvine\, 2019). Beyond political theory\, land and territory are at the heart of intensifying international political conflicts\, including attempted territorial annexations\, rising majority and minority nationalism\, struggles against (neo-)colonialism\, and the global climate and environmental crises.
\n\n\nConsequently\, this workshop welcomes submissions that investigate conceptual\, ontological\, normative\, methodological\, and/or applied questions at the intersection of land\, territory\, and justice. We invite paper submissions from diverse methodological perspectives (including\, but not limited to analytical\, moral and political philosophy\, environmental philosophy and eco-phenomenology\, Indigenous political thought\, critical theory\, and comparative dialogue) from researchers at all stages of their career. Works in progress are encouraged. Workshop sessions will be pre-read\, with a brief presentation (10 min. max.) from the author\, followed by a 40-minute Q&\;A.
\n\n\nSubmission Guidelines:
\n\nAbstracts should be anonymised and must not exceed 500 words (including references). Please include your name\, affiliation\, and contact details in the email submission. Abstracts should be submitted by email to both convenors (kaitie.jourdeuil@queensu.ca and michael.luoma@unbc.ca) by May 2nd. Selected participants will be notified by May 26th. Participants will be expected to circulate their papers by August 16th. Please do not hesitate the contact the convenors with any questions.
\n\n\nAbout MANCEPT:
\n\nThe MANCEPT Workshops is an annual conference in political theory\, organised under the auspices of the Manchester Centre for Political Theory. The conference is run fully-in person at the University of Manchester. Bursaries are available to speakers based on need. Further instructions on registration and bursary applications will be released in due course.
\n\n ORGANIZER;CN=Kaitie Jourdeuil;CN=Michael Luoma: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260426T145516Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260513T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260514T170000 SUMMARY:Indigenous Philosophy in Conversation with V.F. Cordova UID:20260429T043045Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@philevents-web-6b96c54f56-bljdq TZID:America/New_York LOCATION:Gilman Hall\, Baltimore\, United States DESCRIPTION:A workshop revisiting Viola Cordova&rsquo\;s landmark book\, How It Is. \; We will have papers from ten scholars of American Indian philosophy as well as roundtable discussions. \; Registration is free but required. \; To register email connolly@jhu.edu.
ORGANIZER;CN=Patrick J. Connolly;CN=Joseph Len Miller;CN=Getty Lustila;CN=Janella Baxter: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260426T145516Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260521T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260523T170000 SUMMARY:30th Annual IAEP Conference (Virtual) UID:20260429T043046Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@philevents-web-6b96c54f56-bljdq TZID:Europe/London ORGANIZER: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260426T145516Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260530T080000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260530T080000 SUMMARY:(Neo)Colonial Images and Literature: The Construction of the Other UID:20260429T043047Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@philevents-web-6b96c54f56-bljdq TZID:Europe/London LOCATION:Gibbet Hill Road\, Coventry\, United Kingdom\, CV4 7AL DESCRIPTION:SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
\nAbstracts of no more than 300 words should be submitted between \;July 7th\, 2025\, and \;October 15th\, 2025.
\nPlease include a short biography (100 words) and institutional affiliation with your submission.
\nApproved abstracts will be informed by \;December 2025.
\nThe final paper must be sent by \;May 1st\, 2026\, for internal circulation.
\nWe invite scholars to submit proposals for our upcoming conference\, which will examine how colonial and neocolonial powers have influenced representations of non-Western countries and their peoples in literature\, the arts\, and the media. This event seeks to investigate how these representations have been instrumental in constructing negative stereotypes\, enforcing cultural hierarchies\, and sustaining hegemonic narratives that marginalise indigenous\, local\, and non-Western communities.
\nColonial and imperial discourses\, as &ldquo\;a cultural domination from abroad&rdquo\; (Da Silva &\; Matheus\, 2024)\, have long employed literary and artistic productions of Other Non-Western subjects\, portraying them as exotic\, primitive\, or even barbaric. From the portrayal of Native Brazilian Indigenous peoples as cannibals in Early Modern Portuguese colonial literature to the transformation of \;One Thousand and One Nights \;through Neoclassical French translations that distorted its original Arabic cultural context\, such narratives have served to reinforce Western dominance and justify subjugation.
\nMore recently\, in a postcolonial context\, various productions continue to operate in the shadows of (neo)colonialism and (neo)imperialism\, often carrying colonial overtones (Qiao\, 2018). Neocolonial cultural productions\, such as the French-directed \;Emilia Pé\;rez (a film about Mexican drug cartels cast with American actors)\, continue to generate controversy over who has the authority to tell certain stories and how these depictions are received by the communities they claim to represent. Western agents (e.g. translators\, producers\, directors\, editors\, publishers\, and reviewers) stillreframe productions from the Global South through a (neo)colonial and (neo)orientalist lens\, constructing Western-centric narratives about these works\, their countries\, and their people. For example\, American and British agents often situate Chinese personal stories within Western dominant narratives of a &ldquo\;dark&rdquo\; and &ldquo\;dystopian&rdquo\; China\, translating them according to their hegemonic standards (Tan\, 2024).
\nThis conference will examine the mechanisms through which (neo)colonial powers have influenced literary\, artistic\, and media portrayals of non-Western subjects\, as well as their impacts on their self-identification. We seek to explore questions such as:
\nWe welcome proposals from a range of disciplines\, including but not limited to Literature\, History\, Film Studies\, Philosophy\, Translation Studies\, Cultural and (Post)colonial Studies\, \;Journalism\, and Media Studies. Papers may address historical cases or contemporary examples and may take a comparative\, theoretical\, or case-study approach.
\nRELEVANT DETAILS \;
\nAs an interdisciplinary conference\, it aims to capture the attention of scholars examining (neo)colonial representations and how perceptions of the Others are shaped through various media.
\nThis conference is tailored for national and international scholars\, students\, and early-career researchers interested in Literature\, Art\, Cultural Studies\, History\, Philosophy\, Sociology\, etc. As our conference will follow the \;Society for Latin American Studies&rsquo\; \;Climate Action Plan\, we also warmly invite colleagues to endorse the \;BPA/SWIP Good Practice Scheme \;and follow the \;BPA Environmental Travel Policy.
\nThe conference will take place in person at the University of Warwick on \;May 30th\, 2026.
\nWe look forward to your contributions and an engaging discussion.
\nPlease\, send your abstract to both emails: \;
\nGustavo Ruiz da Silva: \;gustavo.da-silva@warwick.ac.uk
\nXiaoyan Tan: \;xiaoyan.tan@warwick.ac.uk
\nNo fees will be charged for this conference.
\nPUBLISHING OPPORTUNITY
\nThe \;Warwick Series in the Humanities (with Routledge) \;publishes the varied and multidisciplinary outcomes of projects funded by the HRC. Following this tradition\, our conference will organise an edited volume based on the presented papers\, and offer its publication to Routledge.
ORGANIZER;CN=Gustavo Ruiz da Silva;CN=Xiaoyan Tan: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260426T145516Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260530T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260530T170000 SUMMARY:(Neo)Colonial Images and Literature: The Construction of the Other UID:20260429T043048Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@philevents-web-6b96c54f56-bljdq TZID:Europe/London LOCATION:Gibbet Hill Road\, Coventry\, United Kingdom\, CV4 7AL DESCRIPTION:SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
\nAbstracts of no more than 300 words should be submitted between \;July 7th\, 2025\, and \;October 15th\, 2025.
\nPlease include a short biography (100 words) and institutional affiliation with your submission.
\nApproved abstracts will be informed by \;December 2025.
\nThe final paper must be sent by \;May 1st\, 2026\, for internal circulation.
\nWe invite scholars to submit proposals for our upcoming conference\, which will examine how colonial and neocolonial powers have influenced representations of non-Western countries and their peoples in literature\, the arts\, and the media. This event seeks to investigate how these representations have been instrumental in constructing negative stereotypes\, enforcing cultural hierarchies\, and sustaining hegemonic narratives that marginalise indigenous\, local\, and non-Western communities.
\nColonial and imperial discourses\, as &ldquo\;a cultural domination from abroad&rdquo\; (Da Silva &\; Matheus\, 2024)\, have long employed literary and artistic productions of Other Non-Western subjects\, portraying them as exotic\, primitive\, or even barbaric. From the portrayal of Native Brazilian Indigenous peoples as cannibals in Early Modern Portuguese colonial literature to the transformation of \;One Thousand and One Nights \;through Neoclassical French translations that distorted its original Arabic cultural context\, such narratives have served to reinforce Western dominance and justify subjugation.
\nMore recently\, in a postcolonial context\, various productions continue to operate in the shadows of (neo)colonialism and (neo)imperialism\, often carrying colonial overtones (Qiao\, 2018). Neocolonial cultural productions\, such as the French-directed \;Emilia Pé\;rez (a film about Mexican drug cartels cast with American actors)\, continue to generate controversy over who has the authority to tell certain stories and how these depictions are received by the communities they claim to represent. Western agents (e.g. translators\, producers\, directors\, editors\, publishers\, and reviewers) stillreframe productions from the Global South through a (neo)colonial and (neo)orientalist lens\, constructing Western-centric narratives about these works\, their countries\, and their people. For example\, American and British agents often situate Chinese personal stories within Western dominant narratives of a &ldquo\;dark&rdquo\; and &ldquo\;dystopian&rdquo\; China\, translating them according to their hegemonic standards (Tan\, 2024).
\nThis conference will examine the mechanisms through which (neo)colonial powers have influenced literary\, artistic\, and media portrayals of non-Western subjects\, as well as their impacts on their self-identification. We seek to explore questions such as:
\nWe welcome proposals from a range of disciplines\, including but not limited to Literature\, History\, Film Studies\, Philosophy\, Translation Studies\, Cultural and (Post)colonial Studies\, \;Journalism\, and Media Studies. Papers may address historical cases or contemporary examples and may take a comparative\, theoretical\, or case-study approach.
\nRELEVANT DETAILS \;
\nAs an interdisciplinary conference\, it aims to capture the attention of scholars examining (neo)colonial representations and how perceptions of the Others are shaped through various media.
\nThis conference is tailored for national and international scholars\, students\, and early-career researchers interested in Literature\, Art\, Cultural Studies\, History\, Philosophy\, Sociology\, etc. As our conference will follow the \;Society for Latin American Studies&rsquo\; \;Climate Action Plan\, we also warmly invite colleagues to endorse the \;BPA/SWIP Good Practice Scheme \;and follow the \;BPA Environmental Travel Policy.
\nThe conference will take place in person at the University of Warwick on \;May 30th\, 2026.
\nWe look forward to your contributions and an engaging discussion.
\nPlease\, send your abstract to both emails: \;
\nGustavo Ruiz da Silva: \;gustavo.da-silva@warwick.ac.uk
\nXiaoyan Tan: \;xiaoyan.tan@warwick.ac.uk
\nNo fees will be charged for this conference.
\nPUBLISHING OPPORTUNITY
\nThe \;Warwick Series in the Humanities (with Routledge) \;publishes the varied and multidisciplinary outcomes of projects funded by the HRC. Following this tradition\, our conference will organise an edited volume based on the presented papers\, and offer its publication to Routledge.
ORGANIZER;CN=Gustavo Ruiz da Silva;CN=Xiaoyan Tan: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260426T145516Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260902T080000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260904T170000 SUMMARY:Land\, Territory\, and Justice (MANCEPT Workshop 2026) UID:20260429T043049Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@philevents-web-6b96c54f56-bljdq TZID:Europe/London LOCATION:Manchester\, United Kingdom DESCRIPTION:There is now a rich debate within and across diverse traditions of political and moral thought about the meaning\, use\, and desirability of the concepts of land and territory\, and their relation to justice.
\nFor example\, the past fifteen years have been marked by the dedicated theorizing about territorial rights in contemporary Anglo-American moral and political philosophy (see for example: Miller\, 2012\; Moore\, 2014\, 2015\, 2019\; Nine\, 2012\; Ochoa-Espejo\, 2020\; Simmons\, 2016\; Stilz\, 2019). While the first wave focused on core conceptual questions about the nature and scope of various territorial rights (including jurisdiction\, self-determination\, resource control\, and immigration)\, the kinds of agents who hold these rights\, and the normative justifications for them\, this literature has now self-reflexively entered a &ldquo\;second wave&rdquo\; characterised by a deeper concern for questions of global inequality\, decolonization\, overlapping projects of self-determination\, and the environmental crisis (Moore &\; Ugalde\, 2025). For example: What is the extent of morally mandatory restitution in cases of territorial wrongdoing\, including settler colonialism (Luoma\, 2023\; Luoma and Moore\, 2024\; Moore\, 2019\; Stilz\, 2024\; Riebold\, 2022\, 2023)? How may multiple peoples\, with distinct normative and ontological systems\, overlap in the same place without retrenching relationships of structural injustice and inter-group domination (Jourdeuil 2024\, 2025a\, 2025b\; Luoma\, 2022\, 2023\, 2024\, 2025)? What forms of governance are required in ecologically integrated regions spanning borders (Nine\, 2022)? How are territorial rights contingent on respect for biodiversity and ecological integrity (Moore\, 2023\; Kwan\, 2025)? How can the benefits and burdens of natural resources\, energy transition\, and climate change mitigation/adaptation be fairly distributed between groups (Armstrong\, 2017\; De Biaso 2024a\, 2024b\; Li\, 2022\; Moore\, 2019)?
\nConcurrently\, Indigenous scholars\, environmental philosophers\, and eco-phenomenologists interrogate the core normative\, ontological\, and epistemological assumptions of these discourses. Indigenous theorists challenge the hegemony of rights-based territorial frameworks\, contending that the natural world is not a stockpile of &ldquo\;resources&rdquo\; to be distributed and controlled according to a theory of justice\, but is better conceived of as a kinship network populated by beings deserving of intrinsic concern and respect with whom we must live harmoniously (e.g.\, Allard-Tremblay 2023\, 2025\; Burkhart\, 2019\; Mills 2017\, 2018\, 2019\; Simpson 2011\, 2017\; Temin 2023). Eco-phenomenologists challenge conceptions of land as a neutral background container against which we exercise our agency\, demonstrating how land and place structure our lived experience and subjectivity\, our ethical encounter with the alterity of the other-than-human\, and the possibilities for political agency (Casey\, 1993\, 2018\; Ingold\, 2010\; Malpas\, 1998\; Rose\, 2005\; Seamon\, 2018\; Smith\, 2001\, 2011\; Toadvine\, 2019).
\nBeyond political theory\, land and territory are at the heart of intensifying international political conflicts\, including attempted territorial annexations\, rising majority and minority nationalism\, struggles against (neo-)colonialism\, and the global climate crisis. Consequently\, this workshop welcomes submissions that investigate conceptual\, normative\, and applied questions at the intersection of land\, territory\, and justice\, from diverse methodological perspectives including\, but not limited to analytical moral and political philosophy\, environmental philosophy and eco-phenomenology\, Indigenous political thought\, critical theory\, and comparative dialogue.
ORGANIZER;CN=Kaitie Jourdeuil;CN=Michael Luoma: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260426T145516Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261001T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261003T170000 SUMMARY:Religion\, Politics\, and Cognitive Warfare: Information\, Interpretation\, Conspiracy\, and the Struggle for Reality UID:20260429T043050Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@philevents-web-6b96c54f56-bljdq TZID:Europe/London DESCRIPTION:Religion\, Politics\, and Cognitive Warfare: Information\, Interpretation\, Conspiracy\, and the Struggle for Reality Call for Papers and PresentationsDetails
\nThe Call For Proposals
\nThe Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory (JCRT) invites proposals for an online conference entitled \;Religion\, Politics\, and Cognitive Warfare: Information\, Interpretation\, Conspiracy\, and the Struggle for Reality. \;The proceedings will be considered for publication in a special issue of the \;JCRT.
\nThis conference investigates how beliefs\, paranoia\, and conspiratorial modes of knowing shape a contemporary cognitive battlespace in which actors struggle to define truth\, authority\, and reality itself. Drawing on Michel Foucault&rsquo\;s \;Lectures on the Will to Know \;and Julia Kristeva&rsquo\;s \;This Incredible Need to Believe \;(2024)\, we focus on practices of selective fact use and &ldquo\;truth-selecting&rdquo\; that construct alternative epistemic orders while claiming privileged access to what is &ldquo\;really&rdquo\; going on.
\nRather than treating conspiracy thinking as merely political or psychological\, the conference foregrounds its religious dimensions: faith in hidden powers\, moral dualism\, apocalyptic expectation\, and hermeneutical struggle over revelatory access to the real. Conspiracy cultures routinely reproduce theological structures of knowing&mdash\;visions of salvation and corruption\, truth and deception\, initiation and blindness. At the same time\, new forms of &ldquo\;cognitive warfare&rdquo\; reframe these religious energies within state and platform attempts to govern perception\, attention\, and trust. Artificial intelligence\, algorithmic media\, and strategic information campaigns do not only deliver messages\; they create digital ecologies in which suspicion becomes faith-like and revelation is continual.
\nThe conference organizers are seeking proposals of high academic quality that take a reflective and analytical approach to both general and specific topics with international appeal or focus. We encourage contributions from scholars of religious studies\, philosophy\, communication\, sociology\, security studies\, psychology\, media\, and related fields. Submissions should engage religion as a dynamic force&mdash\;conceptually\, historically\, or materially&mdash\;within the cognitive battlespaces of our time. We encourage contributions from a spectrum of perspectives\, approaches\, and methodologies.
\nWe are not interested in papers that simply rehearse or promote particular conspiracies\, or that use the conference as a platform for calling out disliked groups. We are not interested in polemics\, jeremiad\, or de facto advocacy pieces. Instead\, we welcome theoretically informed and methodologically rigorous work that takes the religious and epistemic dimensions of cognitive conflict seriously as objects of critical inquiry.
\nTopics and Guiding Questions
\nProposals may address\, but are not limited to\, the following subthemes and questions:
\n1. Paranoid Styles and Truth-Selecting
\nReligious narratives have always negotiated the boundary between revelation and delusion\, authority and transgression. This subtheme explores how conspiratorial and paranoid styles echo older religious hermeneutics&mdash\;selective citation\, esoteric interpretation\, claims to hidden truth&mdash\;while retooling them in secular or digital forms. How do religious movements or quasi-religious publics narrate their privileged access to hidden realities? What theological and philosophical resources&mdash\;including the Foucauldian genealogy of the &ldquo\;will to truth&rdquo\;&mdash\;sustain these modes of &ldquo\;truth selection&rdquo\; and suspicion?
\n2. Zionism\, Antisemitism\, and Global Conspiracy Imaginaries
\nReligious symbols and myths remain central to global conspiracy thinking\, and Judaism occupies a particularly charged position in these narratives. This subtheme invites analyses of antisemitic conspiracies past and present\, from classical &ldquo\;hidden ruler&rdquo\; myths to their algorithmic reprints in digital culture. How do such imaginaries convert theological motifs into political paranoia? What criteria can scholars use to distinguish legitimate critique of religion or state policy from conspiratorial reinscriptions of sacred enmity and eschatological blame?
\n3. AI\, Platforms\, and Paranoid Infrastructures
\nTechnological systems now mediate belief and belonging in ways that rival traditional religious institutions. As artificial intelligence curates information and personalizes experience\, it also reconfigures how suspicion\, revelation\, and trust are produced and distributed. This subtheme asks whether algorithmic systems function as &ldquo\;paranoid infrastructures&rdquo\;&mdash\;digital environments that reinforce particular patterns of attention and faith. How do these systems become sites of religious projection\, and how do AI-generated and synthetic media intersect with conspiracy\, extremism\, and religious imaginary?
\n4. Cognitive Warfare and the Expanded Battlespace
\nThe concepts of &ldquo\;cognitive warfare&rdquo\; and &ldquo\;cognitive domain operations&rdquo\; increasingly shape strategic and policy discourse\, yet they resonate with deeply theological questions about will\, truth\, and freedom. When states and institutions seek to &ldquo\;weaponize&rdquo\; belief or perception\, they enter into the same struggle for reality long theorized within religious and philosophical traditions. How might religious studies and critical theory help decode the sacred undercurrents of this emerging battlefield&mdash\;its rituals\, its eschatologies\, its doctrines of purified mind and corrupted reason?
\n5. Ethics of Information Control and Scholarly Responsibility
\nReligious communities have always wrestled with the ethics of teaching\, interpretation\, and secrecy&mdash\;questions that return urgently in the academy&rsquo\;s role as arbiter of truth amid disinformation. This subtheme invites reflexive discussion of how scholars navigate the line between critique and amplification when studying conspiratorial or extremist movements. What responsibilities accompany the act of curating knowledge&mdash\;or withholding it&mdash\;in an age when information itself is the battlefield?
\n6. Esoteric and Speculative Knowledge
\nReligious and occult traditions offer rich precedents for contemporary speculative and conspiratorial epistemologies. Drawing on Michael Barkun and related theorists of stigmatized knowledge\, this subtheme investigates how claims to esoteric or speculative truth function as alternative forms of knowing and meaning-making\, challenging empiricist and positivist paradigms. What ethical and epistemic possibilities emerge when the speculative is taken seriously as an object of inquiry? Where are the boundaries between credible revelation\, creative speculation\, and dangerous delusion\, and how do such claims sustain communities seeking Reality amid uncertainty?
\nSubmission of Proposals
\nContributors should send an abstract of 300&ndash\;500 words outlining their proposal and its relevance to the conference theme. All proposals should be submitted as email attachments to the editor at \;editor.jcrt@gmail.com \;with the subject line header: &ldquo\;Religion\, Politics\, and Cognitive Warfare &ndash\; [Paper Title].&rdquo\;
\nAbstracts of papers\, drafts of papers\, or complete papers are welcome\, as well as proposals for oral presentations\, panel discussions\, or short workshops. Accepted presenters will be invited to submit finished articles for peer review and possible inclusion in a special issue of the \;JCRT.
\nPublication
\nAs the \;Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory \;works toward a special issue on Religion\, Politics\, and Cognitive Warfare\, our goal is to create an interdisciplinary forum for rigorous examination of these pressing issues. All conference presenters will be invited to submit finished articles for peer review. Selected articles will be published in a forthcoming special issue of the \;JCRT.
\nQueries
\nFor questions regarding the conference or submissions\, please contact the JCRT editorial office at \;editor.jcrt@gmail.com.
\nSponsored by the Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory (JCRT) in Collaboration with the University of Denver
\n ORGANIZER;CN=Adam DJ Brett;CN=Carl Raschke;CN=Kev Grane: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR