Theory
/ Geographies of the Fantastic and the Quotidian
Patrick McBurnie (University of California - Irvine)
pmcb@****.com (Log-in to reveal)
In his eleventh thesis on Feuerbach, Marx writes that “philosophers have hitherto only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it.” Critical theory has long been animated by this imperative to question and contest the grounds on which modern social systems have operated. Critique, then, might be seen as an essential aspect of politics by which alternative social formations and institutions can be articulated. This session, as such, seeks papers that would better understand (and intervene in) the assumptions and protocols of modern industrial-capitalist society. The panel invites discussion of modes of critique arising from diverse methodologies including critical race theory, feminism, gender studies, Marxist and post-Marxist theory, and postcolonial theory.
In his eleventh thesis on Feuerbach, Marx writes that “philosophers have hitherto only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it.” Critical theory has long been animated by this imperative to question and contest the grounds on which modern social systems have operated. Critique, then, might be seen as an essential aspect of politics by which alternative social formations and institutions can be articulated. This session, as such, seeks papers that would better understand (and intervene in) the assumptions and protocols of modern industrial-capitalist society. The panel invites discussion of modes of critique arising from diverse methodologies including critical race theory, feminism, gender studies, Marxist and post-Marxist theory, and postcolonial theory.
For this year’s conference, particular consideration will be granted to papers that engage with the theme of "Geographies of the Fantastic and the Quotidian." Potential topics that fall under this theme may seek to better understand the myriad typographies and typologies of racial capitalism, and how class, race, and gender are constituted between and beyond different geographies (national/hemispheric, local/global, domestic/public). Additional topics for discussion might include how spaces of production relate to identity, and how accompanying hierarchies of power are made “quotidian” or naturalized.