The Caribbean Philosophical Association
Announces

A CALL FOR PAPERS FOR ITS
2011 ANNUAL MEETING:
Sept. 29 to Oct. 1st
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY, NEW BRUNSWICK
NEW JERSEY (USA)
Theme: Shifting the Geography of Reason VIII:
The University, Public Education, and the Transformation of Society

The Caribbean Philosophical Association (CPA) invites proposals from scholars in any discipline who aim to “shift the geography of reason” by exploring critical, theoretical, and creative questions about or relating to the Caribbean, its diaspora, and the “global south” more generally, including the South in the North.  We particularly welcome North-South and South-South intersections and/or dialogues.  The principal theme for this meeting focuses on the impact and consequences of the current crisis of economic, social, and political priorities, and the social and economic models that are heavily affecting universities, public education in general, and society at large.   The theme also invites reflections on the general disinvestment in the public good and the growing forces of “racial neoliberalism” and “neoapartheid” that are growing in different regions of the globe as the numbers of formerly colonized peoples and people of color increase in the global north.  This includes the criminalization of “illegal immigration” and the ban on ethnic studies in Arizona, student mobilizations in Puerto Rico, England, and Berkeley, among other places, and the effects of the financial crisis in the Caribbean and the global North and South, among other topics.  The current crisis is also putting in question the relevance of traditional areas in the humanities and the interpretive social sciences, which is arguably leading to the reemergence of conservative and liberal defenses of the humanities, and to an increasing positivism in the social sciences.  Is it possible to further decolonize these areas in times of crisis?  How can the growing number of interdisciplinary scholars whose work intersects with Caribbean theory, philosophy, and thought perceive these interrelated set of problems and aim to respond to them?  Is it possible to continue challenging the trends of “disciplinary decadence” in the academy and forge decolonial modes of reflection and critique?  How can educators and scholars contribute to the continued transformation–and not merely salvation or rescue–of the university, and of society in general in the context of neoliberal adjustments on the one hand, but also of emerging revolutions, as the case of Tunisia and Egypt exemplify, and of an abundance of creative works, like those found in the Caribbean and its diaspora, on the other?

While proposals dealing with the specific questions raised by this year’s theme and by the general organizing theme of the CPA are particularly encouraged, we welcome presentations, panels, dialogues, and roundtable discussions that highlight questions about race, space, gender, the legacies of colonization, slavery, and empire, national and transnational communities, sexuality, and issues of identity, decolonization, art, and activism, across migrations and diasporas not only in the Caribbean and the Caribbean diaspora, but globally. We accept proposals in English, French, and Spanish.  We also encourage submission of papers to the official journal of the CPA, the CLR James Journal.  Featuring:

Keynote panels
Including Boaventura de Sousa Santos and Lewis R. Gordon on
“The University, Public Education, and the Transformation of Society”
Tribute to Frantz Fanon & Edouard Glissant
50th anniversary commemoration of Fanon’s passing (co-organized with the Frantz Fanon Foundation)
with Mireille Fanon-Mendès France, Drucilla Cornell, Nigel Gibson, Linda Martín Alcoff, Paget Henry and others.
Awards
 Junot Díaz (2011 Nicolás Guillén Awardee)
Susan Buck-Morss & Marilyn Nissim-Sabat (2011 Frantz Fanon Awardees)
Film & Video
“Pa’lante, siempre palante: The Young Lords” with Iris Morales
and “Decolonizing the University: Fulfilling the Dream of the Third World College”
Discussions
Discussions on Decoloniality Today with Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Walter D. Mignolo, Catherine Walsh, Ramón Grosfoguel, María Lugones, Nelson Maldonado-Torres, and others.
 
 
Send submissions for panels, roundtables, discussions, and abstracts of individual presentations by April 15, 2011, by email to caribphil@gmail.com. Abstracts should include: 1) name, position, highest degree obtained, and institutional affiliation (if any), 2) title of proposed paper, panel, roundtable, or discussion, 3) up to one page description of the problem(s) addressed and identification of the sources used per participant.  We will review proposals in English, French, and Spanish and will create panels for presentations in those three languages.  Panelists are responsible for providing translation if they wish their presentations to be translated.  They also need to consider the time for translations as they prepare their panels.
For more information see flyer.