Caribbean Philosophical Association
2014 ANNUAL MEETING
19-21 June 2014
Hyatt Regency, St. Louis, Missouri

CFP Deadline: 1 February 2014 ; Abstracts should be submitted to: caribphil@gmail.com

Shifting the Geography of Reason XI: Diverse Lineages of Existentialism—Africana, Feminist, and Decolonial

In recent years, existential thought has been revitalized by a new generation of theorists investigating questions of gender, race, and sexual orientation. They have brought to light numerous ways in which existentialism has contributed to, and been shaped by, Africana philosophy, Latin American philosophy, feminism, and the work of literary writers and performing artists.

Initiated by the publication of the Beauvoir Series at the University of Illinois Press and the Caribbean Philosophical Association initiatives for the study of relations across gender, race, and sexuality, and global collaborations connecting the region to intellectual work in countries ranging from India to Japan, Senegal and South Africa, to many across the Caribbean, South America, and the globe, the goal of the conference is to overcome isolation, bringing together a wide variety of scholars to share their research on the diverse lineages of existential thought—especially the unique challenge to questions of existence posed by thought from the Global South.

Research questions include: How have existentialist conceptions of freedom shaped, and been shaped by, feminist and postcolonial thought? In what ways can the category of the Other, as conceived by existentialists, inform our understanding of oppression in its various forms? How can we understand the connections between existentialism and Latin American liberation philosophy? How has existentialist thought been shaped by non-existentialist thinkers such as Hegel, Marx, Husserl, Bergson, Bataille, Foucault, Sri Aurobindo, Tagore, C.L.R. James and Sylvia Wynter? What is the relationship between the existentialisms of Sartre, Beauvoir, and Fanon and contemporary Caribbean and African existential thinkers? What is the influence and role of Eastern existentialisms in contemporary Africana and feminist thought? How is existentialism relevant to questions in feminism and race theory? What would it mean to creolize existentialism?

To further discussions of these issues, this conference will be the first formal collaborative meeting of the Caribbean Philosophical Association, the Simone de Beauvoir Society, the Jean-Paul Sartre Society of North America, and the Collegium of Black Women in Philosophy. The following journals have also agreed to publish selections of the best papers from the conference: Simone de Beauvoir Studies; The Caribbean Journal of Philosophy; The Journal of French and Francophone Philosophy; The C.L.R. James Journal; Sartre Studies International.

Guidelines: Please email (to caribphil@gmail.com)  in MS Word your title, abstract, institutional affiliation, rank or work (e.g., “writer” or “artist” if not an academic), and email address. Submission Deadline: 1 February 2014.

Above adapted from CFP on the CPA website. Visit their site for more information.