2012 Waterloo

The finalized version of the Socialist Studies 2012 conference is now available online. The conference theme is “critical theories in an uncertain world,” and the conference takes place in Waterloo from May 30 to June 2. We look forward to seeing you there.

Here is the program in PDF format:

Socialist Studies 2012 Conference program

The Society for Socialist Studies presents our next annual conference, taking place at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences from May 30 – June 2, 2012, in Waterloo, Ontario.

Here’s an excerpt from our Call For Papers:

The Great Recession of recent years produced new kinds of discontent but, so far at least, nothing that amounts to a movement for progressive change (the many urban occupations that have cascaded from the Arab Spring to the 15-M movement in Spain, and Occupy Wall Street are a hopeful sign). Yet ideas around which progressive movements could coalesce are in short supply. Where they exist, they oscillate between abstract principles and small-scale experiments as in the days of Fourier and Owen. Unlike the utopian socialists of the early 19^th century, though, we possess lots of experiences of failure that might contribute to a new socialist project.

In a world that has entirely changed since capitalism and socialist critique first developed, old questions need to be answered in new ways. What is the relationship between our understandings of the world and visions of a new world? How much understanding of reality is possible in the first place? Where is the line between concrete utopias and eschatological beliefs? Who are the agents of progressive change? Which role can intellectuals play to support such change?

The Society of Socialist Studies invites proposals for papers, roundtables, and session addressing any aspect of the theme of “Crossroads: Critical Theories in an Uncertain World”.

Download the Call for Papers