CFP (June 1): 35th Annual Concerned Philosophers for Peace Conference

Concerned Philosophers for Peace

Call for Papers
35th annual conference 
October 21-22, 2022

image description: two green hands holding globe with dove in foreground


Co-Sponsor: University of New Mexico Philosophy Department 

Theme: Peace, Nonviolence, Power, and Crisis 

Keynote: Dr. Ann Murphy (Topic TBA)

Submit abstracts of 500 words for papers related to this theme, or to the overall mission of Concerned Philosophers for Peace.  

Due to the impending collapse of fossil fuel-driven late capitalist excess, political polarization and inertia, the unprecedented health disaster brought on by Covid and our response to it, and immanent environmental disaster, we face a future marked not just by crises, but by the apparent inability for current structures of power to respond adequately. How do we come together in the pursuit of peace, nonviolence, and justice in the face of Power in Crisis? 

Topics might include, but are not limited to:

  • The nature of Power, how it forms subjects as well as how and why subjects formed by power might resist it. 
  • Indigenous and Nonwestern philosophical critiques of and alternatives to Power
  • Intersectionality and power in crisis
  • The relationship between peace, nonviolence, and social change  
  • Revolutionizing healthcare 
  • Revolutionizing capitalism
  • Revolutionizing the military-industrial complex
  • The relationship between revolution, rebellion, and power in crisis
  • The relationship between emerging technology and peace, nonviolence, power, and crises
  • Social networks, power, crises, and nonviolent change
  • Framing crises, disasters, and apocalypses
  • Nonviolently creating political alternatives to the Power Structures that are failing to address the Crises we face: (Social Ecology, direct democracy, Anarchism, etc.) 
  • Critiques of “empowerment” in relation to Peace, Nonviolence, Power, and Crisis. 
  • Utopianism in relation to Peace, Nonviolence, Power, and Crisis.
  • Issues in agency and “constructivism” in relation to Peace, Nonviolence, Power, and Crisis.
  • The debate between liberalism and postmodernism in relation to Peace, Nonviolence, Power, and Crisis.
  • Relating “classic” nonviolent movements to the unique features of Power in Crisis.  
  • Responding to political challenges for peace: authoritarianism, lawlessness, broken democracies in relation to Peace, Nonviolence, Power, and Crisis
  • Responding to environmental challenges: climate change, environmental justice in relation to Peace, Nonviolence, Power, and Crisis
  • Issues in “materialism” and “immaterialism” in relation to Peace, Nonviolence, Power, and Crisis 
  • Responding to social challenges: homelessness, poverty, hunger, domestic violence, insecurity in relation to Peace, Nonviolence, Power, and Crisis
  • Responding to “personal” challenges: hopelessness, resignation, nihilism, and cynicism etc. in relation to Peace, Nonviolence, Power, and Crisis
  • Celebrating and applying the wisdom of exemplars of moral courage and nonviolence in relation to Peace, Nonviolence, Power, and Crisis
  • Celebrating and applying solidarity, love, and other virtues in relation to Peace, Nonviolence, Power, and Crisis
  • Optimism, hope, and/or faith in humanity in the 21st century

Proposed Panels

The conference will include a panel based around The Acorn: Philosophical Studies in Pacifism and Nonviolence Special Edition entitled “On the Future of Nonviolence” which focuses on Judith Butler’s recent book, The Force of Nonviolence: An Ethico-Political Bind. We are also proposing, dependent on submissions, a panel informed by Murry Bookchin’s theory of Social Ecology, and a panel on pedagogy featuring presentations by schoolteachers and college professors working in the Albuquerque area and beyond. We welcome similar talks from teachers coming in from elsewhere. Panel proposals related to these areas or others in line with the conference theme will be taken into consideration.  

Information on the Keynote: 

Dr. Murphy’s main areas of research are phenomenology and social and political philosophy, particularly theories of violence and nonviolence. Her research focuses on questions of embodiment, vulnerability, and identity. She is the author of Violence and the Philosophical Imaginary (SUNY 2012) and has published essays in various journals including Hypatia, Continental Philosophy Review, Journal for the British Society of Phenomenology, and philoSOPHIA. With Gail Weiss and Gayle Salamon, Dr. Murphy co-edited 50 Concepts for a Critical Phenomenology (Northwestern 2020). Her current research is on hunger, embodiment, and structural violence, and she is currently working on a monograph entitled Ethics of Hunger: Corporeal Vulnerability and Structural Violence.

Dr. Murphy teaches ethics, bioethics, political philosophy, philosophy of gender, and contemporary continental thought. Examples of recent graduate seminars include Critical Phenomenology and Philosophies of Violence and Nonviolence. Dr. Murphy also teaches medical ethics in the UNM BA/MD program and is one the core faculty in the Certificate Program in Clinical Ethics at the UNM Health Sciences Center.

Further Details: 

We welcome submissions from undergraduates, graduate students, professional academics, independent scholars, and anyone willing to present persuasive sound argumentative positions in line with our theme and ethos. We also welcome submissions from a range of fields including philosophy, law, public policy, business, history, religious studies, political science, social science, or related fields. Submissions from teachers, researchers, or practitioners are also welcome, particularly insofar as those presentations could complement the theme of the conference. We are committed to making this year’s conference rigorous, celebratory, and supportive as well as inclusive and welcoming to all, and expect these values in our participants. 

This is our first face to face conference since the pandemic began. It is expected that all participants will be vaccinated and boosted by the time of the conference. 

**There will be a $100 prize for the best graduate student paper and the best undergraduate student paper** (Please indicate if you are a student when you submit your abstract)

We plan to celebrate each other’s ideas and the community that we have built and continue to build at CPP. Rather than a competitive environment, we aim to foster a warm environment that cultivates intellectual growth, compassion, and to practice what we preach. We are excited to welcome old and new friends to beautiful New Mexico, but of course, will stay apprised of developments concerning Covid-19, and will go virtual if necessary. 

Submission Guidelines:

  • Submit: an abstract (with bibliography) of no more than 500 words, prepared for blind review
  • Send to: Will Barnes will@planetarycollective.com
  • Write: “CPP 2022 submission” in subject line
  • Deadline: June 1, 2022
  • Format: submit only files in .doc, .docx, or .pdf. 
  • Include: name, institutional affiliation, e-mail address, and paper title in the body of your e-mail (if you are a student and would like to be considered for a student award, indicate that in your email).
  • Acceptance notices will be sent by the end of August. 

About Concerned Philosophers for Peace

  • Concerned Philosophers for Peace is the largest, most active organization of professional philosophers in North America involved in the analysis of the causes of violence and prospects for peace.
  • More information at Concerned Philosophers for Peace website: http://peacephilosophy.org/
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