InterPhil: PUB: The Othering of the Other
__ Call for Publications Theme: The Othering of the Other Subtitle: Philosophical Perspectives on the African Context of Difference Publication: Edited Volume Date: 2018 Deadline: 30.8.2017 __ Difference is colloquially understood as the residues of, or crumbs falling off from, some selfcontained identities believed to have their respective essential properties that separates the one from the other. These residues of identities constitute bulk of human experiences of the relation between the self and the other with peculiarities in African traditional and modern societies. Difference stands under a manifold of experiences in African traditional and modern societies. The othering in African traditional and modern societies of disabled and queer beings from human beings and of the male folk from the female folk, the xenophobic and xenophilic feeling for the foreign other in traditional and modern Africa spaces, the othering of the self from the other based on ethnic, political and religious differences, the othering of the other based on economic status and class, and the notorious history of the racial othering of Africans by non-Africans and vice versa are clear manifestations of the experience of difference in African societies. These have often resulted in violence, inequality, discrimination and injustices as seen, for instance, in the Rwandan genocide, the Boko Haram saga, the South African xenophobia experience, the persistent discrimination against, and killings of persons with albinism, the sexist treatment of women and the continually unfolding racism against blacks in the diaspora. Today, much literature deals with these residues of identities. In these mainly (social) scientific studies of such residues of identities as the Rwandan genocide, Boko Haram, political violence, ethnic violence, discrimination against disabled persons and women, efforts are made to show the violence and inequality that results from differences and recommendations are made on how to improve the situation. But philosophical issues remain largely unaddressed. For example, are differences simply residues of self-contained identities? Is difference not the very essence of the unfolding of reality? What is the ontology of the visible differences we experience in an African place, or what theory of being stands under our experiences of difference? What theories of knowledge forms the basis for our experience of difference in African traditional and modern societies? What constitute the processes of knowing about difference and how is the knowledge about the othering of the other in traditional societies sustained in modern societies even in the face of counteracting evidences? What role does systemic ignorance play in the production of knowledge of the other? Do we have moral obligations toward the other or those we consider as different? If we do, what constitutes such moral responsibility toward the other in African thought? What value is placed on the other in African societies? What is the ethics and burden of care for those considered different in African societies? What role does language play in the othering of the other in African societies? These are essential philosophical questions about the experience of difference and the other in African traditional and modern societies and little or no answer has been provided in existing literature in philosophy. The purpose of this volume is to provide original and thought-provoking essays on an underexplored area in African philosophy, African philosophical approaches to difference. The volume seeks to go beyond a discussion of the empirical manifestations of differences in African societies to a critical analysis of, among other things, the very nature and essence of difference that makes such 2 manifestations possible. The idea is to explore the ontological, epistemological and moral foundations of difference in African societies, both traditional and modern. The themes to be developed in the volume include the following: - African philosophy as a philosophy unfolding from difference - Philosophical theories of difference and the other: African perspectives - Ontology, epistemology and ethics of difference in African traditions - The othering of disabled and queer beings in African traditional and modern societies - Xenophobia and xenophilia as expressions of difference in African societies - Religious and ethnic fundamentalism as expressions of difference in African societies - Philosophical perspectives on political, economic and class differences - Race and the other in Africa and African diaspora - Generational difference in the othering of tradition and modernity. Philosophical and feminist perspectives on gender differences - The essence of difference in the unfolding of the development/underdevelopment of the black race - Language and the
InterPhil: CFP: Renewal of Islamic Thought
__ Call for Papers Theme: Renewal of Islamic Thought Subtitle: Contemporary Issues Type: Conference in Honor of Shaykh Dr. Taha Jabir Alwani Institution: International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) Location: Herndon, VA (USA) Date: 23.–24.10.2017 Deadline: 31.5.2017 __ The International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) will hold a two-day academic conference on the theme of “Renewal of Islamic Thought: Contemporary Issues” on October 23-24, 2017, at its office in Herndon, Virginia. The conference is held in honor of Shaykh Dr. Taha Jabir Alwani (1935-2016), one of the IIIT pioneers and a major Muslim thinker of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The conference will focus on major ideas and issues Dr. Alwani developed and contributed to during his rich academic career. As such, this is not the conference about Dr. Alwani and his work – though such proposals and papers will be considered – but about the major ideas and issues he developed in his writings. We would like to explore current state of research in the areas in which he left a prolific legacy. Of course, we welcome – and even encourage – critical engagement with Dr. Alwani’s thought and ideas. IIIT invites original, previously unpublished, submissions that would include – but not be limited to – these topics: - Renewal of usul al-fiqh - Epistemological integration between Revealed knowledge and contemporary humanities/social sciences - Objectives of the Qur’an (maqasid Qur’aniyya), including: tawhid, tazkiya, ‘umran, ummah, and da’wah - Impact of Dr. Alwani’s ideas on education - Legal pluralism and ethics of disagreement in Islam - The Sunnah/Hadith methodology and its role in civilizational renewal - Authority and primacy of the Qur’an - Ijtihad and its role in the renewal of Islamic thought - Group ijtihad (al-ijtihad al-jama‘i) as a method of deriving legal rulings - Contemporary issues facing Muslim minorities in the West - Fiqh of minorities (fiqh al-aqalliyyat), which may include a critical appraisal of the concept - Fiqh of citizenship (fiqh al-muwatanah) - Freedom of religion and apostasy - Critical assessments of Islamic legacy Keynote lectures: The conference will feature two keynote lectures, by Dr. Azizah al-Hibri (University of Richmond and Al-Hibri Foundation) and Dr. Mohammad Fadel (University of Toronto). Special address: Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah will address the conference via video link, to reflect on his relationship with Shaykh Taha Alwani and their intellectual journey. Abstract submission and deadlines: Please submit a 350-word abstract together with a 3-page CV as a single PDF file to submissi...@iiit.org with the subject heading, “Renewal of Islamic Thought 2017”. Deadline for submitting an abstract is May 31, 2017. Successful applicants will be required to submit a paper that is between 6,000 and 10,000 words by October 1, 2017. Funding is contingent on submitting the paper by this deadline. Travel and accommodation: IIIT will cover accommodation for accepted participants. Travel grants are available too. Please indicate, in your application, if you would require a travel grant and the amount requested. Language: The conference and papers will be in English. Publication: Selected papers will be published in an edited volume, after a peer-review and an editing process. The volume will be a festschrift to Dr. Alwani. Contact: Saulat Pervez International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) 500 Grove St., Suite 200 Herndon, VA 20170 USA Phone: +1 703 230-2846 Email: sau...@iiit.org Web: http://www.iiit.org/conference-in-honor-of-dr-taha-jabir-alwani.html __ InterPhil List Administration: https://interphil.polylog.org InterPhil List Archive: https://www.mail-archive.com/interphil@list.polylog.org/ __
InterPhil: CFP: Subaltern Political Knowledges
__ Call for Papers Theme: Subaltern Political Knowledges Subtitle: Ca. 1770 – ca. 1950 Type: International Conference Institution: Center for Political History, University of Antwerp Location: Antwerp (Belgium) Date: 18.–20.10.2017 Deadline: 7.5.2017 __ During the last decades, political historians have increasingly focused on the evolution of political consciousness among the “common people” during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In that process they have often made use of all-encompassing notions such as politicization, democratization and nationalization. These have in common that they suggest an increasing commitment of a growing number of citizens in the political life of the nation, but because these concepts are so general and linear, they are hard to grapple with. Do they refer to an increase in consciousness and/or agency? Apart from the difficulty of measuring these processes, one can also ask whether they necessarily occur in parallel. A more active participation in electoral processes, for example, does not necessarily entail a greater commitment to political values, and membership of political associations can be inspired as much by individual calculations as by concern for the common good. The conference “Subaltern political knowledges” intends to take one step back and ask a question which should precede all discussion of politicization, democratization and nationalization of the masses: what did people actually know about politics? In our quest for an answer, we will primarily focus on ‘subaltern’ groups in society, i.e. on people that neither occupied a position of formal or informal power in society nor were able to make their voice heard in public debates. We aim at discovering the knowledge these people expressed about political institutions, personalities, values and ideologies. While doing so, we pay attention to both the temporal and the spatial framework of this knowledge. Was it situated primarily at a local or national level, or did it extend to international politics? And did people only refer to politics of their own time, or did they evoke politicians and/or political systems of the past? Did they engage in comparisons between the past and the present? Apart from the contents of the political knowledge of the subalterns, this conference also investigates its sources. Did these subalterns refer to the newspapers and other mass media, were they informed by electoral campaigns, were they inspired by informal talk with neighbors or relatives, was membership of associations a decisive factor? Thirdly and finally, the conference intends to address the question how people acted upon their political knowledge. Did they use it in order to further their personal interests, or to support institutional or societal change? The challenge of this conference will be to bring together a broad range of papers in which these questions are addressed empirically, preferably on the basis of sources created by subalterns (whether or not addressing members of elite groups). The geographical scope of the conference is emphatically global, and we invite scholars to submit proposals on cases from all over the world. They should be situated, however, in contexts where some form of institutionalized democratic politics was taking shape, but where the distribution of political knowledge was not yet facilitated by a powerful mass media such as television. The focus of the conference, therefore, will be on the period between the last decades of the eighteenth century and the 1950s. Rather than offering grand narratives about the increase or decrease of political knowledge, we aim to historicize the theme, investigating how in diverse historical contexts certain types of political knowledge correlated with categories such as gender, age, ethnicity, urbanity, profession, literacy, sociability and electoral status (voter vs. non-voter). By juxtaposing and comparing these micro-historical investigations, we hope to be able to assess the relative strength and recurrence of these correlations. In the process, we will build a strong empirical foundation for nuanced discussions of politicization, democratization and nationalization. Keynote speakers include: Rachel Jean-Baptiste (UCDavis), Eduardo Elena (University of Miami), Maartje Janse (Universiteit Leiden), Harm Kaal (Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen), Michaela Fenske (Humboldt-Universität Berlin) and Frédéric Monier (Université d’Avignon). Scientific committee: Marnix Beyen (Universiteit Antwerpen), Jon Lawrence (Cambridge University), Harm Kaal (Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen), Martin Kohlrausch (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven), Karen Lauwers (Universiteit Antwerpen), Frédéric Monier (Université d'Avignon). Please submit a 500-word paper abstract and a 200-word biography to Karen Lauwers (karen.lauw...@uantwerpen.be) and/or Marnix Beyen
