__________________________________________________
Call for Papers Theme: Justice, Democracy and Political Emotions in Transnational Perspective Type: International Colloquium Institution: Centro Cultural Brasil Alemanha – Recife Research Group Transnational Justice, University of Frankfurt Universidade Federal de Pernambuco Location: Recife, (Brazil) Date: 27.–29.4.2015 Deadline: 19.12.2014 __________________________________________________ In an age of globalization and transnationalization political philosophy and theory must ask and determine to what extent, if at all, the traditional and usually state-centered understandings of concepts like justice, democracy and political emotions remain appropriate in the novel post- or transnational constellation. Arguably, understandings of justice, democracy and political emotions that claim validity for the relations among co-citizens within the state cannot be simply extrapolated to transnational, regional contexts or even the world at large. Therefore the conference aims at discussing the possibility and desirability of alternative conceptions of transnational justice, transnational democracy and transnational political emotions. It will include contributions that focus exclusively or primarily on one of these three concepts as well as contributions that endeavor to create links between them. (1) The academic debate about transnational or global justice covers a spectrum of positions between statists or nationalists on the one hand, who deny that more than a mere humanitarian minimum is owed to all persons globally, and globalists or cosmopolitans on the other hand, who argue that some egalitarian distributive standard like fair equality of opportunity is valid among all persons globally. As of late, many theorists defend internationalist or transnationalist positions in between, which recognize a plurality of distinct contexts of justice that cover inter-state, supranational, regional and other transnational relations. Some of these transnationalist position are decidedly political and argue that justice requires the bringing about the social conditions under which people themselves can deliberate and decide upon the principles of justice that ought be recognized by political and legal institutions. These political positions, then, no longer assume that the primary task of a theory of justice would be to determine appropriate distributive standards. Instead theories of justice need to inquire the political conditions under which people can become agents that justify amongst themselves what ought to count as just in distributive terms. The conference welcomes contributions to any of the many diverse positions in the debate about transnational or global justice. Contributions that offer alternative theoretical approaches and use other grammars for conceptualizing the question of global or transnational justice are of special interest. (2) In this way this debate is closely connected to that about transnational or global democracy, which has gained major importance within contemporary political philosophy and theory. A theory of transnational democracy has to tackle very daunting questions, such as the following: is it possible and desirable to (externally) promote the democratic quality of political institutions in local and domestic contexts that are currently highly or relatively undemocratic? How can consolidated democracies defend themselves against the transnational and global economic processes, as those exemplified by a race to the bottom, that tend to undermine the functioning of democratic institutions by imposing economic imperatives and hallowing the capacities of the state? How can the increasingly influential regional, supra- and international organizations and institutions become more democratic? Finally, what is the role civil society in this process and what are the prospects of a more influential and deliberative transnational civil society and public sphere? The conference welcomes contributions that attempt to answer these questions. Of particular interest are such contributions that analyze the democratic development in Brazil and the role that Brazil plays and should play in the democratizations of transnational relations. In addition, contributions that investigate the potentials and challenges of South-South cooperation are also particularly relevant and could yield new insights. (3) The academic debate about transnational political emotions is strongly influenced by the writings of nationalist or patriotic thinkers who argue that strong political bonds and important, justice-furthering emotions like solidarity are only realizable within the state-centered context of a nation. Thus this view fundamentally challenges the feasibility of transnational or global justice and democracy. Other theorists however challenge this view and argue that gradually sufficiently strong transnational political emotions could eventually emerge. In this alternative approach one found for instance a challenging concept of solidarity beyond national boarders – whereas, however, is still controversial how far this concept would be better understood as a normative principle or rather as a context-depending sentiment. Of central importance for this debate is the question as to which theory and practice of political education could eventually facilitate the cultivation of political emotions conducive to the achievement of democratic transnational relations. Contributions that illustrate the transformation of national self-understandings in Brazil and analyze to what it promotes or hinders transnational democracy and justice would be particularly interesting to discuss. For example, it would be worthwhile to consider how it was possible to create the kind of solidarity necessary in order to support the redistributive policies that decreased inequality throughout the last decade. We invite contributions for three sets of panels that will focus on, respectively, political and economic justice (1), democracy (2) and political emotions (3) in transnational perspective. Contributions may address questions like the following: (1) Justice: - Which, if any, principles of distributive and political justice should be used in order to assess and regulate transnational political and economic affairs? - Which kinds of institutional reforms are necessary in order to reduce transnational distributive and political injustices? - Who are the agents of transnational justice – states, transnational social movements, and/or international institutions? - Which philosophical traditions and concepts are appropriate for a transnational conception of justice, and how, if at all, can culturally distinct philosophical ideas be translated? (2) Democracy: - How can aspiring and consolidated democracies defend themselves in light of pressures from economic transnationalization? How, for example, can democratic societies resist the imposition of economic imperatives like those of deregulation, liberalization and privatization that hallow the effective sovereignty of states? - How can the increasingly influential regional, supra- and international organizations and institutions become more democratic? - What is the role civil society in the (re-)democratization of politics? - What are the prospects of a more influential and deliberative transnational civil society and public sphere? (3) Political Emotions - How do processes of transnationalization affect political emotions like solidarity and patriotism? - What are the prospects and possibilities of transnational solidarity? - What kind of conceptual changes in our normative thinking about solidarity are necessary? - What kind of education and experience are likely to cultivate democratic attitudes? Submissions Paper abstracts of no more than 500 words should be sent to <[email protected]> and <[email protected]> by Friday, December 19, 2014. Acceptance notifications will be sent to applicants by Monday, January 12, 2015. Final papers of no more than 8000 words are due by April 6, 2015. A selection of the papers presented in the conference will be published in a special issue on the conference theme in Revista Perspectiva Filosófica. Keynote Speaker: Prof. Dr. Rainer Forst (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt) Invited Speakers: Prof. Dr. Luiz Bernardo Araújo (Universidade Estadual de Rio de Janeiro) Dr. Mahmoud Bassiouni (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt) Prof. Dr. Filipe Campello (Universidade Federal de Pernambuco) Prof. Dr. Gianfranco Casuso (PUC del Perú) Dr. Julian Culp (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt / University of Toronto) Dr. Dorothea Gädeke (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt) Prof. Dr. Pablo Holmes (Universidade de Brasília) Prof. Dr. Rúrion Melo (Universidade de São Paulo) Prof. Dr. Nythamar de Oliveira (PUC-Rio Grande do Sul) Organizers: Prof. Dr. Filipe Campello (Universidade Federal de Pernambuco) Dr. Julian Culp (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt / University of Toronto) Administrative Support: Hermínia Ferreira Thiago Paz Partners: Centro Cultural Brasil Alemanha – Recife Fundação Joaquim Nabuco Leibniz Research Group Transnational Justice, University of Frankfurt Universidade Federal de Pernambuco Website of the colloquium: http://www.justicatransnacional.org.br/en/ __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: http://interphil.polylog.org Intercultural Philosophy Calendar: http://cal.polylog.org __________________________________________________
