*Against the Slow Cancellation of the Future*
15th-16th June 2017 *Goldsmiths, University of London* New Cross, SE14 6NW London *- Call for Papers -* ***Deadline: 15th May*** *The long dark night of the end of history has to be grasped as an enormous opportunity (…). In a situation in which nothing can happen, suddenly anything is possible.* – Mark Fisher *Keynote speakers*: Nina Power (Philosophy, Roehampton University), Dilar Dirik (Sociology, Cambridge), Matthew Fuller (CCS, Goldsmiths), Shela Sheikh (CCS, Goldsmiths) This anti-disciplinary conference is organized by the MA students of the Centre for Cultural Studies (CCS), Goldsmiths, University of London. This will be the last conference of the CCS as it now exists since in the upcoming academic year it will be dissolved. It seems at once obvious and naïve that we look to the future when considering the transformation of society as a project in which we ourselves take part. Though the questioning of the unbridled futurity of modernism is undoubtedly important, we now find ourselves at a point in which forward-looking, transformative or utopian projects are increasingly hard to even imagine. Our frame of reference is Franco “Bifo” Berardi’s “slow cancellation of the future”, which we in the same breath proclaim our opposition to. Mark Fisher reminds us that its meaning “is not only that sense of termination, but [also] the gradual nature of it”; the future not having been unashamedly ripped from our grasp, but rather stolen away silently, piece by piece. We are not so presumptuous as to declare the slow cancellation of the future a completed process. Indeed it is perhaps in the very moment at which we accept the definitive conclusion of this project – thus admitting it ourselves – that the future truly ceases to exist. And this is precisely why we meet: to discuss what we might do as activists, thinkers, groups and initiatives, against the slow cancellation of the future. We welcome papers within but not limited to areas such as: decolonial/postcolonial/indigenous studies and practices, migration and sovereignty, ecofeminisms, (mental) health and capitalism, critique and the future of cultural studies, biopolitics and beyond, and the crisis of neoliberalism. Proposals for papers and other forms of contribution should be submitted by *15th May* by email to: *ccsconference2...@outlook.com <ccsconference2...@outlook.com>* They will be organized into the following panels: · *Confiscated Futures* – How and why are we here, and which processes and forces have created the predicament that we are seeking to problematize? · *Futures of the Past* – How has the idea of the future been deployed up until now, what are its pitfalls and possibilities, and how are we to relate to struggles past? · *The Worst of All Possible Futures* – As apocalyptic thinking abounds, what are those relations which underlie this, and which dangers already present threaten to rethink the future as dystopian reality? · *Alternative Futures* – How is the future to be reclaimed, reimagined, wrested back from its seeming disappearance, without repeating well-trodden ground and failed strategies? We welcome classic conference papers as well as proposals for workshops, performances and film screenings. Your proposal should include a 300-word proposal of your topic and the form it will take, as well as a short biography of no more that 200 words. Though we believe that people should be remunerated for their time and travel, we are in the unfortunate position of having very limited funds for this conference, and are therefore generally unable to provide this. In case you are not living in London and are unable to provide travel and/or lodging, please contact us through the email above and we will see what is possible with our resources. ___________________________________________________________ CCS Conference Against the Slow Cancellation of the Future 15 - 16 June 2017 Goldsmiths, University of London ccsconference2...@outlook.com https://www.facebook.com/CCSconference2017/
______________________________________________ SPECTRE list for media culture in Deep Europe Info, archive and help: http://post.in-mind.de/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/spectre