[Discussion] Remaking Revolutions

[Gonul Pultar]

"Remaking Revolution" Conference
Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, New York
April 16-17, 2004

This interdisciplinary conference invites intellectuals working
within various theoretical traditions and social movements to
consider the fate of political revolution in America, the advanced
industrial West, and the world.

While many were quick to claim the "end of history" as the Cold War
came to a close, alter-globalization protests at the WTO, IMF and G7
meetings, the vocal manifestations of (post-)feminist activists from
the Guerilla Girls to the riot grrrrrls and the phenomenal success of
Hardt and Negri's defiantly communist tour de force, Empire showed
that radical desires were alive and well in the post-modern new world
order.   Throughout the 1990s, emerging transnational activist
networks facilitated waves of opposition to militarism and corporate
globalization. From the Chiapas Uprising and the Battle of Seattle to
the recent breakdown  in the Cancun WTO talks, the
alter-globalization movement has evolved into an increasingly
formidable, expansive presence.  Yet, the concept of resistance and
the word "revolution" itself have become more problematic than ever
before.  In the post-Cold War world, consumer culture sells itself as
"revolutionary" - from Nike's marketing of high tech sneakers via the
Beatles and notions of urban working class authenticity to the
corporate-engineered dissent of popular rock groups like Limp Bizkit
and the Spice Girls.  The counter-cultural tendencies that emerged as
part of the heroic "Great Refusal" during the sixties have seemingly
adjusted themselves to consumer capitalism.  For many, to resist
Starbucks' grande caramel macchiato or a Wal-Mart shopping spree now
takes on an air of militancy.

This conference invites participants to reflect on the related
concepts of revolution and resistance in the contemporary context.
Are we to assume that the visions of political revolution that
animated the major social insurgencies of the 20th century have
failed? If Marx, Lenin, and Fanon are politically dead, should we add
Marcuse, Foucault, and Haraway to the list as well? Do the unique
technological features of postmodern capitalism render old models of
class struggle and revolution obsolete -- or more relevant?  How has
the decline of class as a unifying concept affected radical politics?
Can "class" be reconceptualized in a way that facilitates its
revival? Is such a revival necessary to the future of emancipatory
politics?  Is there room for the state within contemporary visions of
radical democracy?  What new forms of political organization might
prevail  given the passage of vanguard parties,  workers  councils,
national liberation struggles and state socialism? What new political
subjectivities are emerging under the conditions of postmodern
capitalism? Where do we find resistance today, and what strategies
and orientations might revitalize, expand and sustain political
opposition?

We invite proposals for complete panels and individual papers.
Proposals for each paper should include an abstract  (300 words or
less) and a brief curriculum vitae (one page).

Some possible themes:

April 16-17, 2004
- Empire and revolution
- Revolutions and the "Third World"/Global South
- New Identity Movements and Revolution
- Is a post-modern revolution possible?
- Class politics and post-modern/ information capitalism
- Millenarianism and revolutionary politics
- Revolution, repression and dissent in the Post 9/11 World
- Is anti-sweatshop/ consumer-based activism "revolutionary"?
- The "Multitude," proletariats and radical subjectivity
- Culture jamming/ popular culture as revolutionary space
- Communist alternatives  after state socialism


The Deadline for submissions is 15 January 2004.

Cedric Johnson
Department of Political Science
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Geneva, NY 14456-3397
Email: cejohnson@hws.edu