Power to the People? ... masses, proletariat, workers, soviets, nation, community,
subalterns, multitude, commons...
Radical Philosophy Conference, Central London, 9 May 2009
`Power to the people!' was once a revolutionary slogan, but reference to government by the people and for the people soon became an empty cliché of the post-revolutionary status quo. The people has become a notoriously ambiguous and contested term, for which numerous alternatives have been proposed: the proletariat, the workers, the masses, the soviets, the nation, the community, the multitude, the commons... And now? How might we assess the different conceptions of political change embodied in these often conflicting ideas? What is the political and philosophical significance of `the people' today?
Plenary (chair: Peter Osborne, RP)
`They, the People'
Gayatri Spivak (Columbia University, NY)
The General Will (chair: Peter Hallward, RP)
'The General Will on the Street'
David Andress (Portsmouth)
'How Do the People Make Themselves Heard?'
Sophie Wahnich (CNRS, Paris)
Urban Collectivities (chair: David Cunningham, RP)
'Urban Intersections and the Politics of Anticipation'
AbdouMaliq Simone (Goldsmiths)
`Urbanism and the Post-Political'
Erik Swyngedouw (Manchester)
Population & Biopolitics (chair: Stuart Elden, Durham)
'Biopolitics, Diasporas and (Neo)Liberal Political Economy'
Couze Venn (Nottingham Trent)
'Feminist Strategies Revisited – Sexopolitics, Multitude and
Biopolitics'
Encarnacion Gutierrez Rodriguez (Manchester)
Class, Commons & Multitude (chair: Esther Leslie, RP)
'Crisis, Tragedies and the Commons'
Massimo De Angelis (UEL)
£25/£10 unwaged
Registration and further details:
matt.charles@blueyonder.co.uk
Cheques payable to `Radical Philosophy Ltd' should be sent to:Radical Philosophy Conference, Peter Osborne, CRMEP, Middlesex University, Trent Park Campus, Bramley Rd, London N14 4YZ
