Listmembers might be interested in the following free event in London:
4th Capitalism and Philosophy Lab
Saturday 28 June, 2-6 pm
Room A116, Middlesex University, Tottenham Campus, White Hart Lane,
London N17. White Hart Lane BR.
Admission Free. ALL WELCOME.
Theme: Communism and Friendship on the Work of Maurice Blanchot
Speakers:
Dr Lars Iyer, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Dr William Large, College of St Mark and St John
'Writing passes through the advent of communism.'
Blanchot, The Infinite Conversation
Maurice Blanchot's turn to the consideration of political questions from the late 1950s onwards and his active interventions in French political life might surprise those who know him as a literary critic and novelist. But to those familiar with The Space of Literature or The Book to Come, it is clear that he never contents himself with upholding the value of the great work of art or the great literary artist, or indeed the literary institution itself. His concern, rather, is to attest to the literary, understood in terms of a certain experience of language inseparable from communism; for instance the literary practice of Bataille, which attests to an opening to the Other, to a certain community or communitarian demand. This promise of communism, and it can only be a promise for Blanchot, is inseparable from friendship. This is not a friendship of recognition or familiarity, but of coming into contact with what is most strange and unknown in the friend, and this 'impossible friendship' becomes the basis of a new way of thinking the social and political.
The Capitalism and Philosophy Lab is a regular workshop on post-1968 philosophical approaches to capitalism. For those who believe that genuine philosophical advances were made in 1960's and 70's France (in the work, for instance, of Deleuze, Badiou, Lacan, Laruelle, Lyotard), there is an ever more pressing need to explore and test seriously the contribution these developments make (and can make) to Marxist theory and the analysis of contemporary capitalism. New theoretical tools are needed for the future of Marxist thought.
We suggest that one crucial way forward is to rebut the common but one-sided perception that the abovementioned philosophical developments are essentially antagonistic to Marxist philosophy. (One exegetical aim of the workshop is to place Althusserianism back into its proper philosophical context.)
As well as critical and directed work on texts and key concepts, these sessions aim to identify and explore vital components in the current phase of capitalism. One central focus for discussion will be the relations between technoscience and capital. What implications do developments and accelerations in technoscience have for philosophy and Marxism together? Our hope is that, taken together, these lines of investigation might provide powerful and new theoretical concepts in the struggle against contemporary capitalism.
Enquiries: R.Brassier@mdx.ac.uk or C.Kerslake@mdx.ac.uk
Dr Lars Iyer
Lecturer in Philosophy
Philosophical Studies
Centre for Knowledge, Science and Society
3rd Floor, Herschel Building
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
United Kingdom
E-mail: lars.iyer@ncl.ac.uk
Tel.: +44 (0)191 222 3662
