2011 MLG Institute on Culture and Society
06/20-24/2011, University of Illinois at Chicago

Call for Papers
2011 Marxist Literary Group Institute on Culture and Society
Special Topic: "What Is Revolution?"
Deadline for Proposals: March 1, 2011.

The Marxist Literary Group´s 2011 Institute on Culture and Society
(2011 MLG-ICS) will convene this summer (June 20-24) on the campus of
the University of Illinois at Chicago. As always, any submission that
engages seriously with Marxist thought will be considered, including,
but not limited to, Marxist considerations of literature or literary
considerations of Marxism. This year´s special topic will be "What is
Revolution?" What is class struggle? Can there be one without the
other, as horizon or precondition? How does radical social change take
place? Is it necessary to have a theory of revolution, or is it better
to pursue an intelligent opportunism? Does Marxism require revolution?
Does revolution require class? What would a plausible political
subject, or a plausible subject of history, look like today? Does our
present moment hold any revolutionary possibility? What contemporary
movements, possibilities, and practices hold promise (or do not)? Is
there a plausible relationship today between aesthetic practices and
the end of capitalism (as we know it)? How does one represent what is
only possible, not actual? Is "struggle" another name for the
possible? What is the relationship between politics as such and the
economic as such? What is the relationship between politics and
thinking, between revolution and philosophy? These questions and
others will be the focus of this year´s Institute. Selected papers
will be invited for submission to Mediations (mediationsjournal.org).
Recent years´ programs can be accessed at mlg.eserver.org/the-institute.

The Institute on Culture and Society is run in consecutive sessions,
and the discussion is most fruitful when participants stay for the
entire Institute. Housing is available on campus, and every effort is
made to keep the cost of attendance low. Graduate student
participation is subsidized by the Marxist Literary Group. Proposals
are welcome for:

Traditional panels
Individual presentations
Roundtables
Film Screenings
Performances
Reading Groups

All proposals except panel proposals should be a maximum of 250 words
in length, and should include title, author, and author´s affiliation.
Panel proposals should include for each proposed paper a 250-word
abstract, including title and affiliation, as well as a title and
100-word rationale for the session itself. Please send submissions
(plain text or commonly used file format) by March 1, 2011 to:
2011mlgics@gmail.com