"The Dromocratic Condition" Conference:

Contemporary Cultures of Acceleration

University of Newcastle upon Tyne, March 12–13, 2005

Theories of contemporary culture have foregrounded the significance of 'late
capitalism' or 'post-Fordism' (Jameson; Harvey); simulation and
'hyper-reality' (Baudrillard); information technology and the 'inhuman'
(Lyotard); the 'panopticon' (Foucault); 'communicative action' (Habermas);
'desiring-production' and schizophrenia (Deleuze and Guattari); risk (Ulrich
Beck); and the cyborg (Haraway).

An alternative theorisation — which intersects with these perspectives, but
diverges from them — views acceleration as the defining feature of the
contemporary era. The French cultural theorist Paul Virilio has coined the
term 'dromocracy' (from the Greek dromos: avenue or race course) to
characterise this position. Under Virilio's 'dromocratic' reading of
history, scientific, technological, societal, military, and cultural change
is propelled by the pursuit of ever-increasing speed. Our own era — with its
fibre-optic cables, satellite-linked communications networks, supersonic
aircraft, and cruise missiles — is, Virilio suggests, approaching the limits
of acceleration, and teeters on the edge of the 'integral accident' - the
true end of modernity.Please find below the official Call for Papers for the conference on "The
Dromocratic Condition". I would be grateful if you would circulate this
information to anyone you think may be interested in attending the conference.
Please send abstracts and enquiries to the organiser of the
conference, Paul Crosthwaite at:

p.j.crosthwaite@ncl.ac.uk

The Dromocratic Condition:

Contemporary Cultures of Acceleration

An international, multi-disciplinary conference hosted by the School of
English, University of Newcastle upon Tyne,

Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 March, 2005

Keynote speakers:

Douglas Kellner (UCLA, USA)

John Armitage (Northumbria, UK)

This conference invites papers that explore any aspect of what the social
theorist John Armitage — re-orientating Lyotard's famous assessment of the
contemporary — has called the 'dromocratic condition'. What are the key
characteristics of the contemporary culture of acceleration? How has the
pursuit of speed impacted upon contemporary subjectivity, upon strategies of
warfare and terrorism, or upon experiences of space and time? How have
theorists, activists, writers, artists, and filmmakers responded to the
speed-up of contemporary life? Is there necessarily a connection between
speed and destruction, or can high-speed technologies serve a progressive or
radical agenda? Is speed truly, as Virilio has claimed, 'the location and
the law, the world's destiny and its destination', or do movements exist
that offer viable alternatives to the contemporary culture of acceleration?

The organisers envisage that a special issue of the journal
Cultural will
result from the papers at the conference.

Please send proposals (250–300 words) for 20-minute papers to Paul
Crosthwaite at p.j.crosthwaite@ncl.ac.uk or School of English Literature,
Language, and Linguistics, Percy Building, University of Newcastle upon
Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom by 23 December 2004.

Updates and accommodation information will appear on the
02314> conference web site
( >here ).