CfP Dancing the Dialectic

International Studies Association (ISA), San Francisco (3-6 April 2024)

Panel Title:

Dancing the dialectic to the tune of the philosophy of internal relations

Panel Abstract:

To draw from Doreen Massey in Spatial Divisions of Labour, it has become commonplace to assert that space is relational and yet the real meaning of the slogan has still to be taken on board. This sort of criticism holds most weight in international theory that has seemingly adopted the relational turn by silencing any connection to Marxist dialectics. To name just a few, whither the engagements with Henri Lefebvre, Bertell Ollman, Doreen Massey, Derek Sayer, Silvia Federici, David Harvey or Ariel Salleh on the philosophy of internal relations and dialectics? As Marx himself stated, ‘I sweated plenty ascertaining the things themselves, i.e. their interconnection’. How is it that the historical materialist insights of dialectical theorising can be marginalised and silenced within the present self-image of international theory? What alternative dialectical rhythms to relationality are revealed by addressing a genuinely Marxist curiosity? This panel welcomes contributions from across the gamut of heterodox perspectives on social reproduction theory, racial capitalism, Marxism-Feminism, world-ecology, eco-socialist and historical geographical materialisms with a particular focus on internal relations and dialectics.

If you are interested in joining this panel, please send through your proposed abstract (maximum 200 words), title (maximum 50 words) and three keywords to Alejandro Colás (A.Colas@bbk.ac.uk) or Adam David Morton (Adam.Morton@sydney.edu.au) by 11:59pm 28 May (AET).

Author: Adam David Morton

Adam David Morton is Professor of Political Economy at the University of Sydney. He is author of Unravelling Gramsci: Hegemony and Passive Revolution in the Global Political Economy (2007); Revolution and State in Modern Mexico: The Political Economy of Uneven Development (2011), recipient of the 2012 Book Prize of the British International Studies Association (BISA) International Political Economy Group (IPEG); and co-author of Global Capitalism, Global War, Global Crisis (2018) with Andreas Bieler. The volume Henri Lefebvre, On the Rural: Economy, Sociology, Geography is out in 2022 with University of Minnesota Press, co-edited with Stuart Elden.

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