Call for papers for an international conference on Simone De Beauvoir convened by Leuven, Institute of Philosophy in June 2021.
Call for Papers
Simone De Beauvoir: New Perspectives for the 21st Century
International Conference
June 3-4, 2021, Leuven, Institute of Philosophy
Recent years have witnessed a revival and renewed interest in the philosophical and personal writings of Simone de Beauvoir. Yet, few studies have exposed how her political commitments have shaped her writing as well as her public interventions: existentialism, Marxism, anti-colonialism and, finally feminism. This conference, starting from Beauvoir’s social and political engagement, asks to what extent she provides important tools to understand major political events of the 21st Century. Examples include, but are by no means limited to the rise of the new far-right and other forms of extremism; the growth in prominence of the Black Lives Matter movement; and the responses to the recent Covid-19 pandemic. What the organisers want to discover, in particular, is whether De Beauvoir continues to provide us with a conceptual and practical toolkit to respond to such events, to act in solidarity with those marginalized and in resistance to oppressive forces.
Keynote: Qrescent Mali Mason (Haverford), Jennifer McWeeny (Worcester Polytechnic Institute)
Organizers: Ashika Singh (KUL), Julia Jansen (KUL), Karen Vintges (UvA), Liesbeth Schoonheim (KUL)
Website, with full CfP: hiw.kuleuven.be/ripple/events/de-beauvoir
Abstract submission: January 30, 2021 for a presentation of 20 minutes.