11th Annual International Conference of the Centre for Phenomenology in South Africa
CFP:
Existence and Crisis
5-6 September 2024
In-Person at Crawford’s Beach Lodge in Chintsa, South Africa
Organizers: Abraham Olivier, M. John Lamola, Justin Sands, Amara Esther Chimakonam, Rafael Winkler
Recent discussions within phenomenology — specifically, within ecophenomenology, relational ontology, and African and Africana Phenomenology — show a renewed interest in the concept of human existence reviewed from the perspective of crises of different kinds. These include disasters and diseases caused by climate change, racist, colonial, and sexist predicaments of oppression and violence, war and genocide, economic collapse, famine and health hazards, mass-scale slaughtering of animals and the destruction of the environment by humans, the threats posed by the rapid development of AI and related technologies, etc.
Global awareness of these issues demands more discussion about the meaning and future of human existence and its relation to other modes of being. In view of such discussion, this conference calls for papers on the relation between the concepts of existence and crisis.
This year’s conference will focus, not exclusively, on the emerging issues which pertain to the concept of existence and its relation to crisis in light of the recent publication of the anthology Phenomenology in an African Context. One of the main claims of this book is that African phenomenology distinguishes itself from other phenomenologies in its focus on the formative effect of the crisis of lived conditions, specifically unjust colonial structures, on human experience in, but also beyond, the African context. African phenomenological notions of existence and how it is shaped by crises call for further exploration.
Moreover, the conference welcomes contributions to related global ecophenomenological issues concerning what David Wood calls “the pursuit of the relationalities of worldly engagement, both human and those of other creatures.” These issues pertain to a host of problems and debates concerning existence in crises, specifically, but not exclusively, issues related to global crises caused by the human domination and exploitation of nonhuman others and the environment, as well as risks regarding the advance of AI technologies.
Topics may include but are not limited to:
- The relation between human existential crises and other modes of being.
- Crises and existential challenges within the global or African Context.
- The formative effect of crises on existence within the global or African context.
- Global existential crisis in relation to Africa.
- Phenomenologists in Africa and the critique of existence.
- Husserl, Hountondji, Sartre and “Fanon and the crisis of European man.”
- Crisis and consciousness/existential consciousness.
- The analysis of specific existential crises, e.g., climate change, plague, war, famine, economic inequality, gender-based violence, scarce healthcare services, the abuse of animals, the threat posed by advances in AI.
- Analysis of the views of specific phenomenologists on the concept of existential crisis.
- Strategies to deal with crises.
Submission
Please send a 300-word abstract for blind review to aolivier@ufh.ac.za or abrahamolivier@gail.com; j.sands@staugustine.ac.za and amaraesther35@gmail.com The full paper should be no more than 3500-4000 words for a 30 min. presentation. Proposals for panel discussion are also welcome.
The deadline for submission of abstracts is the 15th of July 2024. Notification of acceptance will be sent by the 30th of July 2024.
Location
This is a live in-person event at Crawford’s Beach Lodge in Chintsa, South Africa
and online presentations will be the exception.
Conference fees
The fee for the full two-day conference (including teas and lunches) for participants is R875 (including VAT). It is free of charge for all participating graduate and PhD students.
Accommodation
Contact Crawford’s Beach Lodge: conferencing@crawfordsbeachlodge.co.za. Also, consult Crawford’s for the provision of transport from the airport to the conference venue.
For more information about the conference, please visit the website of the Centre for Phenomenology in South Africa: https://saphenomenology.wordpress.com. Alternatively, please get in touch with the organizers.
CPSA 