The editorial board of New Formations has been considering for some time how best to pay tribute to our great friend and colleague, Stuart Hall. We have decided that the most appropriate tribute we pay is to do what Stuart so often urged us all to do – to try to analyse as rigorously as possible the precise contours of the current historical conjuncture. We propose a special issue devoted to this end, considering a range of interrelated questions from a range of disciplinary perspectives:
- What public moods and structures of feeling, emergent and residuals, characterise the current conjuncture?
- What is at stake in the term ‚conjuncture‘, as analytic or method? What principles of resistance towards the dominant narratives of our time does the term carry with it?
- Is the epoch of neoliberal hegemony drawing to a close?
- Is the re-emergence of authoritarian populism and popular racism in countries such as France, the US and the UK an inevitable response to globalisation and the spread of liberal cosmopolitanism? Has this emergence already passed its peak?
- What is the significance of the re-emergence of the political Left as a visible force in electoral politics in contexts such as Greece, the USA and the UK?
- Is the emergent ‘precariat’ a new leading force in radical politics?
- What are the wider implications, resonances and consequences of the Black Lives Matter movement?
- Can the political and social gains of liberal feminism survive the era of austerity?
- What is the future of political organisation at the levels of work, consumption and communication?
- How can the projections of global warming be configured by the left in relation to more immediate questions of social justice?
- How should we understand the new feminist activism as part of the response to Trump’s authoritarian populism?
- What are the emergent forms and patterns of economic activity, accumulation and distribution which might shape the social and political terrain in the near future?
- Do the Brexit vote, Trump’s election, and the recent UK General Election results mark the beginning of a new historical conjuncture?
These questions are far from exclusive or exhaustive and we welcome suggestions for other interventions and contributions.
We invite proposals for contributions to this issue.
The deadline for receipt of first drafts of actual papers will be Jan 31st 2018
If you would like to propose a contribution, please send a biographical note and 200-400 word abstract to nfsubmissions@me.com (please use the subject line ‘This Conjuncture Proposal’) by August 31st 2017. Proposers will be notified as to whether their proposals have been accepted September 10th.
Thank you
Jeremy Gilbert, on behalf of the Editorial Board of New Formations.
New Formations is a journal of culture / theory / politics (see https://www.lw
@jemgilbert
