***Apologies for Cross-Posting***
I am happy to report that as of today, we have receivedclose to 60
abstract submissions for the conference. I must say that I amreally
impressed by the quality of the submissions. It looks like we are on
ourway to becoming a major conference. In order to encourage more
submissions forthe conference, we have decided to extend the deadline to
February 1, 2010.Please find below the extended call (including plenary
bios). Please distributethis call as widely as possible.
Call For Papers (Extended Deadline)
Marxism and Psychology Conference
The University of Prince Edward Island
August 5-7, 2010
Website: http://vre.upei.ca/mprg/
Contact: marfken@upei.ca
Submission Deadline: February 1, 2010 (ExtendedDeadline)
In the history of social thought, it is difficult to find amore divisive
figure than Karl Marx. For many, the mere mention of his nameconjures up
images of totalitarian regimes dominating nearly every aspect of
anindividual’s existence. Yet for others, Marx’s critique of the
capitalist modeof production draws attention to the fact that our beliefs,
thoughts, anddesires inevitably emerge against the background of specific
cultural,historical, and social practices.
The purpose of this conference is to bring students,scholars, and
activists together to discuss exciting issues at the intersectionof
Marxism and Psychology. While it is clear that a number of organizations
aremaking important contributions to this area of study, we believe that
the timeis right to open up a space for students, scholars, and activists
from avariety of disciplinary backgrounds to reflect on the role that
Marxism canplay in psychological theory, research, and practice.
In bringing together scholars at the forefront of researchin Marxism and
Psychology, we also hope to give new students and activists anopportunity
to interact with individuals who have made significant contributionswithin
this area. By organizing an impressive collection of plenaryparticipants,
we hope to foster an environment where students, activists, andscholars
can identify potential graduate advisors, research assistants,
andparticipatory investigators. This year, confirmed plenary participants
include:
Kum-Kum Bhavnani isProfessor of Sociology, Women's Studies and Global
Studies at the University ofCalifornia at Santa Barbara, where she also
chairs the minor in Women, Culture,Development. Her Undergraduate
(Bristol) and Masters (Nottingham) degrees arein Psychology, while her PhD
(King's College, Cambridge) is in Social andPolitical Sciences. For the
past 25 years, Kum-Kum has built on her passion forcritical/Marxist
psychology and ethnography, and presently works in culturalstudies,
women's studies, and Third World Development Studies. Her recent
workincludes a 2006 feature length award-winning documentary film, The
Shape ofWater narrated by Susan Sarandon, which reveals the intimate
stories ofwomen in Brazil, India, Jerusalem and Senegal as they create
social justice.
John Cromby is a Senior Lecturer inPsychology at Loughborough University
UK. His PhD was from the University ofNottingham Medical School, and he
has worked in drug addiction, learningdisability and mental health
settings. His current research explores theinterpenetration of the body
and social influence, with a frequent focus onemotion, affect and feeling
and with respect to such substantive topics as‘depression’, ‘paranoia’ and
chronic fatigue syndrome. His political sympathieslie with the libertarian
socialist milieu, and he has been particularlyinfluenced by Debord,
Vaneigem, Holzkamp, Vygotsky and Foucault, as well asMarx. He is a
co-editor of the journal Subjectivity
Raquel Guzzo originally graduated fromPontifical Catholic University of
Campinas, Brazil with a degree in Psychology.She went on to complete her
Masters and Doctorate in School Psychology at theUniversity of São Paulo
with a post-doctorate in Prevention at the Center forCommunity Studies at
the University of Rochester, USA. She is currently aPro at the Catholic
University of Campinas and a member ofthe International Committee for
Liberation Social Psychology. She also leads aresearch group on
psychological intervention, subject, and liberation supportedby the
National Council of Research.
Lois Holzman is a Marxistactivist/scholar who has worked for 30 years to
build bridges betweenuniversity-based and community-based practices,
bringing the traditions andinnovations of each to the other. She is
co-founder (with Fred Newman) anddirector of the East Side Institute for
Group and Short Term Psychotherapy inNew York City. As leading proponents
of a cultural approach to human learningand development, they have made
the insights and discoveries of Lev Vygotsky,Karl Marx and Ludwig
Wittgenstein relevant to the fields of psychotherapy,youth development,
education and organizational and community development intheir ongoing
work to create a postmodernized Marxist methodology, known associal
therapeutics. As author, lecturer and trainer, Holzman is in the thickof
debates among Marxists, postmodernists, activity theorists,
criticalpsychologists and other philosophically and politically informed
scholars onhow to transform psychology into a radically humane and
empowering practice.Her latest book, Vygotsky at Work and Play, relates
the discoveries andinsights of Vygotsky to ordinary people and their
communities and showsperformance methodology at work in key learning
environments: psychotherapy,classrooms, out-of-school youth programs, and
the workplace.
Gordana Jovanovic isAssociate Professor of Psychology at the Department of
Psychology, Faculty ofPhilosophy, University of Belgrade, Serbia. She
received her PhD from theUniversity of Belgrade where she has taught
courses in the History ofPsychology, General Psychology, Personality
Theory, and QualitativeResearch. She was awarded a grant by the Alexander
von Humboldt Foundation(Germany) for her research stays at the Johann
Wolfgang Goethe University inFrankfurt and the Free University in Berlin.
She was also awarded a study visitgrant by the British Psychological
Society. She is the author of Simbolizovanjei racionalnost, 1984 (in
Serbian, Symbolization and Rationality)and Frojd i moderna subjektivnost,
1997 (in Serbian, Freud and ModernSubjectivity) and various contributions
in German and English. Her currentresearch and writing interests are in
the areas of alternative scientificapproaches, with an emphasis on the
critical examination of the role of socialsciences, particularly
psychology in reproducing and strengthening existingstructures of
exploitation and subjugation of people. In both her teaching andresearch,
she emphasizes the importance of developing psychology as a criticalhuman
science. She is member of the International Network of Engineers
andScientists for Global Responsibility (INES) Executive Committee since
2003 andvice-chair since 2005.
Athanasios Marvakis is aGerman educated psychologist (University of
Tübingen) and since 2007 AssociateProfessor in Clinical Social Psychology
at the School of Primary Education ofthe Aristotle University of
Thessaloniki/Greece. His interests revolve aroundpsychology and its
relations with the various forms of social inequalities andsocial
exclusion (e.g., racism, nationalism, ethnicism,
multiculturalism),including youth as a social group (political
orientations, youth and racism inEurope) and migrants in Greece. The last
years he has started to be engaged inthe critical psychology of the
“schooling-complex”.
Morten Nissen is Senior Lecturer /Associate Professor at the Department of
Psychology, University of Copenhagen,in community and educational
psychology. His research is about forms ofcollectivity in connection with
practical intervention. Theoretically,subjectivity is regarded as a
participatory relationship (I and we) that isconstituted and develops in
various kinds of production - meaning both creationand staging.
Empirically, the field is social work with young peoplhmethodological
reflections on practice research viewed as the social productionof
prototypes in which psychology and other disciplines participate.
Thisapproach is developed from the cultural-historical tradition’s
continuation ascritical psychology, inspired by much social theory that
takes up theHegelian-(or anti-Hegelian)-Marxist legacy of an epistemology
of practice.Morten takes this to be a politicizing and trans-disciplinary
approach toissues that people define as psychological. Morten is editor of
the open accessjournal Outlines – Critical Practice Studies and member of
the executivecommittee of ISCAR.
Ian Parker is Professor of Psychologyin the Department of Psychology at
Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU). Hewas co-founder in 1991, and is
currently co-director (with Erica Burman) of theDiscourse Unit at MMU
(www.discourseunit.com).His research and writing has been in the field of
psychoanalysis, psychologyand social theory, with a particular focus on
discourse, critical psychology,mental health and political practice. He
co-edited (with Russell Spears) theedited volume on Marxism and
psychology, Psychology and Society: RadicalTheory and Practice (Pluto
Press, 1996), and Marxism underpins his critiqueof psychology in
Revolution in Psychology: Alienation to Emancipation(Pluto Press, 2007).
Carl Ratner is a cultural psychologistwho uses Marxism as his cultural
theory. He shows how Marxist cultural theorygenerates unique insights into
culture and into the relation between cultureand psychology. Carl also
explores political aspects of psychological theoriesand methodologies, and
he shows how political insights illuminate scientificaspects of the
theories and methodologies. He has critiqued scientific andpolitical
shortcomings of mainstream psychology, evolutionary
psychology,cross-cultural psychology, positivistic methodology, post
modernism, andindividualistic-subjectivistic approaches to cultural
psychology. Carl utilizesthe theory of Vygotsky to extend Marxist cultural
theory to psychology. His latestbook is Cultural Psychology: A Perspective
on Psychological Functioning andSocial Reform (LEA). His forthcoming book
is Macro CulturalPsychology: A Political Philosophy of Mind (Oxford UP).
Hans Skott-Myhre is aninterdisciplinary cultural theorist whose primary
research area is thedevelopment of models of child and youth work that
promote new politicalpossibilities for youth-adult collaboration that
challenge globalcapitalist empire. His research includes the investigation
of new forms ofcommunity, identity, body practices, and creative
expression that holdpotential for resistance or flight for youth and
adults working towardscommon political purposes.
Thomas Teo is Associate Professor inthe History and Theory of Psychology
Program at York University andcurrent editor of the Journal of Theoretical
and Philosophical Psychology.He has published historical and theoretical
articles in Theory &Psychology, New Ideas in Psychology, Canadian
Psychology, Journal of theHistory of the Behavioral Sciences, History of
Psychology, History of the HumanSciences, etc. The Critique of Psychology:
>From Kant to PostcolonialTheory, his latest monograph, was published in
2005. Varieties oftheoretical psychology: International philosophical and
practical concerns, hislatest co-edited book, was published in 2009. He
analyzes the historical andtheoretical foundations of psychology based on
critical-hermeneuticreconstructions. His critical studies focus on
scientific racism in the humansciences, on the concept of epistemological
violence, and on thecritique of ideology in psychology.
We welcome submissions for individual papers and panelsessions. For
individual papers, please submit an abstract (150-200 words) nolater than
February 1, 2010. For panel submissions, please include anabstract
(150-200 words) for each paper as well as a brief description of thepanel
(150-200 words). Please submit all materials to marfken@upei.ca.
Abstractsshould either be inFformat).
For further information, please visit the conferencewebsite:
http://vre.upei.ca/mprg/
Sincerely,
Michael Arfken, PhD.
Director, Marxism & Psychology Research Group (MPRG)
Department of Psychology
University of Prince Edward Island
marfken@upei.ca
_________________________________
Michael Arfken, PhD
Department of Psychology
University of Prince Edward Island
Email: marfken@upei.ca
Website: http://marfken.googlepages.com/
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