I am happy to report that asof today, we have received close to 60
abstract submissions for theconference. I must say that I am really
impressed by the quality of thesubmissions. It looks like we are on
our way to becoming a majorconference. In order to encourage more
submissions for the conference,we have decided to extend the deadline
to February 1, 2010. Please findbelow the extended call (including
plenary bios). Please distribute thiscall 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 (Extended Deadline)
Inthe history of social thought, it is difficult to find a more
divisivefigure than Karl Marx. For many, the mere mention of his name
conjuresup images of totalitarian regimes dominating nearly every
aspect of anindividual?s existence. Yet for others, Marx?s critique of
thecapitalist mode of production draws attention to the fact that
ourbeliefs, thoughts, and desires inevitably emerge against the
backgroundof specific cultural, historical, and social practices.
Thepurposeof this conference is to bring students, scholars, and
activiststogether to discuss exciting issues at the intersection of
Marxism andPsychology. While it is clear that a number of
organizations are makingimportant contributions to this area of study,
we believe that the timeis right to open up a space for students,
scholars, and activistsfrom a variety of disciplinary backgrounds to
reflect on the role thatMarxism can play in psychological theory,
research, and practice.
Inbringing together scholars at the forefront of research in Marxism
andPsychology, we also hope to give new students and activists
anopportunity to interact with individuals who have made
significantcontributions within this area. By organizing an impressive
collectionof plenary participants, we hope to foster an environment
wherestudents, activists, and scholars can identify potential
graduateadvisors, research assistants, and participatory
investigators. Thisyear, confirmed plenary participants include:
Kum-Kum Bhavnaniis Professor of Sociology, Women's Studies and Global
Studies at theUniversity of California at Santa Barbara, where she
also chairs theminor in Women, Culture,Development. Her Undergraduate
(Bristol) andMasters (Nottingham) degrees are in Psychology, while her
PhD (King'sCollege, Cambridge) is in Social and Political Sciences.
For the past25 years, Kum-Kum has built on her passion for
critical/Marxistpsychology and ethnography, and presently works in
cultural studies,women's studies, and Third World Development Studies.
Her recent workincludes a 2006 feature length award-winning
documentary film, TheShape of Water narrated by Susan Sarandon, which
reveals the intimatestories of women in Brazil, India, Jerusalem and
Senegal as they createsocial justice.
John Crombyis a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Loughborough
University UK. HisPhD was from the University of Nottingham Medical
School, and he hasworked in drug addiction, learning disability and
mental healthsettings. His current research explores the
interpenetration of thebody and social influence, with a frequent
focus on emotion, affect andfeeling and with respect to such
substantive topics as?depression?,?paranoia? and chronic fatigue
syndrome. His political sympathies liewith the libertarian socialist
milieu, and he has been particularlyinfluenced by Debord, Vaneigem,
Holzkamp, Vygotsky and Foucault, aswell as Marx. He is a co-editor of
the journal Subjectivity
Raquel Guzzooriginally graduated from Pontifical Cathazil with a
degree in Psychology.She went on to complete her Mastersand Doctorate
in School Psychology at the University of São Paulo witha
post-doctorate in Prevention at the Center for Community Studies atthe
University of Rochester, USA. She is currently a Professor
ofPsychology at the Catholic University of Campinas and a member of
theInternational Committee for Liberation Social Psychology. She
alsoleads a research group on psychological intervention, subject,
andliberation supported by the National Council of Research.
Lois Holzmanis a Marxist activist/scholar who has worked for 30 years
to buildbridges between university-based and community-based
practices,bringing the traditions and innovations of each to the
other. She isco-founder (with Fred Newman) and director of the East
Side Institutefor Group and Short Term Psychotherapy in New York City.
As leadingproponents of a cultural approach to human learning and
development,they have made the insights and discoveries of Lev
Vygotsky,Karl Marxand Ludwig Wittgenstein relevant to the fields of
psychotherapy,youthdevelopment, education and organizational and
community development intheir ongoing work to create a postmodernized
Marxist methodology,known as social therapeutics. As author, lecturer
and trainer, Holzmanis in the thick of debates among Marxists,
postmodernists, activitytheorists, critical psychologists and other
philosophically andpolitically informed scholars on how to transform
psychology into aradically humane and empowering practice.Her latest
book, Vygotsky atWork and Play, relates the discoveries and insights
of Vygotsky toordinary people and their communities and shows
performance methodologyat work in key learning environments:
psychotherapy,classrooms,out-of-school youth programs, and the
workplace.
Gordana Jovanovicis Associate Professor of Psychology at the
Department of Psychology,Faculty of Philosophy, University of
Belgrade, Serbia. She received herPhD from the University of Belgrade
where she has taught courses in theHistory of Psychology, General
Psychology, Personality Theory, andQualitative Research. She was
awarded a grant by the Alexander vonHumboldt Foundation(Germany) for
her research stays at the JohannWolfgang Goethe University in
Frankfurt and the Free University inBerlin. She was also awarded a
study visit grant by the BritishPsychological Society. She is the
author of Simbolizovanjeiracionalnost, 1984 (in Serbian, Symbolization
and Rationality) andFrojd i moderna subjektivnost, 1997 (in Serbian,
Freud and ModernSubjectivity) and various contributions in German and
English. Hercurrent research and writing interests are in the areas of
alternativescientific approaches, with an emphasis on the critical
examination ofthe role of social sciences, particularly psychology in
reproducing andstrengthening existing structures of exploitation and
subjugation ofpeople. In both her teaching and research, she
emphasizes theimportance of developing psychology as a critical human
science. She ismember of the International Network of Engineers and
Scientists forGlobal Responsibility (INES) Executive Committee since
2003 andvice-chair since 2005.
Athanasios Marvakisis a German educated psychologist (University of
Tübingen) and since2007 Associate Professor in Clinical Social
Psychology at the School ofPrimary Education of the Aristotle
University of Thessaloniki/Greece.His interests revolve around
psychology and its relations with thevarious forms of social
inequalities and social exclusion (e.g.,racism, nationalism,
ethnicism, multiculturalism),including youth as asocial group
(political orientations, youth and racism inEurope) andmigrants in
Greece. The last years he has started to be engaged in thecritical
psychology of the ?schooling-complex?.
Morten Nissenis Senior Lecturer /Associate Professor at the Department
ofPsychology, University of Copenhagen,in community and
educationalpsychology. His research is about forms of collectivity in
connectionwith praca participatory relationship (I and we) that is
constituted anddevelops in various kinds of production - meaning both
creation andstaging. Empirically, the field is social work with young
people usingdrugs and/or other kinds of crisis or problems. This is
connected withmethodological reflections on practice research viewed
as the socialproduction of prototypes in which psychology and other
disciplinesparticipate. This approach is developed from the
cultural-historicaltradition?s continuation as critical psychology,
inspired by muchsocial theory that takes up the Hegelian-(or
anti-Hegelian)-Marxistlegacy of an epistemology of practice. Morten
takes this to be apoliticizing and trans-disciplinary approach to
issues that peopledefine as psychological. Morten is editor of the
open access journalOutlines ? Critical Practice Studies and member of
the executive committee of ISCAR.
Ian Parkeris Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychology
atManchester Metropolitan University (MMU). He was co-founder in
1991,and is currently co-director (with Erica Burman) of the Discourse
Unitat MMU (www.discourseunit.com).His research and writing has been
in thefield of psychoanalysis, psychology and social theory, with
aparticular focus on discourse, critical psychology, mental health
andpolitical practice. He co-edited (with Russell Spears) the
editedvolume on Marxism and psychology, Psychology and Society:
Radical Theoryand Practice (Pluto Press, 1996), and Marxism underpins
his critique ofpsychology in Revolution in Psychology: Alienation to
Emancipation(Pluto Press, 2007).
Carl Ratneris a cultural psychologist who uses Marxism as his cultural
theory. Heshows how Marxist cultural theory generates unique insights
intoculture and into the relation between culture and psychology. Carl
alsoexplores political aspects of psychological theories and
methodologies,and he shows how political insights illuminate
scientific aspects ofthe theories and methodologies. He has critiqued
scientific andpolitical shortcomings of mainstream psychology,
evolutionarypsychology, cross-cultural psychology, positivistic
methodology, postmodernism, and individualistic-subjectivistic
approaches to culturalpsychology. Carl utilizes the theory of Vygotsky
to extend Marxistcultural theory to psychology. His latest book is
Cultural Psychology: APerspective on Psychological Functioning and
Social Reform (LEA). Hisforthcoming book is Macro Cultural Psychology:
A Political Philosophyof Mind (Oxford UP).
Hans Skott-Myhreis an interdisciplinary cultural theorist whose
primary research areais the development of models of child and youth
work that promote newpolitical possibilities for youth-adult
collaboration that challengeglobal capitalist empire. His research
includes the investigation ofnew forms of community, identity, body
practices, and creativeexpression that hold potential for resistance
or flight for youth andadults working towards common political purposes.
Thomas Teois Associate Professor inthe History and Theory of
Psychology Programat York University andcurrent editor of the Journal
of Theoretical andPhilosophical Psychology. He has published
historical and theoreticalarticles in Theory & Psychology, New Ideas
in Psychology, CanadianPsychology, Journal of the History of the
Behavioral Sciences, Historyof Psychology, History of the Human
Sciences, etc. The Critique ofPsychology: From Kant to Postcolonial
Theory, his latest monograph, waspublished in 2005. Varieties of
theoretical psychology: Internationalphilosophical and practical
concerns, his latest co-edited book, waspublished in 2009. He analyzes
the historical and theoreticalfoundations of psychology based on
critical-hermeneuticreconstructions. His critical studies focus on
scientific racism in thehuman sciences, on the concept of
epistemological violence, and on thecritique of ideology in psychology.
We welcome submissionsfor individual papers and panel sessions. For
individual papers, missions, please include an abstract (150-200
words) foreach paper as well as a brief description of the panel
(150-200 words).Please submit all materials to marfken@upei.ca.
Abstracts should eitherbe in the body of the email or sent as an
attachment (DOC or PDF format).
For further information, please visit the conference website:
Sincerely,
Michael Arfken, PhD.
Director, Marxism & Psychology Research Group (MPRG)
Department of Psychology
University of Prince Edward Island
marfken@upei.ca
