Cornelios Castoriadis: The Formative Years and Beyond

Call for Papers

The University of Sydney

December 15th, 2017

Conveners: Vrasidas Karalis & Craig Brown

Venue: to be confirmed

Deadline for submission of paper proposals: October 30th, 2017

This year’s Cornelios Castoriadis’ Symposium is dedicated to the study of his early formative years after his departure from Greece and his migration to France, his participation in the publication of the journal  Socialisme ou Barbarie, his gradual separation from mainstream Orthodox Marxism until the closure of the journal in 1967.

This is an extremely crucial period for the formation of Castoriadis’ heterodox revolutionary ideas and politics. Most of his intellectual trajectory can be clearly delineated through his contributions published in the journal and the debates with other thinkers which erupted in different circumstances such as the Hungarian revolution.

Furthermore, the journal played a pivotal role in the formation of other intellectuals, such as Jacques Laplance, Claude Lefort and Guy Debord amongst others.

Despite its central focus on the early period, papers of his general philosophical trajectory are also welcome. The Symposium wants to address different aspects of many conversations and explore the various stages of their development throughout his work. It also wants to explore the long-term impact of these discussions and of the journal on the intellectual life of revolutionary autonomy movement in various parts of the world.

Finally it wants to examine the ongoing relevance of these discussions in an era of generalized conformism and post-revolutionary melancholia.

Postgraduate students are also welcome!