A special day of the Modernity and Civilisation II conference and part of a series of events celebrating the life and work of Agnes Heller, hosted by the Thesis Eleven Forum for Social and Political Theory

Date: 21st November, 2019

Time: 10:00am to 4:30pm (followed by the annual Ágnes Heller Lecture)

Place: The Greek Cultural Centre, 168 Lonsdale St, Melbourne

Georg Lukács was a towering figure in 20^th century Marxian political and aesthetic philosophy. His work contributed to the development of western Critical Theory while his commitment to democracy created a space for dissident thought within his native Hungary. A group of his students led by Ágnes Heller (collectively known as the Budapest School) migrated to Australia in the 1970s, where they continued ground-breaking research in these and other fields. The journal Thesis Eleven is one of their enduring legacies. Today, Thesis Eleven is leading an international re-evaluation of Georg Lukács’s philosophy while also preserving and extending the contribution of his most important student, Ágnes Heller. These efforts will be presented in a special day of panels and launches, dedicated to Lukács’s work, as part of the Modernity and Civilisation II conference.

Schedule:

Ágnes Heller on Georg Lukács (recording)

10:00 – 10:30

• Recording of Ágnes Heller’s lecture on Georg Lukács from the inaugural Modernity and Civilisation Conference (2018)
• With introduction/commentary from Prof. Peter Beilharz (Professor of Critical Theory, Sichuan University, Chengdu; Emeritus Professor, La Trobe University)

 

Launch: Thesis Eleven special edition on Georg Lukács’s philosophy of praxis:

10:30 – 12:30

• “Lukács: the Antinomies of Bourgeois Philosophy and the Absolute”
  Dr Daniel Lopez (Honorary Research Associate with the Thesis Eleven Forum for Social and Political Theory and Guest Editor of the Thesis Eleven special edition)
• “The Archimedean Point: Consciousness, Praxis, and the Present in Lukács and Bloch”
  Dr Cat Moir (Senior Lecturer and Chair of Germanic Studies Department, The University of Sydney)
• “The Commodity in Hegel and Lukács: On the Cosmic Significance of Reification and the Hybrid Being of the Owner”
  Dr George Vassilacopoulos (Senior Lecturer and Convener of the Philosophy Program, La Trobe University)
• “The Legacy of Reification: Gillian Rose and the Value-Form Theory Challenge to Georg Lukács.”
  Michael Lazarus (PhD Candidate and Casual Academic, Monash University)

 

Lunch Break

12:30 – 1:30

 

Launch: Lukács: Praxis and the Absolute (Dr Daniel Lopez) and The Crisis Paradigm: Description and Prescription in Social and Political Theory (Dr Andrew Gilbert)

1:30 – 2:30

Lukács: Praxis and the Absolute (Brill, 2019)

• Dr Daniel Lopez (Author)
• A/Prof. John Rundell (Adjunct Professor, La Trobe University)
• Dr George Vassilacopoulos (Senior Lecturer, Convener of the Philosophy Program, La Trobe University)

The Crisis Paradigm: Description and Prescription in Social and Political Theory (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019)

• Dr Andrew Gilbert (Author)
• Dr James Dorahy (Lecturer, Western Sydney University and author of The Budapest School: Beyond Marxism, Brill 2019)

 

Coffee Break

2:30 – 3:00

 

Panel: Agnes Heller – from the Origins of Marxian Philosophy to Literary Criticism

3:00 – 4:00

• “Ágnes Heller and Cornelius Castoriadis”
  Professor John Rundell (Adjunct Professor, La Trobe University)
• “Ágnes Heller and the early Marx”
  Dr Lucy Ward (Monash University)

 

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