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Host: Manchester Metropolitan University
Email: egurcan@ku.edu.tr
Organizers: Efe Can Gurcan
Deadline for abstracts: April 06, 2009
Description:
Call for Papers
In parallel with what Samir Amin suggests, one could state that modern political theory is subject to a severe crisis. There is an “invasive cancer” that propagates Eurocentric prejudices distorting political theories.
As Amin puts it, Eurocentism constitutes “a distortion from which majority of dominant social theories suffer”. It functions spontaneously, “often in the gray areas of seemingly obvious facts and common sense”. It advocates that the history of Europe is exceptional. In addition, it implies the homogenization through imitation and catch up. From Amin’s perspective, Eurocentrism is common to both vulgar Marxism and mainstream political theories.
As opposed to what Eurocentrism advocates, the expansion of capitalism generated “a new polarization in the world scale”. Accordingly, the North/South contradiction is becoming more and more sharper. To overcome the “Eurocentric cancer”, one should first of all understand that “Center/Periphery polarization must be placed at the heart of the analysis and not in the margin”.
Therefore, this workshop encourages contributions that would attempt to identify the problematic of Eurocentism in political theory (in mainstream theories such as the modernization theory, as well as in Marxism).
We invite you to send 250-300 word proposals for 20-30 minute papers on topics including but not limited to:
• Definitions and Manifestations of Eurocentrism in Political Theory
• Critique of Eurocentrism
• International Relations and Eurocentrism
• North and South Categorisation in Political Theory
• Imperialism, Neo-Colonialism and Eurocentrism
• Globalisation and Eurocentrism
•Democratic Theory and Eurocentrism
• Critique of the Multiculturalism in Political Theory
• Critique of the Modernization Theory in terms of Eurocentrism
• Critique of the Neo-Liberal Theory in terms of Eurocentrism
•Human Rights Theory and Eurocentrism
•Development Theory and Eurocentrism
• Eurocentric Challenges for Political Theory
•Critique of Eurocentric Marxist Perspectives
• Gramsci, Lenin, Trotsky, Mao and Eurocentrism
Mail Address:
egurcan@ku.edu.tr Koç University, Rumelifeneri Yolu 34450 Sarıyer Istanbul Turkey
Submitted by: Efe Can Gurcan
Date received: November 30, 2008, revised December 14, 2008
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