Utopias for our times
Call for proposals to be presented in Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve on 29-30 September 2016. Themes: the future of cities, of the human body, of democracy, of firms, of work and of migration. Deadline: June 25, 2016.
On Thursday 29 and Friday 30 September 2016, KU Leuven's Metaforum and UCLouvain's Hoover Chair of economic and social ethics are organizing jointly a two-day conference on “Utopias for our times” (in Leuven on 29 September and in Louvain-la-Neuve on 30 September). This conference is intended to mark the 500th anniversary of the publication (in Leuven) of Thomas More's Utopia and the 25th anniversary of the Hoover Chair. It will be immediately followed, on Saturday 1 October, by an event intended to mark, under the title “Basic income: a utopia for our times?”, the 30th anniversary of the creation (in Louvain-la-Neuve) of the Basic Income Earth Network. Please find in the attachment an outline of the programme of all three days.
The two-day conference will consist mainly of a succession of six thematic sessions focusing, respectively, on the future of cities, of the human body, of democracy, of firms, of work and of migration (see description in the attachment). Each thematic session will consist of a 30 min. intervention by the keynote speaker, preceded by three times 10 minutes of “utopian proposals” and followed by a general discussion. The keynote speaker will be expected to react briefly to these proposals, an outline of which should have reached him beforehand, in addition to developing his own view.
We are looking for stimulating “utopias for our times” relevant to the six themes listed above. By this we mean proposals you believe in all things considered, as original and radical as possible, possibly regarded as impossible by most, but explored in depth, screened for their possible perverse effects. These proposals will need to be presented in an intelligible and persuasive way in no more than ten minutes. It is therefore important that they should be sufficiently simple: single ideas, not complex blueprints.
What we need at this stage is a brief presentation of the idea and of the arguments in support of it (between 10 and 20 lines). You will be told in early July whether your proposal features among the few that will be selected. If selected, your ten-minute presentation, or at least an outline of it, should reach the keynote speaker and moderator of your session one week in advance.
Please send your proposals as soon as possible and no later than June 25th to metaforum@kuleuven.be. We look forward to receiving them.
Erik Schokkaert (Metaforum, KU Leuven)
Philippe Van Parijs (Chaire Hoover, UCLouvain)