Newsletter No. 1
“Immaterial Labour, Multitudes and New Social Subjects: Class Composition in Cognitive Capitalism”
to be held at the University of Cambridge: Venue to be announced.
Saturday 29 - Sunday 30 April 2006
Dear Colleagues,
A couple of weeks ago an informal mailing about our “Immaterial Labour” conference was sent to a handful of people. In no time at all, upwards of 50
people have responded from all around the world, expressing interest in
attending the conference or in receiving conference mailings.
This is very positive, and suggests that our conference will have a strong
take-up.
This letter is a brief update.
- HISTORY OF THE CONFERENCE
This event is a follow-up to the conference “CLASS COMPOSITION IN COGNITIVE CAPITALISM” held in Paris on 15-16th February 2002.
It is a personal initiative by myself, operating under the aegis of the
“Universitas adversitatis”, which is an informal network of collaborators
operating in cyberspace and coming down to earth periodically to organise
seminars, conferences and symposia on matters of mutual interest.
People from the Department of Politics, University of Cambridge and from the
Uni-nomade network have indicated a willingness to collaborate in organising
the event.
- SHAPE OF THE CONFERENCE
The dates and location (Cambridge, 29-30 April 2006) are confirmed. The
venue is still being arranged.
The likely shape of the conference will be presentations of papers, each 20
minutes long, with 10 minutes for discussion.
The languages of the conference will be English by preference and French
where necessary.
We shall work to a maximum of 16 papers, and probably fewer.
There may also be a small social event on the Friday evening preceding the
conference, for those who are able to arrive earlier.
- CONTENT OF THE CONFERENCE
Our conference title is all-embracing, within a general terrain of analysis.
We are now specifying the the areas of debate more precisely. Our intention
is to create thematic focuses, around which papers can be grouped.
I shall be meeting with some of our Italian contributors (including the
people from Uninomade) this week, in order to decide these thematic areas.
That will then lead into a formal Call for Papers which will be circulated
to all interested parties. A website will also be established for publication of abstracts and CVs.
Part of our panel will consist of invited speakers. Some have already been
approached (Toni Negri and Yann Moulier-Boutang among others) and have
agreed to present papers.
Two likely thematic areas are:
(a) Inquiry / Inchiesta etc. Tracing the history, theory and practice of
“The Inquiry”, from Marx’s “Workers’ Inquiry” to the present day.
An appropriate starting point might be the article by Toni Negri: “Logica,
teoria dell’ inchiesta. La prassi militante come soggetto e come episteme”.
I am translating this piece, and shall have it ready for circulation by the
end of September.
(b) A mapping of the intellectual history, and the specific contributions of
individuals, involved in creating the notions of immaterial labour,
cognitive capitalism, class composition etc. It would be particularly useful
to map history of the “Italian” and “Italianate” elements of this tradition
post-1979.
- CONFERENCE ARRANGEMENTS
(a) Registration
The conference has zero funding. We cannot fund travel or expenses for
speakers. There will be a modest registration fee for other participants
(with reduced rate for concessions, and free entry for those who cannot afford either). Speakers programmed for presenting papers will not pay a registration fee.
Numbers will necessarily have to be limited for space reasons.
If you wish to attend the conference, I recommend that you register early.
You can register by sending an e-mail to ed.emery@britishlibrary.net. A
registration form will be sent by return.
(b) Accommodation
The conference will not organise accommodation, except for people presenting
papers.
However, we shall lend a helping hand to those seeking accommodation in the
city.
We shall circulate a list of possibilities for accommodation in the Cambridge area, so that attendees can make their own arrangements. We have a good list of “bed and breakfast” contacts.
If you have friends and contacts with whom you can stay in London, you may
find it easier and cheaper to travel from London to Cambridge each day, by
National Express bus (the 9.00am bus gets you to Cambridge for about 10.20,
day-return fare about £9). Can be booked via the Internet.
(c) Travel
If you are arriving from Europe, the cheapest option is probably to fly
RyanAir to Stansted Airport, which is about 30 minutes from Cambridge by
bus. If you book well in advance you can obtain very cheap flights.
- PROPOSALS OF PAPERS
The formal Call for Papers will go out in October. However if you have a
proposal for a paper it would be good to hear from you earlier. That would
help with our shaping of the eventual conference. Write to me at the address
below.
- EXCITEMENT
It is already clear that the conference will provide a platform for some
profound and challenging discussions - the kinds of discussions which are
fundamental in creating a new politics for the years ahead.
It is also clear that - as is natural in any field of hard-fought radical
politics - there may be animosities and reservations between people invited
to attend the conference.
There is great value in being able to debate our chosen topics in the
framework of an English-speaking public, and I very much hope that
historical reticences will not stand in the way of that happening.
If you have queries and questions about the conference, feel free to write.
Ed Emery
[Class Composition Conference]
Peterhouse
Cambridge CB2 1RD
UK
E-mail: ed.emery@britishlibrary.net
Fax: 0870 133 0145
