How do we define imaginaries and narratives in relation to our political and social life?

It has become common for political theorists and philosophers to insist on the neces- sity of new imaginaries and narratives. Crises of authority, financial meltdowns, and environmental disasters compel us to look for alternative frameworks and practices. While the urgency of this claim is undeniable, the conceptual ground for the creation of new imaginaries and narratives is still unclear. How do we define imaginaries and narratives in relation to our political and social life? How can they become normative and generate conceptual and practical shifts? And who is in a position to shape, direct, and take ownership of these emergent conceptions?

This conference focuses on the current debate on political imaginaries and narratives to investigate some of these questions. As a starting point, we propose to challenge standard Marxist or epistemological approaches to the topic that either interpret imaginaries and narratives as ideological projections (a product of false conscious- \ness) or merely as individual, cognitive faculties. Rather, we suggest thinking about imaginaries and narratives as larger sensuous and embodied practices that re-orient material structures of domination and allow for a reflective rearticulation of collective demands. In particular, we set out to clarify: the meaning of “imaginaries” and/or “narratives” as forms of sense-making; their ability to shift existing discourses and power relations; the way in which they foster different ways of feeling, seeing, acting-in, and experiencing the world in a time of crisis; the way in which they are embedded in artistic and literary practices; and the way in which they address—or fail to address—marginalized subjects.

Keynote Speakers 

• María Pía Lara, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana

• Fanny Söderbäck, Södertörn University

• Eva Von Redecker, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Conference Organizing Committee

• Agnese Di Riccio

• Miranda Young

• Jack Condie 

• Jacqueline Liu 

• Lena Nowak-Laird

• Mariam Matar

• Marie Loslier Simon 

• Matteo Burrell

• Rosa Martins