Power & Difference 2012
27–29 August 2012
Inspired by the great success of the Second International Conference on Power & Knowledge held on 6-8 September 2010, we carry on probing questions of power. This year the conference will concentrate on linkages between power and difference.
Divide et impera, said the ancient Romans; a maxim that exemplifies one of the ways in which power is entangled with difference. Small privileges allotted to subgroups prevents resistance against the rule by dividing the subjects, and similarly treating units such as nation-states as separate, unique entities prevents us from realizing global structures and trends. On the other hand, aiming at equality and hence unity is hardly possible without identifying injustice related to differences such as age, class, ethnicity, or gender. Furthermore, from an epistemological perspective, the concepts we use are tools to simplify and standardize reality into a manageable number of categories relevant from the viewpoint of governance and control. These and many other linkages between power and difference will be tackled in this biennial conference now organized for the third time.
Keynote speakers will include:
- Lisa Adkins,
- Leena Alanen,
- Karen Armstrong,
- Laura Huttunen,
- Jan Nederveen Pieterse,
- Göran Therborn,
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