Conference Agenda

Posthumanist methodological theory and contemporary Black Studies literature have arrived at similar philosophical positions in the early parts of the 21st century. Significant numbers of leading scholars in both fields of study have concluded that inquiry should be something other than an effort to represent an exogenous “reality” in a final and uniquely authoritative manner. Instead scholars are exploring the possibility that social inquiry is not primarily about refining epistemic representations, nor even about deconstructing pretentions to certainty, but are more fundamentally about generating new ontological relations and new political possibilities.

The posthumanist literature being referred to here includes, but is not limited to: feminist new materialism, Barad’s agential realism, Latour’s actor network theory, Deleuze’s assemblage theory, St. Pierre’s postqualitative inquiry, affect theory, Alaimo’s transcorporeal analysis, Tuana’s viscous porosity, Kohn’s material semiotics, and more. The Black Studies literature being referred to here includes, but is not limited to: fugitivity theory, Wynterian sociogenics and counterhumanisms, Moten’s improvisatory foundations, theories and practices of refusal, Hartmans’s critical fabulations, Afro-futurism, Black speculative fiction, and more.

Posthumanist and Black studies scholars have arrived at this postfoundational conception of social inquiry by relatively different paths and have done so in pursuit of somewhat different purposes. Consequently, there are both resonances and tensions between these literatures. The posthumanist literature tends to treat an emphasis on the impossibility of closure and epistemic fluidity as a positive political achievement. It also frequently operates with an aversion to essentialism and a preference for making broad identity categories the object, rather than the subject position, for analysis. The Black studies literature, on the other hand, tends to treat an emphasis on the impossibility of closure and epistemic fluidity as a neutral political achievement which under some circumstances can serve constructive political purposes, but under others can serve reactionary purposes. It also is organized around the idea that social analysis can and should center Blackness as a subject position for the foreseeable future and does not regard essentialism as the most significant risk facing our social worlds. Despite these tensions, many scholars are increasingly working with and in both literatures in pursuit of social amelioration.

These game changer session presume that any 21st century framework for social analysis must have something to offer the contemporary struggle against white supremacy, patriarchy, and systemic racism to be relevant to contemporary world historical events. It also presumes no theoretical stone should go unturned in this effort. The session’s purpose is to gather scholars and graduate students interested in bringing these theoretical frameworks together in their research and scholarship in a manner that builds upon their resonances while also respecting their differences.

Structure of the Game Changer.

This Game Changer session will focus on examining the relationship between the relevant bodies of literature. It will provide an overview of their areas of overlap, including shared features, commitments, and purposes, while also addressing points of tension, conflict, and potential incommensurability. The session will conclude with a facilitated discussion that reflects on these insights and explores ways of strengthening connections between the literatures in the near future, for example through collaborative literature reviews or special journal issues. The session will be open to all conference attendees.

As this literature is vibrantly intersectional, adjacent literatures will be engaged as well, such as: Indigenous theories on non-human agency, Chicana feminist literature, queer theory, disability studies, animal studies, etc.

Deliverables

The session will provide a QR code link to a bibliography of relevant books, book chapters, and articles sorted into thematic sections. These will include works of posthumanist methodological theory and philosophy of science by scholars such as Annmarie Mol (2021), Anna Tsing (2024), Karen Barad (2015, 2020), Isabel Stengers (2023), Deboleena Roy (2018), Stacey Alaimo (2018), Elizabet St. Pierre (2021), Lisa Mazzei (2021), and others. It will also include book chapters and articles focused primarily on contemporary Black studies and Black feminist theories of inquiry, such as Sylvia Wynter (2003, 2015), Zakiyah Iman Jackson (2022), Saidiya Hartman (2018, 2019), Alexander Weheliye (); Fred Moten (2017), Tina Campt (2017), Kara Keeling (2019), Leslie Gross-Wyrtzen & Alex A. Moulton (2023), and others. Finally it will include book chapters and articles that explicitly bringing these literatures together in the service of anti-oppressive scholarship, such as Jasbir Puar (2024), Claire Colebrook (2022), Ezekiel Dixon-Roman, Alecia Jackson (2013), Fikile Nxumalo (2021), Zakiyyah Iman Jackson (2022), Sarah Truman (2019), Awad Ibrahim (2023), Tiffany Lethabo King (2017), Jerry Rosiek (2019), and others.