This year, we are excited to announce the inaugural postgraduate pre-conference scheduled for November 6th, preceding the annual London Historical Materialism conference at SOAS, which runs from November 7th to the 10th.
The journal Historical Materialism: Research in Critical Marxist Theory organises the London conference, which is the largest academic Marxist conference in the world, attracting over 600 papers each year. Marxism constitutes the most fertile conceptual framework for analysing social phenomena with an eye to their overhaul. We do not favour any one tendency, tradition, or variant in our selection of materials. The conference has a reputation for rigorous discussion and debate, bringing together participants from across the world.
This pre-conference is a new initiative for postgraduate researchers working with Marxism. We want to develop a space before the main conference where postgraduates can meet and support each other, receive feedback on ongoing research, and connect with the wider networks of Historical Materialism. The contemporary university, under the influence of neoliberalism, has become less hospitable to radical critical and political thought, including diverse forms of Marxism. In response, our aim is to cultivate a supportive intellectual environment for students engaging with Marxist perspectives. Academic conferences can be an intimidating venue for presenting ideas. We aim for the pre-conference to develop the confidence of postgraduates to participate in the main conference and publish their ideas.
The day aims to provide a space for up to thirty postgraduate researchers to discuss paper ideas. We invite submissions of 2,000-word short papers, which will receive feedback from Historical Materialism editors. The papers that are ready will be invited to present at the pre-conference. Over the session, editorial board members will present on:
- How to be a Marxist in a university
- How to write for radical journals and edited collections
- Publishing from PhD research
- Marxist approaches to research practice
- Research and publication ethics for Marxists.
- This will be followed by a keynote lecture from an editorial board member.
Other than being related to Marxism, there are no restrictions on the topics that the short papers can cover. We particularly invite participants who have never published or presented before, but the pre-conference is open to any postgraduate researcher.
To submit to the postgraduate conference, please submit a 100-word abstract (covering the ideas you would like to submit/present) and a biographical note via this form: tinyurl.com/PostgradHM
Deadline for abstracts: Friday 17 May 2024
The cost of participation in the Postgraduate pre-conference is covered by the fee for the conference and we expect participants to attend the rest of the event.
For any questions or queries, please email: conference@historicalmaterialism.org
