Call for Papers: International Multi-Disciplinary Conference on Posthumanism, Cybernetics and Human Rights

Organizer: School of Languages, Jagat Guru Nanak Dev Punjab State Open University, Patiala

About the Conference

  • When: 25-26 July, 2023
  • Call for Papers

The exponential technological advancement, myriad interactions between man and machines, marvels of cybernetics and burgeoning robotisation have opened vast prospects for cultural progress. This quantum leap of science and technology has also led to denigration of human body, human society and human habitat. The over-reliance on technology to solve problems confronted by humanity has disrupted the balance between moral values and technological progress. The subservience of technology to the requirements of the corporate ignores preservation of spiritual, cultural and moral values.

The connection between rationality and morality, a philosophical problem dating back to centuries, gains relevance and momentum in the age of robots. As machines surpass human intelligence, the convergence of new technologies and cognitive sciences blurs the boundaries between man and machine. The pervasive automation and digitalization metamorphose individuals to augmented human beings. Surveillance technologies infringe on privacy, encourage authoritarianism and invade human rights. While facilitating control by a few, technology eliminates ethical codes and assaults humanity. Despite its numerous enabling and liberating tools, technology tends to close several modes of cognition. Prosthetics, simulation and remote sensing in the technologically advanced times have given rise to a realization of self-overcoming in human beings. The gaps in technology and ostensible plenitude in cultures demand rethinking of human rights, Cognition is common in “carbon and silicon creatures”, in the words of Katherine Hayles.

The tides of posthumanity,in the wake of technological advancement, fuse the human and the non-human to create a crisis for humanity. The technoscientific materialism fetishes the body. The popular posthumanist discourses narrativize new social identities (cyborgs, artificial intelligence and virtual societies). The virtual societies in these discourses, populated by fluid, flexible and malleable identities, challenge the moral values and freedom of expression.

Francis Fukuyama’s Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution, Katherine Hayles’ How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature and Infomatics, Catherine Walby’s The Visible Human Project: Informatic Bodies and Posthuman Machine, Donna Harway’s Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature, Jeanette Winterson’s The Stone Gods, Bruce Sterling’s Holy Fire and Rosi Braidotti’s The Future of Flesh: A Cultural Survey of the Body reinforce disregard of social obligation and violation of human dignity in the posthuman times. Walter Benjamin, Martin Heidegger, Manuel Castells, Jean Baudrillard, Henry Jenkins, Raymond Williams and a galaxy of thinkers have engaged with related issues.

Reflections and Research Papers on the following subthemes are invited :

  • Cyberspace and Human Rights
  • The Posthuman Authority
  • Cyberpunk and the Human Condition
  • Human Rights and Indian Literature
  • The Cyborg Citizens
  • Politics in Posthuman World
  • Human Rights in Posthuman World
  • Transhumanism and Human Rights
  • Simulation and Cultural Theory
  • Critical Posthumanities
  • Philosophical Posthumanism
  • Posthumanism and Ethics
  • Capitalism and Human Rights
  • Human Intelligence and Robotics
  • Law in Posthuman Times
  • Human Enhancement and Rights
  • Social Media and Human Rights

Guidelines for Submission

  • Submission of Abstract 30.04. 2023
  • Intimation of acceptance of Abstract 07.05.2023
  • Registration 11.05.2023 to 11.07.2023
  • Registration details will be sent to authors of selected abstracts. While sending abstract, preference for mode of presentation should be mentioned.
  • Abstract must be of 500 words
  • Full Paper can be submitted by 15.07.2023 in Microsoft Word Format following MLA style Times New Roman, 12 font size, 1.5 space and both sides justified; Title must be 14 font size, bold; Endnotes 11 font size; Word limit for Paper 4000-5000 words
  • Only Original work will be accepted. The Papers will be double-blind reviewed. Only two Co-authors allowed. Submit a Self Declaration along with the paper regarding the originality of the work and that it has not been published / sent for publication anywhere else.
  • Brief Bio-note (150 to 200 words) of the author should be attached with the paper.
  • The selected papers will be invited for presentation in conference scheduled to be held in July 2023.It is proposed that Papers qualifying the process of review and subsequent revisions would be considered for publication in an edited anthology.

Submit the Abstract to exagium2020@gmail.com

Dr. Navleen Multani
Associate Professor in English
Head, School of Languages
Director, Public Relations
Jagat Guru Nanak Dev Punjab State Open University, Patiala

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