The
Sussex Centre for the Individual and Society (SCIS) is working at the
same rigorous intellectual level as the world's foremost universities
and research centres. Differently from these, SCIS is however not bound
to prevailing paradigms of social and political discourse. SCIS will
shift paradigms.
SCIS
is independent of the University of Sussex, but the founding members of
SCIS – and many of our Research Associates – were and are doctoral
candidates and young researchers at the University.
Our
distinguished International Advisory Board and Senior Research
Associates have been known to include world-renowned senior scholars
and full professors from universities such as Harvard, Berkeley, UCLA,
British Columbia, Essex, Northwestern, and Chicago, representing a wide
array of academic disciplines.
Our
excellence in research has been acknowledged by invitations to speak at
institutions as austere and diverse as the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, the London School of Economics, Sciences Po/The Institute
for Political Studies in Paris, the Russian Academy of Sciences in
Moscow, the European University Institute in Florence, the European
Science Foundation, the European Consortium for Political Research and
the American Political Science Association.
We
aim to create a worldwide inter- and transdisciplinary network of
highly original researchers, particularly in the social sciences and
humanities, and artists – a network of people who feel that the current
higher education system stifles their abilities and potential.
While
our focus is on "the individual and society" we believe that a vast
variety of daring and unusual research projects can be carried out
under this heading (there are no restrictions) and that the personality
and way of thinking of the individual researcher are what is all
important.
23 July 2008: Erich Kofmel (SCIS) invited speaker at the opening
Plenary Round Table: "Global Values" of the Second Global International Studies Conference
of the World International Studies Committee (WISC),
at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
It
is surprising that a concept used as frequently as "the individual and
society" should not have led to as many research institutes and
programmes at universities all over the world. In fact, there appears
to be no research centre at any university in the world that applies
itself to looking at the individual and society in breadth and depth
and from a variety of angles.
In
creating a research centre dedicated to "the individual and society" we
filled this academic gap. However, as we also wish to retain our
individuality as researchers, the research centre is entirely
independent of the University of Sussex and its administrative
structures.
SCIS
is working interdisciplinary within the social sciences, humanities and
arts as well as related disciplines in natural and life sciences and
technology (such as Social Psychology, Cognitive Science, and
Artificial Intelligence). We aim to work more interdisciplinary than is
common (or commonly possible) at universities. In the process, we will
overcome linguistic, disciplinary, sectoral, conceptual, ideological
and cultural boundaries and transcend even interdisciplinarity.
We
wish to apply different perspectives, various angles, and the
methodological apparatuses of many disciplines to a more thorough study
of the interaction of the individual and society than has ever been
attempted.
SCIS
was set up in 2006 in an historic cottage (right at the entrance of
Falmer campus) that we got to rent from the University. The University
of Sussex is situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Media coverage on SCIS includes:
The Guardian: http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/research/story/0,,1861193,00.html
The Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/who-needs-state-funding-anyway-415813.html
Times Higher Education: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=204947
BBC: Research students 'go it alone', 30 August 2006 (also in Chinese)
Intute: http://www.intute.ac.uk/socialsciences/cgi-bin/fullrecord.pl?handle=20060906-121423
The
terms "individual" and "society" have given rise to many definitions
and conceptualisations. Manifold are the proposed interconnections and
causal relationships between the two.
Most relevant courses taught in degree programmes at universities and colleges focus on "the individual in society" and concern themselves with issues such as nationalism and fascism. Speaking of "the individual and society" does not narrow down possibilities as much. The individual in society makes a number of assumptions and prioritises certain theoretical bases – i.e.
that the individual can only be conceptualised as an integral part of
society and the product of historical and social conditioning by way of
beliefs, customs, and attitudes –, whereas and provides greater scope for change and moving to a different world view and praxis. Using and
does not deny a social context but it problematises the priority given
to either the individual or society. It rejects in equal measure the
other extreme which claims that society does not exist and only
individuals should be studied ("methodological individualism").
That both society and the individual can find manifold definitions
requires suitable research into how they might be separate rather than
the unthinking assumptions that the use of in brings.
Questions
to be addressed by us include the very nature of what qualifies as a
"society", and what distinguishes society from other categories such as
"community", the "state", a "nation" or a "tribe"; then, what may be
summarised as the individual in society: ideological
collectivisms, modes of social and political organisation, mechanisms
of power and coercion, and psychological and evolutionary studies into
the perceived "herd" mentality of human beings; furthermore,
individualism in its various manifestations, such as classic
liberalism, anarchist individualism, the professed mass individualism
of consumerist society, and evidence of "great", or superior,
individuals; collectivisms of all kind (such as religion, economy,
labour, communitarianism, and collectivist anarchism); the formation or
pre-existence of individual and collective identity and identities;
education and the individual, education and society (a preferred way of
aligning the individual with society's demands and needs, but also
aiding the acquisition of critical faculties); deviant behaviour (for
example, "crime", medical deviations from the "norm", "outsiders");
resistance and modes of resistance; utopia and dystopia; the individual
and society in social and economic development, and comparative and
cross-cultural research into these and related concepts.
SCIS is positively elitist and meritocratic. We wish to re-create the academic ethos that got lost in today's mass universities.
We
know where our strengths lie and we do not wish to waste our time doing
anything but what we do best. We resist the process of Foucauldian
"normalisation" and induction into a discourse that we believe to be
largely irrelevant. We refuse to waste our potential and we know that
we can do our best work now and in the years lying immediately ahead of
us. Being able to spend our time productively researching and writing
is the most important reason why SCIS has been set up as an independent
centre dedicated purely to research and research-related activities.
SCIS enables its members and associates to circumvent the intellectual
pretentiousness of today's higher education system and work on research
projects that due to ideological and/or other restrictions could not
easily be undertaken in a university.
SCIS
provides an intellectual space where men and women who identify with
our objectives can meet and interact and find relief in the company of
others with a similar mindset. We want to break free, comprehend,
reconceptualise and reorientate the world and structures that impinge
potential and achievement rather than facilitate or encourage it.
Individuals involved in SCIS will preserve and develop challenging and
in fact threatening ideas. We will create the thoughts of the future.
Against a world that refuses to make value judgements, we will propose
political, social and educational alternatives that hold up the values
of freedom, tolerance and charity without leading to mediocrity.
SCIS
will alter the application of knowledge. Against its prevailing
application in pursuit of certain narrow goals, such as increases in
the accumulation of capital and possessions and the stability and
fixity of systems of consumption and labour, we will set flux, the
application of knowledge for diverse ends, and a change of language,
attitudes and actions. We do wish SCIS to have an impact in the world.
We
enjoy the ambiguity of being, at the same time, independent of the
University of Sussex and on campus, of being research students but also
student leaders and researchers of our own making.
We
believe that the higher education system, in different ways and at
different levels, on the one hand obstructs but on the other hand aids
individuals who resist "normalisation" and being told what to do. It
can still be turned into a powerful tool that assists the development
of truly critical and creative thought. While weak individuals are
being absorbed by the system, strong individualists will fight against
it – and win.
SCIS
has been registered as a Company Limited by Guarantee and Not Having a
Share Capital (that is, not for profit) under the Companies Act 1985.
SCIS is registered in England and Wales under the Company No. 5850511.
No shares have been given out and no dividends will be paid to members.
Any profits, or other income, are to be spent in promoting the
company's objects. The liability of members is limited.
The Managing Director and company secretary is Erich Kofmel.
March 2006: Foundation of the Sussex Centre for the Individual and Society (SCIS)
19 June 2006: Incorporation as a Company Limited by Guarantee
21-23 July 2006: Inaugural International Symposium
11 August 2006: SCIS' website, www.scis-calibrate.org, goes live
9 November 2006: Incorporation of SCIS Technology Ltd
22 December 2006: Alex Higgins resigns from SCIS for personal reasons
4 August 2007: Erich Kofmel moves temporarily to Paris, France
23 July 2008: Erich Kofmel invited speaker at triennial Global International Studies Conference
Current and past members of SCIS include:
The
founding Managing Director of SCIS is Erich Kofmel, Master of
Management in Public and Development Management, with specialisation in
Governance and Public Policy (University of the Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg), and Master of Philosophy in Theology (St Augustine
College of South Africa). He holds a Commercial Certificate of Ability
(Switzerland) and a Postgraduate Certificate in Comparative and
Cross-Cultural Research Methods (University of Sussex) and is a
part-time European Doctorate candidate in Social and Political Thought
at the University of Sussex and Sciences Po/The Institute for Political
Studies (IEP) in Paris. He served, among other things, as Chairman of
the Postgraduate Association of the University of Sussex (PGA) and a
member of the University's Research Degrees and Professional Doctorates Committee and has been Coordinator of the "Career Development" workgroup of the European council of doctoral candidates and young researchers (Eurodoc) since 2007.
Alexander W. Higgins
Also
a founding member of SCIS was Alexander W. Higgins. He held the
position of Researcher in SCIS and served as a Director. At the end of
2006, he decided to leave university and SCIS for personal reasons.
Without Alex Higgins, SCIS would not exist. He worked tirelessly to
make it a success. You will always be welcome back! HAPPY WEDNESDAY, dear Alex.
The
founders and members of SCIS will do whatever it takes to identify the
kind of person we are keen to work with – people, all over the world,
who will produce original research at the cutting edge of the study of
"the individual and society" in any discipline.
For example: Dr Dylan Evans, one
of our more than twenty Research Associates since 2006 and a former
Senior Lecturer in Intelligent Autonomous Systems, with an MA in
Psychoanalytic Studies and a PhD in Philosophy, left university in 2007
and was affiliated to SCIS while running his own project, the "Utopia
Experiment", in Scotland.
Senior Research Associates since 2006 included Prof Joseph V. Femia (Political Theory, Liverpool) and Prof Alexander García Düttmann (Philosophy and Visual Cultures, Goldsmiths).
SCIS
offers unpaid internships or work experience (full-time or part-time)
to students at the University of Sussex, in Paris and elsewhere. More
than a dozen students (undergraduates, postgraduates and recent
graduates) as well as young professionals have made use of this
exciting opportunity. Here's what you could be doing: assistance with
research projects and publications; assistance with fundraising; event
organisation; general office work; and so on.
Following
the successful establishment of SCIS as an independent, internationally
recognisable academic research centre with an agenda very much of our
own making, the International Advisory Board is to be phased out as
current members retire.
Current and past members of SCIS' distinguished International Advisory Board include Prof Ernesto Laclau (Political Theory, Essex and Northwestern), Prof Francis Schüssler
Fiorenza (Roman-Catholic Theology, Harvard), Prof Michael J. Watts
(Geography, Development Studies and International Studies, Berkeley),
Prof John Friedmann (Urban Planning, British Columbia/ UCLA), and †Prof Iris Marion Young (1949-2006; Political Science, Chicago).
We
would like to thank all members of the International Advisory Board –
past and present – for their valuable input, although all opinions and
decisions, research and aspirations of SCIS remain solely our own.
Research
in SCIS is guided by our conviction that both "the individual" and
"society" should be studied from a social, political and theoretical
angle first of all, and that even empirical research must be based on
sound theoretical considerations.
Other
than that, research in SCIS – be it part of our core research programme
or carried out individually by our Research Associates – follows three
main lines of inquiry:
1. Study of the individual
2. Study of collectivisms
3. Comparative and cross-cultural studies
Research Associates of SCIS currently work on projects to do with "the individual and society" in disciplines
as diverse as Philosophy, Cognitive Science, Social Psychology,
Informatics, American Studies, Media and Film, Intellectual History,
English Literature, Migration Research, Politics, Education,
International Relations and Development Studies.
The core research programme of SCIS centres around four broad, though interrelated areas:
1. Anti-egalitarian and anti-democratic thought and practice
2. New political forms and theory emerging in the 21st century
3. The anti-liberal project of political theologies
4. Development studies and failure of democratization
This
core research programme can and will be extended in line with available
funds. Here we present an initial programme only. Most individual
research projects will go across areas of interest.
In an
historical and cross-cultural perspective the fact cannot be denied
that most democracies failed. Many formerly democratic countries do not
have a democratic government now. Many countries have never known
democracy. Only western democracies for a short while – maybe to be
dated from the fall of Soviet communism to the rise of radical Islam –
believed themselves invincible. It does therefore seem expedient to
think about political alternatives once more and to study threats to
democracy from within and without as well as common modes of failure of
democracy across times and cultures. Will people’s disillusion with
democratic practices (such as the impact money has on campaigning),
mass politics, and the equal inconsequence of everyone’s vote
ultimately terminate democracy? Oswald Spengler, in The Decline of the West,
said: "As then sceptre and crown, so now peoples' rights are paraded
for the multitude, and all the more punctiliously the less they really
signify".
Anti-democratic
thinking is one of the most important factors impinging on the success
or failure of social and economic development efforts in developing
countries. Terms like "good governance" and "political development" are
often used, in the development discourse, synonymously with "democracy"
and "democratization". At the same time, modes of anti-democratic
thought are seldom studied seriously in either Development Studies or
Political Science and International Relations.
Still,
all known political alternatives may have discredited themselves. The
competing political systems of the twentieth century lost their
struggle for world domination. This raises the question whether
anti-egalitarian thought whose time had not come in the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries will provide the basis for a post-postmodern
political theory? And will the technological innovations of recent
decades, and those to come, make possible political forms that never
existed (nor could be imagined) in history – or will we have to fall
back, post democracy, into the abyss of authoritarian despotism, as
envisaged by Plato and Aristotle?
Spengler
argued that democracy and capitalism are inextricably linked and that
democracy will come to an end sooner rather than later (as did any
earlier attempt at democracy). He said that money would finally lose
its value, its meaning, and politics would reclaim its rightful place.
That is the challenge of our time: reclaiming politics. Creating a
post-postmodern world in which values and morals will once more have
attained meaning. In our society this may mean to create real values
for the first time.
Post 1989
and, with increased urgency, post 2001, political theology has come to
reappraise the value of Christianity for a politico-theological project
that could at once sustain or replace discredited Marxism, challenge
liberalism for political hegemony, and hold its own opposite radical
Islam. Numerous publications on political theology have appeared in the
past few years or are in preparation. Many contributors to this new
debate seem particularly drawn to Carl Schmitt’s straight-forward
"friend/enemy" distinction.
"Comparative
Political Theology" – a concept Erich Kofmel introduced at the General
Conference of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) in
September 2007 – proposes to gain valuable insights into the
theoretical foundations of the interplay between religion and politics
by comparing political theologies to each other across religious and
cultural boundaries. As a result of comparative study of radical Islam
and Christian political and liberation theologies, we came to suggest
that the single most important factor underlying all political
theologies is anti-liberalism. The particular expression of
anti-liberalism is of course always contextualized. Political
theology’s being anti-liberal means that it is at least potentially
anti-democratic too.
Surprisingly,
radical Islam shares many of the concerns of Christian political
theologies, such as an opposition to “neo-colonialism” and, more
recently, “neo-liberalism” and “globalization”. Radical Islam claims
that in Islam theology cannot be separated from or replaced by politics
and is hostile to the spread of liberal western values such as
secularization, capitalism and democracy. Although radical Islam need
not be violent, militants use arguments of radical Islam to justify
acts of terrorism.
http://www.political-theology.org
Developmental
research will enable us to further study the inherent linkage between
democracy and capitalism and its consequences for understanding the
failure of democracies in not-yet-capitalist societies as well as for
politics of resistance. Engagement in Development Studies will also
allow us to find inroads into countries that do not have a western
liberal democratic tradition and may therefore offer us the opportunity
to try new social and political ideas in practice.
Furthermore,
we have an ongoing concern with changes to science policy and the
massification, vocationalisation and commodification of higher
education.
We
wish SCIS' name and remit to be well known and to be recognised for the
quality, originality, importance and impact of our published research.
As
an independent research centre, SCIS supports researchers who do not
wish to publish in peer-reviewed journals as the need to be acceptable
to one's peers may lead to mediocre efforts, results, or presentation
of findings and theories. At the same time, Erich Kofmel has accepted
the invitation to serve as referee for the renowned journal "Political Studies".
Erich Kofmel's publications for SCIS include:
Books
(Editor) "Anti-Democratic Thought", Exeter and Charlottesville: Imprint Academic, forthcoming (December 2008)
http://www.imprint.co.uk/books/9781845401245.html
(Editor) "Anti-Liberalism and Political Theology", Exeter and Charlottesville: Imprint Academic, forthcoming (summer 2009)
(Editor) "Anti-Democratic Development", in preparation
(Monograph) "Me Against Mediocrity", in preparation
Chapters
"Re-Introducing
Anti-Democratic Thought", in Kofmel, E. (Ed.), "Anti-Democratic
Thought", Exeter and Charlottesville: Imprint Academic, forthcoming
(December 2008)
"Fighting
Capitalism and Democracy", in Kofmel, E. (Ed.), "Anti-Democratic
Thought", Exeter and Charlottesville: Imprint Academic, forthcoming
(December 2008)
"The
Age of Political Theology", in Kofmel, E. (Ed.), "Anti-Liberalism and
Political Theology", Exeter and Charlottesville: Imprint Academic,
forthcoming (summer 2009)
"Comparative
Political Theology", in Kofmel, E. (Ed.), "Anti-Liberalism and
Political Theology", Exeter and Charlottesville: Imprint Academic,
forthcoming (summer 2009)
"Decisionism and Development", in Kofmel, E. (Ed.), "Anti-Democratic Development", book manuscript in preparation
"Homosexuality
and Islam and Democracy in Senegal", in Habib, S. (Ed.), "Revisiting
Islamic Homosexualities", book manuscript in preparation
Bylined encyclopedia entries
"Development,
Economic", core article at 3,000 words, in Kurian, G. T. (Ed.),
International Encyclopedia of Political Science, Washington, DC: CQ
Press, published with the assistance of the American Political Science
Association (APSA), forthcoming (2009)
"Religion
and Politics", core article at 3,000 words, in Kurian, G. T. (Ed.),
International Encyclopedia of Political Science, Washington, DC: CQ
Press, forthcoming (2009)
"Political
Theology", long interpretive essay at 1,000 words, in Kurian, G. T.
(Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Political Science, Washington, DC:
CQ Press, forthcoming (2009)
"Jihad",
long interpretive essay at 1,000 words, in Kurian, G. T. (Ed.),
International Encyclopedia of Political Science, Washington, DC: CQ
Press, forthcoming (2009)
"Anti-Democratic
Thought", long interpretive essay at 1,000 words, in Kurian, G. T.
(Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Political Science, Washington, DC:
CQ Press, forthcoming (2009)
"Capitalism
and Democracy", long interpretive essay at 1,000 words, in Kurian, G.
T. (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Political Science, Washington,
DC: CQ Press, forthcoming (2009)
"Individual
and Society", long interpretive essay at 1,000 words, in Kurian, G. T.
(Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Political Science, Washington, DC:
CQ Press, forthcoming (2009)
"Leadership",
long interpretive essay at 1,000 words, in Kurian, G. T. (Ed.),
International Encyclopedia of Political Science, Washington, DC: CQ
Press, forthcoming (2009)
"Statecraft",
long interpretive essay at 1,000 words, in Kurian, G. T. (Ed.),
International Encyclopedia of Political Science, Washington, DC: CQ
Press, forthcoming (2009)
"Science
Policy", long interpretive essay at 1,000 words, in Kurian, G. T.
(Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Political Science, Washington, DC:
CQ Press, forthcoming (2009)
"Higher
Education Policy", long interpretive essay at 1,000 words, in Kurian,
G. T. (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Political Science,
Washington, DC: CQ Press, forthcoming (2009)
"Anti-
and Alter-Globalization Movements", long interpretive essay at 1,000
words, in Kurian, G. T. (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Political
Science, Washington, DC: CQ Press, forthcoming (2009)
"African
Political Economy", long interpretive essay at 1,000 words, in Kurian,
G. T. (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Political Science,
Washington, DC: CQ Press, forthcoming (2009)
"African
Political Thought", long interpretive essay at 1,000 words, in Kurian,
G. T. (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Political Science,
Washington, DC: CQ Press, forthcoming (2009)
"Decisionism",
breakout article at 500 words, in Kurian, G. T. (Ed.), International
Encyclopedia of Political Science, Washington, DC: CQ Press,
forthcoming (2009)
"Caesarism",
breakout article at 500 words, in Kurian, G. T. (Ed.), International
Encyclopedia of Political Science, Washington, DC: CQ Press,
forthcoming (2009)
Articles
"Cross-Dimensional
Mobility in European Doctoral Careers", in research*eu: the magazine of
the European Research Area, published in four languages by the European
Commission, Directorate-General for Research, and read by one million
people, forthcoming (no. 56, 2008)
"European
Doctoral Careers: Global, Transsectoral, Interdisciplinary", in
International Journal of Graduate Education, forthcoming (2008)
Academic
conferences, seminars and workshops organised by SCIS are the most
important means for us to set and advance our own research and policy
agenda. They allow large numbers of doctoral candidates and young
researchers as well as more senior academics and people outside of
academia, and from all over the world, to participate in SCIS' activities and interests and to explore jointly topics that are not studied elsewhere.
Papers
thus initiated by us and presented at SCIS events have subsequently
been published by the authors either as part of volumes edited by
ourselves, or in a number of other ways: namely, in print or
open-access journals, as working or policy papers, and in contributed
volumes edited by others.
SCIS events since 2006 include:
21-23
July 2006: Inaugural International Symposium of SCIS "The Individual
and Society in the 21st Century", at the Institute of Development
Studies (IDS) and the University of Sussex. Keynote speakers: Prof
Calestous Juma (Professor of the Practice of International Development
at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government) and Sharif Horthy (President
of the Guerrand-Hermès Foundation for Peace).
"It's an area that is not really very well studied … I couldn't think of a serious
body of theory around which you could organise an analytical framework on this."
(Calestous Juma, on the individual and society)
2006-2007:
Biweekly SCIS Graduate Seminars, at the University of Sussex. Speakers
included Prof Ernesto Laclau (Political Theory, Essex and
Northwestern), Prof Ben Fine (Economics, SOAS), Prof Simon Blackburn
(Philosophy, Cambridge), Prof Joseph V. Femia (Political Theory,
Liverpool), Prof Alexander García Düttmann (Philosophy and Visual
Cultures, Goldsmiths), Rick Poynor (writer and design critic, London)
and Jami Chandio (political consultant and journalist, Pakistan), among
others. Screening of the films "The Ister" and "The Fountainhead".
14 June 2007: Workshop "European
Doctoral Careers: Global, Transsectoral, Interdisciplinary" of the
European council of doctoral candidates and young researchers
(Eurodoc), Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of
Sussex. Speakers included Prof Chris Park (Senior Associate, UK Higher
Education Academy) and Dr Janet Metcalfe (Director, UK GRAD).
3-4 September 2007: Workshop "Anti-Democratic
Thought", at the Fourth Annual Conference "Workshops in Political
Theory", Manchester Metropolitan University, England. Participants came
from as far as Israel, the United States and Lesotho (Southern Africa).
6 September 2007: Section "Political
Theology as Political Theory", at the Fourth General Conference of the
European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), University of Pisa,
Italy. Participants in this highly prestigious event came from four
continents (including Australia), among them Prof Graham Ward
(Contextual Theology and Ethics, University of Manchester) and Prof
David Ricci (Political Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem).
7-8
September 2007: Second Annual International Symposium of SCIS "The
Resurgence of Political Theology", held in a former convent, the Hotel
Santa Croce in Fossabanda, Pisa, Italy. Keynote speakers: Prof Kenneth
Surin (Professor of Literature and Professor of Religion and Critical
Theory at Duke University) and Prof Jürgen Manemann (Professor of
Christian Weltanschauung, Religious and Cultural Theory at the
University of Erfurt, Germany).
"Thanks indeed for organising such a splendid symposium. This was one of the most
enjoyable meetings I've had for a decade at least. Your congenial method of chairing
helped us a lot, and somehow we found a way to listen to each other. Grazie!"
(Ken Surin, in an e-mail after the event)
3
April 2008: Workshop "Massification of Higher Education and Research
Excellence in Europe", at the Eight Annual Conference of the European
council of doctoral candidates and young researchers (Eurodoc),
University of Fribourg, Switzerland. Speakers included Dr Katrien Maes
(Office Director and Policy Officer, League of European Research
Universities).
23
May 2008: Section "Political Decisionism and Statecraft in Africa", at
the Eleventh Conference of Africanists "Africa's Development:
Possibilities and Constraints" of the Academic Council on Problems of
Africa and the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of
Sciences, Moscow.
9-11
July 2008: Third Annual International Symposium of SCIS
"Anti-Liberalism and Political Theology", at Sciences Po/The Institute
for Political Studies (IEP) in Paris, France. Keynote speakers: Prof
Raymond Plant (Lord Plant of Highfield; Member of the British House of
Lords and Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Philosophy, King's
College London) and Prof Michele Nicoletti (Political Philosophy,
University of Trento, Italy).
23
July 2008: Panel "Comparative Political Theology", at the Second Global
International Studies Conference of the World International Studies
Committee (WISC), University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
27 August 2008: Short Course "Democracy
and Its Critics: Re-Introducing Anti-Democratic Thought into the
Syllabus", at the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Political
Science Association (APSA), Sheraton Boston Hotel, Boston, USA.
10-12 September 2008: Workshop "Spengler
Revisited: The Decline of the West, 2000-2200", at the Fifth Annual
Conference "Workshops in Political Theory", Manchester Metropolitan
University, England.
8 November 2008: Panel "Anti-Democratic
Development", at the Annual Conference "Development's Invisible Hands"
of the Development Studies Association (DSA), Church House, London,
England.
19
November 2008: Workshop "The Valorisation of the Doctorate" of the
European council of doctoral candidates and young researchers
(Eurodoc), in Rennes, France.
20-22
July 2009: Fourth Annual International Symposium of SCIS "Political
Implications of 'Social Phobia', 'Asperger Syndrome' and 'Antisocial
Personality Disorder'", at the Latin American Council of Social
Sciences (CLACSO), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Early September 2009: Workshop "Political
Theology and Failure of Democratization", at the Sixth Annual
Conference "Workshops in Political Theory", Manchester Metropolitan
University, England.
10-12
September 2009: Section "Anti-Democratic Thought and Practice", at the
Fifth General Conference of the European Consortium for Political
Research (ECPR), University of Potsdam, Germany. For the second time
running SCIS has been awarded a section at the most important political
science event in Europe. This time we will have at least six panels.
Erich Kofmel
28
August 2008: Panel "Political Liberalism in Christian and Muslim
Thought", at the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Political Science
Association (APSA), Boston, USA, by invitation, part of the "Religion and Politics" Division.
Dissemination
of our research findings and policy recommendations happens by way of
publication, but just as importantly through academic papers and talks
given and presentations made at conferences, seminars and workshops all
over the world:
Alexander W. Higgins
12 May 2006: "Modalities of the Mind and the Horizon of the Individual", Seventh Essex Graduate Conference in Political Theory "The Many and the One", University of Essex, England.
3 July 2006: "Education in the UK: Purpose and Performance", Third Vittachi International Conference "Rethinking Educational Change", Al Akhawayn University, Ifrane, Morocco.
22 July 2006: "The Original Impetus", Inaugural International Symposium of SCIS "The Individual and Society in the 21st Century", University of Sussex.
22 September 2006: "An
Outline for the Application of a 'New' Paradigm – Gehlen/Luhmann/
Arendt and Production Techniques", Fourth Graduate Conference in Social
and Political Thought, University of Sussex.
Erich Kofmel
12 May 2006: "Fight Against the System", Seventh Essex Graduate Conference in Political Theory "The Many and the One", University of Essex, England.
10 June 2006: "The Sussex Centre for the Individual and Society",
Ordinary General Meeting of the National Postgraduate Committee of the
United Kingdom (NPC), University of Birmingham, England.
23 July 2006: "Creators and Secondhanders", Inaugural International Symposium of SCIS "The Individual and Society in the 21st Century", University of Sussex.
22 September 2006: "The
Politico-Theological Analysis of Radical Islam", Fourth Graduate
Conference in Social and Political Thought, University of Sussex.
4 September 2007: "Anti-Democratic Thought of the Future", Fourth Annual Conference "Workshops in Political Theory", Manchester Metropolitan University, England.
6
September 2007: "Comparative Political Theology", Fourth General
Conference of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR),
University of Pisa, Italy.
http://www.essex.ac.uk/ecpr/events/generalconference/pisa/papers/PP1206.pdf
8
September 2007: "Fighting Capitalism and Democracy", Fourth General
Conference of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR),
University of Pisa, Italy.
http://www.essex.ac.uk/ecpr/events/generalconference/pisa/papers/PP1174.pdf
17
September 2007: "Cross-Dimensional Mobility in European Doctoral
Careers", Research Conference "Higher Education and Social Change at
the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century" of the European Science
Foundation (ESF), Vadstena Klosterhotell, Sweden.
27 February 2008: "Anti-Egalitarianism
in Plato, Nietzsche, Ibsen, Rand", Jerusalem Seminar in the History of
Political Thought, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.
4 March 2008: "Comparative Political Theology", Seminar of the Department of Political Studies, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
14 March 2008: "Understanding
Public Religion: A Comparative Political Theology of Europe, the Middle
East and North Africa", Ninth Mediterranean Research Meeting of the
Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University
Institute (EUI), Florence and Montecatini Terme, Italy.
1 April 2008: "On
Confessional Political Theologies and Comparative Political Theology",
Annual Conference "Theology and Politics" of the Society for the Study
of Theology (SST), St John's College, Durham University, England.
5 April 2008: "Cross-Dimensional
Mobility in European Doctoral Careers", Eight Annual Conference of the
European council of doctoral candidates and young researchers
(Eurodoc), University of Fribourg, Switzerland.
7
May 2008: "Comparative Political Theology", Seminar of the Forum on
Religion of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE),
England.
23 May 2008: "African Decisionism", Eleventh
Conference of Africanists "Africa's Development: Possibilities and
Constraints" of the Academic Council on Problems of Africa and the
Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
Moscow.
9 July 2008: "On
Anti-Liberalism and Political Theology", Third Annual International
Symposium of SCIS "Anti-Liberalism and Political Theology", at Sciences
Po/The Institute for Political Studies (IEP) in Paris, France.
23 July 2008: "The
Age of Political Theology", Second Global International Studies
Conference of the World International Studies Committee (WISC),
University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
25 July 2008: "Re-Introducing
Anti-Democratic Thought", Second Global International Studies
Conference of the World International Studies Committee (WISC),
University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Erich Kofmel
23 July 2008: Opening Plenary Round Table: "Global Values", Second Global International Studies Conference of the World International Studies Committee (WISC), University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Erich Kofmel
11
September 2008: "Reclaiming Politics: Spengler and The Decline of the
West, 2000-2200", Fifth Annual Conference "Workshops in Political
Theory", Manchester Metropolitan University, England.
8 November 2008: "Decisionism
and Development", Annual Conference "Development's Invisible Hands" of
the Development Studies Association (DSA), Church House, London,
England.
20-22
July 2009: "(Anti)Social Reality", Fourth Annual International
Symposium of SCIS "Political Implications of 'Social Phobia', 'Asperger
Syndrome' and 'Antisocial Personality Disorder'", at the Latin American
Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
10-12
September 2009: "Me Against Mediocrity", Fifth General Conference of
the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), University of
Potsdam, Germany (tbc).
Erich Kofmel
19-25
August 2007: Module "Research Management and Scientific Leadership:
Strategic, Organisational and Operational Perspectives", part of the
training course of the pan-Baltic project "From Great Expectations to
Great Implementations" of the Estonian Academy of Young Scientists, in
partnership with the Association of Latvian Young Scientists and the
Lithuanian Union of Young Researchers, Tähetorni Hotell, Tallinn,
Estonia.
27 August 2008: Short Course "Democracy
and Its Critics: Re-Introducing Anti-Democratic Thought into the
Syllabus", at the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Political
Science Association (APSA), Sheraton Boston Hotel, Boston, USA.
Other conferences we participated in on behalf of SCIS:
Alexander W. Higgins
2-4 June 2006: Cumberland Lodge Conference "Security and Civil Liberties: Losses and Gains in our Changing Society", Windsor, England.
Alexander W. Higgins and Erich Kofmel
24
March 2006: Workshop "Unequal Development: The Globalisation of
Apartheid", Goldsmiths College, London, England, by invitation, part of
the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)-funded seminar series
"Rethinking Economies".
3-5 August 2006: Annual Conference "Postgraduates Under Threat: Under-Represented, Under-Funded, Under-Valued" of the National Postgraduate Committee of the United Kingdom (NPC), Aston University, Birmingham, England.
Erich Kofmel
15-17
March 2007: Seventh Annual Conference of the European council of
doctoral candidates and young researchers (Eurodoc), University of
London, England.
23-27 April 2007: Wilton Park Conference "Africa:
Business, Growth and Poverty Reduction", Wiston House, Steyning,
England, by invitation, international policy conference in cooperation
with the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Department for
International Development (DFID), Business Action for Africa, and Shell
Foundation.
2 May 2007: High-level Policy Forum "Africa
after the Africa Commission: What Priorities for the German G8?", Law
Society, London, England, by invitation, organised by the Department
for International Development (DFID), Development Studies Association
(DSA), Institute of Development Studies (IDS), and Overseas Development
Institute (ODI).
9-10 May 2007: Workshop "University/Business
Collaboration in Doctoral Programmes", Siemens AG, Munich, Germany, by
invitation, part of the "DOC-CAREERS" project of the European
University Association (EUA).
21-24 June 2007: European Meeting of University Professors "A
New Humanism for Europe: The Role of Universities" and Convention
"Political Thought in Europe after 1989: Between Globalisation and New
Humanism", Pontifical Lateran University and Free University "San Pio
V", Rome, Italy, organised by Consilium Conferentiarum Episcoporum
Europae in cooperation with Congregation for Catholic Education,
Pontifical Council for Culture, Commission of the Bishops' Conferences
of the European Community, European Commission, Ministry of
Universities and Research, Ministry of National Heritage and Cultural
Activities, and Conference of Italian University Rectors.
22 June 2007: Meeting of the Rectors of European Universities "The
Role of Universities within the European Higher Education and Research
Areas", University of Rome "La Sapienza", Italy, by invitation.
23 June 2007: Meeting "Identity
and Mission of the Catholic Professor in Today's University",
Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, Italy, organised by the Spanish
Bishops' Conference.
5 December 2007: Fifth Annual AFD/EUDN Conference "Culture
and Development: Does Culture Matter?" of the French Development Agency
and the European Development Research Network, Maison de la Chimie,
Paris, France.
6-7
May 2008: Thirteenth Annual Strategic Conference "The Future of La
Francophonie" of the Institute for International and Strategic
Relations (IRIS), Espace Reuilly, Paris, France, organised in
cooperation with the International Organization of La Francophonie
(OIF).
31 August 2008: Conference on Political Ignorance and Dogmatism "Homo Politicus: Ignorant, Closed-Minded, Irrational?" of the Critical Review Foundation, Sheraton Boston Hotel, Boston, USA.
8-10 September 2008: Biennial General Conference "Outcomes
of Higher Education: Quality, Relevance and Impact" of the Programme on
Institutional Management in Higher Education (IMHE) of the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), OECD Conference
Centre, Paris, France, by invitation.
2-3
October 2008: Global Forum "Converging Competences: Diversity, Higher
Education, and Sustainable Democracy" of the Council of Europe (CoE),
Strasbourg, France, by invitation, organised in partnership with the
European University Association, European Association of Institutions
in Higher Education, European Students' Union, American Council on
Education, Association of American Colleges and Universities, Campus
Compact, and the International Consortium for Higher Education, Civic
Responsibility and Democracy.
SCIS’ multi- and transdisciplinary approach to the study of "the
individual and society" includes high-tech disciplines such as (but not
limited to) Artificial Intelligence, Neuroscience, Genetics,
Ecotechnology, and Informatics.
We
set up SCIS Technology Ltd as a commercial venture to attract private
research funding in these areas along the American model and to create
income and an endowment for SCIS rather than rely on state funding.
SCIS Tech offers university technology spin-outs without the
bureaucratic hassle of a university – by commercialising IP created by
doctoral candidates and young researchers that does not belong to a
university.
As
a pre-commercialisation incubator, SCIS Tech focuses on high-tech ideas
and very early-stage research projects with a probable significant
impact on individuals and society and expected to lead to the creation
of intellectual property and exciting commercial ventures. It
facilitates investment from venture capitalists, private equity firms,
business angels, high net-worth individuals, corporate social
responsibility programmes and management buy-ins.
Investors
will not be able to meet these doctoral candidates and young
researchers elsewhere because they are not yet at business plan stage
and often lack funding for their research.
A Senior Consultant instrumental in setting up SCIS Tech was Prof John Higgins, Britain's
first Professor of Biotechnology (former Leverhulme Professor,
Cranfield University) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the
International Institute of Biotechnology.
SCIS Technology Ltd is a Private Company Limited by Shares, registered in England and Wales, Company No. 5993599.
In
addition, and to generate income from year one, SCIS Tech provides
business consultancy and corporate training services around all aspects
of the individual and society, technologies that impact or stand to
impact on the individual and society, as well as science and technology
policy.
The
members of SCIS are also available to carry out consultancy mandates
for governments, inter- and non-governmental organisations, non-profit
organisations, research institutes, thinktanks, and so on. Particular
areas of expertise include:
- Anti-democratic thinking
- Failure of democratization
- The anti-liberal project of political theologies
We
cannot understand the failure of democratization (for example in Iraq
and Zimbabwe) – and increasingly of western democracy – without
understanding modes of anti-democratic thinking and unless we
understand political theology (in all religions) as a major source of
anti-liberal (and thus inherently anti-parliamentarian, anti-capitalist
and anti-democratic) thought.
For all consultancy inquiries, please contact Erich Kofmel: e.kofmel@scis-calibrate.org
In
2006/07, SCIS partnered with the World Policy Institute at New School
University, New York, in the Institute's project to encourage better
understanding between the US, Europe and the Middle East. We provided
theoretical and research input and contributed to a framework of
knowledge informing practical initiatives in the fields of cultural
diplomacy and conflict resolution.
From our inception, we enjoyed a privileged relationship with Sussex' Centre for Critical Social Theory (CST), now the Centre for Social and Political Thought (SPT).
Possible
cooperation with academic units at universities and research
institutions in the UK and worldwide is being explored constantly.
Cooperation may include any or all of the following: joint research
projects, events, publications, and funding applications; research
visits and visiting appointments; mutual association of staff;
membership of very senior faculty on SCIS' International Advisory Board; and so on.
We
are also interested in possible cooperation with thinktanks,
governmental and non-governmental organisations, companies, etc. If you
or your organisation are interested in cooperating with SCIS please
contact us.
SCIS
has an international focus and aims to involve more doctoral
candidates, young researchers and artists anywhere in the world, and
working on any aspect of "the individual and society",
as Research Associates. In exceptional cases, full membership of the
centre is possible (i.e. Researcher or Senior Researcher). We also
offer internships and work experience (see above).
To
facilitate communication, we run two mailing lists, the SCIS list on
jiscmail with more than fifty subscribers, and a dedicated mailing list
for political theology that contains more than sixty names of people
who have contributed to SCIS events and activities in this research
area.
If you share our convictions and think you have what it takes to contribute to SCIS, please get in touch: e.kofmel@scis-calibrate.org
Our
independence – while giving us the freedom to pursue daring and unusual
research projects outside the prevailing academic discourse at
universities – means that we are not being funded by a university or
any research councils. We therefore have to raise funding from private
and institutional donors.
We
require a broader base of funders and significant financial means to
make the centre even more dynamic and competitive at the global level.
We
require funding to further strengthen SCIS, create employment and
scholarships for doctoral candidates and young researchers, develop
existing and new research programmes and projects, explore research
areas and possible cooperations, organise and attend events, publish
and otherwise disseminate research findings, and raise our public
profile.
Any
contribution is welcome. Cheques should be made payable to "Sussex
Centre for the Individual and Society". Please get in contact with us
for banking details, to request further information or a full funding
proposal, or to put us in contact with potential funders (individuals,
companies, trusts, foundations, etc.): e.kofmel@scis-calibrate.org
SCIS is a non-profit organisation. No dividends will be paid to members. Any profits, or other income, are to be spent in promoting the company's objects.
Any help with taking SCIS even further will be greatly appreciated.
Managing Director: Erich Kofmel
Postal address: 39 Tenant Lain, University of Sussex
Falmer, Brighton BN1 9PR, England
e.kofmel@scis-calibrate.org
International Advisory Board (2006-2008): Prof John Friedmann (British Columbia, UCLA),
Prof Ernesto Laclau (Essex, Northwestern), Prof Francis Schüssler Fiorenza (Harvard),
Prof Michael J. Watts (Berkeley), †Prof Iris Marion Young (Chicago)
SCIS is a Company Limited by Guarantee. Company No. 5850511.
Registered in England and Wales.
___________________________________________________________________________
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