Eclaircissements (Conversations on Science, Culture and Time) is the original title of the volume of five dialogues between Michel Serres and Bruno Latour published in 1992. Widely translated, this book reflects a time of intense and joyous dialogue and sharing ideas. This conference aims to shed new light on their philosophical dialogue and explore how their views compare, clash, dovetail and are mutually enriching. How do, for instance, The Natural Contract and Politics of Nature, Biogea and Gaia, echo each other.

Convened by Nathalie Berny (MFO) and Steve Fisher (University of Oxford)

PROGRAMME:

14:00 - 15:25 - Panel 1 - Voting behaviour
Chair - Geoffrey Evans - University of Oxford

Bruno Cautrès, Sciences Po Paris
Miriam Sorace, University of Reading
Steve Fisher, University of Oxford

15:25-15:45 Coffee break

15:45 - 17:10 - Panel 2 - Parties and politics across Europe
Chair - Anthony Teasdale, LSE

Anja Thomas, University of Lille
Sofia Vasilopoulou, King’s College London
Mihail Chiru, University of Oxford

Professor Amina Mama, 'Transnational Feminism in an Age of Genocide'

Join us at the OMSS conference on 'Transformation and Resilience' with 8 exciting panels on migration and climate change, colonialism, securitisation, gender and a key-note speech from human rights activist Seán Binder.

In the wake of the Cold war Francis Fukuyama portrayed the “last man” as free but devoid of ambitions, polite but unheroic, somebody castrated by the satisfaction of his desires but a very agreeable fellow. He is married to democracy, but we suspect no more in love with it. The “last man” of this lecture is a different one. He has arrived when history has returned. He is anxious and mistrustful. He is overtaken by demographic anxiety. He thinks he lives in the dregs of time. He tends to believe that the next elections should be the last elections.

This lecture reflects upon the broader implications of the speaker’s recent research on developing region-centric approaches to investigate and understand the evolution of international relations and order in East Asia. Such approaches take seriously complex regional contexts, privilege regional perceptions and concerns, and favour research questions that arise from regional empirical patterns and experiences.