Rethinking Marxism: a journal of economics, culture & society is pleased to announce its 6th major international conference, to be held at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst on 26-28 October, 2006. The conference is entitled Rethinking Marxism 2006.

Rethinking Marxism's 5 previous international conferences have each attracted between 750 and 1200 participants, and they have included keynote addresses and plenary sessions, formal papers, workshops, art exhibitions, video presentations, activist sessions, and performances. Versions of all of these events are planned for Rethinking Marxism 2006.

One exciting and prominent feature of Rethinking Marxism 2006 will be the 3 plenary sessions, which will highlight some of the most pressing issues of our times. These plenary sessions will also have as keynote speakers theorists and activists who are among the best-known and most insightful contributors to Marxian and left thinking and practice on these topics. Here is the lineup of the plenary sessions and the list of confirmed speakers:

• Imperialism and the Fantasies of Democracy : Ernesto LACLAU & Ella SHOHAT & Antonio CALLARI

• Rethinking Communism: Susan BUCK-MORSS & Kojin KARATANI & Stephen CULLENBERG

• The Power of the Left Media : Liza FEATHERSTONE & Sut JHALLY & Trebor SCHOLZ

These plenary sessions will be supplemented by a “platform” of related panels and papers. Each plenary topic will be investigated in full, not only by the plenary speakers, but also by other paper givers, performers, and activists who will be clustered in panels that will reflect upon and elaborate in different directions the plenary themes (Please click on the names of the plenary topics listed above for more details about each of the plenary sessions).

Call for Papers
In addition to three plenary sessions and performance art, there will be concurrent panels and art/cultural events. We invite the submission of individual papers and pre-organized sessions that follow traditional or non-traditional formats (such as workshops, roundtables, and dialogue among and between presenters and audience). Since contemporary Marxism covers fields from literature to physics and forms of political practice from environmental organizing to opposing global inequality, anyone engaging with Marxism in any discipline or form of activism is encouraged to submit paper and panel proposals. We encourage those working in areas that intersect with Marxism, such as feminism, political economy, cultural and literary studies, queer theory, working-class and labor studies, postcolonial studies, geography and urban studies, psychoanalysis, social and natural sciences, philosophy, and around issues of class, race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexuality, and disability, to submit paper and panel proposals. We welcome video, poetry, performance, and all other modes of presentation and cultural expression. We encourage paper or panel submissions from those working on any and all subjects that take an interest in a world without exploitation and oppression.

Submission of Proposals
For guidelines regarding paper and panel submissions please follow this link to the Proposal Submission page of the conference website.

Note that the deadline for submissions is extended till September 1, 2006.

Pre-registration
You may pre-register online (at a discounted rate) by visiting the Registration page or download a Pre-registration Form. (Low-income rate available)

Logistics
Rethinking Marxism 2006 will be held on the campus of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Housing options for conference participants--some at special rates for conference attendees--can be found by visiting the Lodging page of the UMass website. Travel directions to Amherst can be found at the Directions page. Information on childcare is available at the Childcare page of the conference website.

Publications
Selected papers, poems, art, and other forms of presentation from the conference will be published in Rethinking Marxism and/or in a separate edited volume of contributions.

Exhibitors and Advertisers
Literature tables and display areas are available to groups, vendors, and publishers at reasonable rates. Ad space in the conference program is also available at reasonable rates. All ads must be camera-ready. Please see the Information on Exhibits and Program Ads page.

Special Conference Rate for RM Subscription
Registrants for RM06 can receive a special conference rate of $45 on individual subscriptions to Rethinking Marxism. Please see our Registration page (or alternatively use the mail-in form to pre-register).

July 13, 2006.