Peter Kropotkin 1921-2021 - Activism and scholarship

International Conference, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Department of Geography,

19-23 July 2021

First call for papers

Pëtr Alekseevich Kropotkin (1842-1921) was undoubtedly one of the most important figures

in the global history of anarchism and early socialism. Kropotkin’s writings and activities

contributed to shape international theories and practices of anarcho-communism, exerting a

defining influence on anarchist and critical thinking, one that remains relevant today.

Kropotkin’s ideas on mutual aid continue to challenge current capitalist and neoliberal notions

of competition and can serve to counter lingering Malthusianism in the social sciences and

development studies, especially in what is today called ‘the Global South’. Kropotkin’s notion

of science as synonymous with ethical thinking, creative experimentation and unhindered

questioning still challenges current expression of religious fanaticism and obscurantism all

over the world, including the return of creationism. Kropotkin’s ideas on federalism and

decentralization continue to nourish debates about the inter-relation of economy and politics,

society, culture and territory, and environmental issues at different scales. His internationalism,

while controversial, has lessons for all those who struggle against the walls and frontiers which

are (re)built increasingly in the world, and for cultivating internationalist solidarity among all

the oppressed. Kropotkin’s anticolonialism stands among the first attempts to include spaces

and identities in all struggles for social justice, now feeding ideas on the ‘spatial turn’ for social

movements in Latin America and beyond. Kropotkin’s efforts to develop new concepts and

frames of thought around his concept of ethics to support anarchist organising produced a rich

theoretical toolbox for critique never ceased to inspire worldwide notions of global solidarity

and kinship. In collaboration with Elisée Reclus and circles of nineteenth-century anarchist

geographers, Kropotkin established principles on social geography and the teaching of

geography which still inspire critical and radical tendencies in the discipline.

As well as being an outstanding thinker and writer Kropotkin is also an exemplary subject for

transnational histories of cosmopolitan and multilingual activism and the analysis of European

and international socialism. He established some of the most influential anarchist papers of the

nineteenth and twentieth century, maintained correspondence with a wide range of socialist

activists and was constantly involved in political activity, especially in Russia, France and the

UK. Kropotkin was a persistent and vocal critic of Tsarism and an equally vehement critic of

Marxism.

Kropotkin’s centenary is an occasion to rediscover an exceptional figure who can interest and

inspire geographers, historians, philosophers, anthropologists, sociologists, economists,

political scientists and other scholars, as well as activists and wider publics. Kropotkin can help

us re-think the disciplinary boundaries of the natural and social sciences and humanities and

the socially transformative role of critical analysis. We welcome interventions on Kropotkin’s

life and works and on their reception, as well as contributions that take inspiration from

Kropotkin’s anarchism. Recognising that the history of anarchism, like the history of any

intellectual discipline, is not limited to the study of the “great men” (or “great women”) of

history, we welcome interventions which explore the broader networks, circulation of ideas,

and spaces and contexts that Kropotkin was part of. We especially invite contributions on (but

not limited to):

• The history and theory of anarchism, with special reference to themes addressed by

Kropotkin (mutual aid, decentralization, social justice and manual work, French

Revolution, ethics, pedagogy, prisons…)

• Scholars and activists acquainted with Kropotkin or involved in fostering his legacy

• Global history and transnationalism, with special reference to experiences of radical

activism

• Philosophy and history of geography (and of science in general), with special reference

to early critical tendencies

• Decoloniality, feminism, gender and critical race studies, with special reference to their

relations with the anarchist tradition

• Mutual aid, evolutionism, Malthusianism and their critiques

• Philosophy of nature, environmental determinism and their critiques

• Science, religion and their critiques

• Reception of Kropotkin’s anarcho-communism in Latin America and more broadly in

the “Global South”

• Current anarchist and radical research in all scholarly disciplines (humanities, social

sciences, natural sciences …)

• Anarchism and radical social alternatives today

Format

We want to avoid the hierarchical format of classical conferences, with “big professors” doing

prestigious keynote speeches, early and mid-career scholars organizing sessions and students

presenting papers and posters. In this conference, all sessions will be in plenary format (with

no parallel sessions therefore), so that everybody addresses the audience and listens to

everybody else.

Languages

Working languages are Portuguese, English, Spanish and French. We invite all presenters to

provide a PowerPoint and a written summary of their intervention in a second language. We

will endeavour to organize volunteers to offer solidarity translation in groups during the

presentations.

Submission of abstracts:

Please submit your proposal (250-500 words) by 31 May 2020 to

kropotkin19212021@gmail.com On acceptance, you will receive practical information on

registration, possibilities for accommodation etc.

Some travel grants might be available for presenters who are not in receipt of any other funding

for their travel: as they are likely to be in limited number, we cannot guarantee that all

applicants could have them, so if you wish to apply for travel support please specify it while

sending your abstract and detail the reasons for which you need this help.

Conference website

https://kropotkin2021.wordpress.com/

International Scientific Committee

Matthew Adams, University of Loughborough, UK

Constance Bantman, University of Surrey, UK

Gerónimo Barrera de la Torre, University of Texas Austin

Fábio Contel, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil

Valéria de Marcos, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil

Pietro Di Paola, University of Lincoln, UK

Amir El-Hakim de Paula, UNESP, Brazil

Fabrizio Eva, Università Cà Foscari, Italy

António Ferraz de Oliveira, University of Cambridge, UK

Federico Ferretti, University College Dublin, Ireland

Alvaro Girón Sierra, CSIC, Spain

Adriano Gonçalves Skoda, Biblioteca Terra Livre, Brazil

José Antonio Gutierrez, University College Dublin, Ireland

Mike Heffernan, University of Nottingham, UK

Anthony Ince, University of Cardiff, UK

Heike Jöns, University of Loughborough, UK

Gerry Kearns, NUI Maynooth, Ireland

Ruth Kinna, University of Loughborough, UK

Carl Levy, Goldsmiths University of London, UK

Marcelo Lopes de Souza, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Patrick Minder, Université de Fribourg, Switzerland

Philippe Pelletier, Université Lyon 2, France

David Ramirez, Universidade Federal do Pará, Brazil.

Guilherme Ribeiro, UFRRJ, Brazil.

Carlo Romani, UNIRIO, Brazil

Giorgio Sacchetti, Università Roma Tre, Italy

Sergey Saytanov, Academy of Slavic Enlightenment, Russia

Marcella Schmidt, Università Milano Bicocca, Italy

Pascale Siegrist, European University Institute, Italy

Eduardo Souza Cunha, Biblioteca Terra Livre, Brazil

Simon Springer, University of Newcastle, Australia

Selva Varengo, Università Statale di Milano, Italy

Breno Viotto Pedrosa, UNILA, Brazil

Richard White, University of Sheffield Hallam, UK

Local organization committee

[to be updated]

Supporting groups and institutions

[provisional list, to be updated]

University of São Paulo (USP), Department of Geography, http://geografia.fflch.usp.br/

Anarchist Library Terra Livre, São Paulo, https://bibliotecaterralivre.noblogs.org/

Commission History of Geography of the International Geographical Union (IGU-UGI),

https://web.univ-pau.fr/RECHERCHE/UGIHG/

History and Philosophy of Geography Research Group of the Royal Geographical Society

with Institute of British Geographers (HPGRG, RGS-IBG), https://hpgrg.org.uk/

Anthropology and Social Change Department, CIIS-San Francisco,

https://www.ciis.edu/academics/graduate-programs/anthropology-and-social-change