The Reconvexo Collective at the NSSR (New School for Social Research) invites graduate students and scholars across disciplines to join us in a two-day conference dedicated to explore and investigate new avenues for social, economic, cultural and political transformations in Brazil.

The background of the Conference is the rise of the far-right in Brazil in the last years. The country now faces a new power dynamics in which the government operates by producing a permanent state of crisis in order to implement neoliberal reforms and conservative policies. As a  result of this dynamic social movement and autonomous civil society organizations are continuously targeted and attacked by the government and state forces. In this context, social movements have been reduced to mere reactive forces and are only mobilized in response to outrageous statements or actions by state officers.

This conference begins with the conviction that in order to face the challenges and dangers of our times, we must first establish an active and creative attitude, which requires the reenactment of our capacity to dream, imagine and produce alternative paths, futures, programs to Brazil. This event is precisely an attempt to create a space in which these possible paths, futures, and programs can be examined and debated, hence we welcome any contributions that point toward this direction. We welcome contributions from a  wide range of disciplines and drawing from different methodologies: anthropology, economics, sociology, political sciences, philosophy, literary criticism, music, theater, aesthetics. We also welcome different formats: essays, literary pieces, manifestos, political programs, academic papers etc.

Professor Marcos Nobre (UNICAMP) will be the keynote speaker for the event, and the conference will also hold workshops composed of graduate students presenting their papers with commentary by the moderators for each roundtable.

Proposed topics include, but are not limited to:

• Transformations in Global Capitalism and International Division of Labor; Brazil and Geopolitics; Foreign Policy;
• Black, Women and LGBTQI rights; Race; Indigenous question;
• Political Strategies and Activism; Social Media;
• Economics; Development; Health; Education; Environment and Climate Change;
• Arts and Aesthetics; Culture; Pedagogy and Epistemic Decolonization; Religiosity;

Besides paper-based presentations, we welcome visual and performance artists, as well as filmmakers working in any of the themes of the conference.

Please send abstracts of no more than 350 words by February 15, 2019, to reconvexo@newschool.edu with “Abstract Submission” in the subject line and for artistic practices (films, performances, poems etc.) please send a description of 150-250 words with a portfolio, if possible.

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