PROSTHESIS: Journal of Interdisciplinary Theory and Criticism
CFP: ‘Theoretical Matter(s)’.

Since the emergence of Marxism, the word ‘materialism’
has both acquired a growing philosophical importance
and undergone a rapid diffusion of meanings
leading to criticism and objections. Recently,
new materialisms have been emerging out of diverse
arenas, given what is seen as the exhaustion of
various forms of postmodern theory:
for example, the animal turn, the post-human turn
and the speculative turn, as well as developments in
queer theory, actor network theory, new media studies
(and more). How do new materialisms fundamentally shift
the ‘matter’ of theory, or how does matter itself demand
a shift in theory? In light of new materialisms,
what matters for theory?

In order to engage and stimulate these developing concerns
and questions of materialism, for this second issue of Prοsthesis
we invite essays, interviews, reviews, and rare translations
engaging with questions like the following:

● What new problems or matters of concern arise
when we renew interest in materials and materialism?
● Where do the most serious challenges to materialism lie?
How can they be overcome?
● How are these new materialisms haunted by old materialisms
and their contexts? What might the history of older materialisms
still have to offer us? How might new materialisms deal with
idealisms or other anti-materialisms, old or new?
● Are thinkers like Kant, Hegel, Heidegger and Derrida
justly characterized as ‘correlationist’ or ‘anti-realist’
and thereby opposed to new materialisms? Or
are there threads in their work that demand
neo-materialist interpretations?
● How should we understand new materialisms
in relation to ‘the real’? ‘the immanent’? ‘the transcendent’?
● What do these new materialisms entail for politics? for ethics?
for science, knowledge, or truth? for thinking? for temporality?
● Do new materialisms give us necessary resources to deal with
ecological crises or recent developments in sciences and math?
● Is matter weirder than hitherto supposed? What is the status
of the spectral or hauntological in relation to new materialisms?
● What role does speculation play in new materialisms?
What kind of possibilities does speculation open up,
and what kind of limits does it acknowledge?
● What drives the urgency of these new developments
of materialisms? What concrete projects can new materialisms
give rise to that will push us beyond the bounds of abstract argumentation?

Proposals for essays, interviews, book reviews, or
rare translations should be given in abstract form in
250-450 words, prepared for blind review, and submitted
no later than February 1, 2012. Notifications of acceptance
will be sent out by March 1, 2012. Drafts will be due
April 1, 2012 for review and revisions.

In the case of translation proposals, please include
500 words of the text in its original language and
500 words of your translation, in addition to a
300 word proposal abstract explaining why the trans-
lation is worth undertaking and briefly explaining
your ability to undertake it.

Please send submissions to periodical.prosthesis@gmail.com
no later than February 1, 2012.