The 2007 Spindel Conference on "Global Feminist Ethics and Politics"

This conference will provide an opportunity for scholars of feminist, multicultural and postcolonial theory to consider pressing questions concerning women and the global order. What effect does cross-cultural incommensurability have on the possibility of intercultural moral relations, reasoning, obligations and deliberation? Can a robust respect for cultural particularity in women's lives, that is, for their local cultures, beliefs, politics and practices, be reconciled with the liberal principles of equality of worth, dignity and opportunity? Can the concept of difference be used without risk of essentializing complex identities? How can feminists create meaningful, non-dominating forms of global solidarity? How might starting from an understanding of moral theory as non-idealizing transform universal concepts such as justice, equality and human rights? In examining these questions, conference participants will draw on a variety of theoretical resources found in contemporary feminist philosophy.
For more information, contact scmillr1@memphis.edu or visit http://cas.memphis.edu/philosophy/dept_news.htm