Monday 16th March - Thursday 19th March 2009
Salzburg, Austria

Call for Papers
This inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary conference seeks to examine and explore issues surrounding evil and human wickedness. Papers, presentations, reports and workshops are invited on issues on or broadly related to any of the following themes:

1. Wrestling with 'Evil'
- does the language of 'evil' make sense in the 21st Century?
- what is 'evil'? What is the concept of 'evil'?
- when we use the term 'evil' what do we seek to convey? - understanding the language of evil
- 'evil' and other possibilities: morally objectionable; morally wrong; bad; immoral; iniquitous; reprobate; sinful; wrong; depraved; diabolical; heinous; malevolent; wicked

2. The Nature of Evil
- the contexts of evil; the 'meaning' of evil as context dependent
- the roots of evil
- what counts as evil? Evil, Evils. Is there such a thing?
- the boundaries of evil; the forms of evil; types of evil; instances of evil. Universal evil?
- the practices of evil
- taking evil seriously; enjoying evil; satisfying evil

3. Explanatory Frameworks
- what are we looking for? The possibility of explanations
- what is an explanation?
- what does or should an explanation seek to achieve?
- is evil capable of explanation?
- explanation as evil

4. Understanding Evil
- from the perspectives of the disciplines
indicative examples: anthropology, art, art history, criminology, cultural studies, history, legal studies, literature, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and theology - from the perspectives of professions
indicative examples: accountants, architects, diplomats, doctors, engineers, lawyers, pharmacists, planners, teachers, vets; people working in economics, forensics, medicine, nursing, politics, prison services, psychiatry

- from the perspectives of vocations
indicative examples: people working in altruistic vocations, professional vocations, voluntary vocations, religious vocations, humanitarian campaigning and activities

- from the perspectives of ngos
indicative examples: United Nations, international ngo's, business oriented ngo's, governmental ngo's, quango's, civil society ngo's; people working with interest groups, lobbying activities; charity organisations; relief organisations; occupational organisations; not-for-profit networks

5. Representations of Evil
- art, art history, visual culture
- cinema, tv, theatre, radio
- music; metal
- media
- technological and multi-media representations
- video games and on-line communities
- subcultural formations and identities
- fashion and evil
- gothic subjectivities and Othering

6. Confronting Evil
- how is it possible to confront evil?
- can evil be resolved? Should evil be resolved?
- the work of Truth and Reconciliation commissions; the International Criminal Court; the role of law and local criminal justice procedures
- the work of international organisations
- the role of charities

As part of the 10th anniversary of the Evil project, we welcome papers and/or panels which take inter-disciplinary perspectives on the seven deadly sins: either the traditional (lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy pride) or the new (genetic modification; human experimentations, polluting the environment; social injustice; causing poverty; financial gluttony; taking drugs).

The Steering Group particularly welcomes the submission of pre-formed panel proposals. Papers will also be considered on any related theme.

500 word abstracts should be submitted by Friday 19th September 2008. The abstract will be double blind peer reviewed (where appropriate). If an abstract is accepted for the conference, a full draft paper should be submitted by Friday 6th February 2009. 500 word abstracts should be submitted to both Organising Chairs; abstracts may be in Word, WordPerfect, or RTF formats, following this order:

a) author(s), b) affiliation, c) email address, d) title of abstract, e) body of abstract

We acknowledge receipt and answer to all paper proposals submitted. If you do not receive a reply from us in a week you should assume we did not receive your proposal; it might be lost in cyberspace! We suggest, then, to look for an alternative electronic route or resend.

Organising Committee
Rob Fisher
Network Founder and Network Leader
Inter-Disciplinary.Net,
Freeland, Oxfordshire, UK
E-mail: evil10@inter-disciplinary.net

Stephen Morris
Independent Scholar,
New York, USA
E-mail: smmorris58@yahoo.com

The conference is part of the ‘At the Interface’ programme of research projects. It aims to bring together people from different areas and interests to share ideas and explore various discussions which are innovative and exciting.

All papers accepted for and presented at this conference will be eligible for publication in an ISBN eBook. Selected papers will be developed for publication in a themed hard copy volume.

For further details about the project please visit:
http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/ati/Evil/pehw.htm

For further details about the conference please visit:
http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/ati/Evil/Evil%2010/cfp.html