Vulnerability

Conference Vulnerability. Theories and Concepts in Philosophy and the Social Sciences, at the University of Graz, October 20-22, 2022

In recent years, the topic of vulnerability has attracted increasing attention in both philosophy and the social sciences. While this turn towards vulnerability is connected to crucial theoretical difficulties and developments, it can also be seen as a response to current problems, tensions, and debates surrounding, for example, the ecological crisis, social inequalities, or the COVID-19 pandemic. As different approaches emphasize, vulnerability has to be conceptualized as complex and multifaceted: different entities can be understood as vulnerable (individuals, groups, countries or systems), diverse dimensions need to be considered (bodily, economic, ecologic, cultural, gender related or biographical vulnerabilities), vulnerabilities and their significance are subject to historical changes, discourses, social conflicts and power relations.

Debates on vulnerability are associated with a growing attention to the (lived) body, affects and emotions, to dynamics of uncertainty and insecurity, as well as to questions of resilience and coping. The upcoming conference aims to promote discussions and exchange between researchers from different disciplines as well as from different theoretical and methodological backgrounds. By doing so, the conference can make a significant contribution to a more systematic and theoretically refined understanding of vulnerability.

Keynotes: Kate Brown, Thomas Fuchs. Panel discussion: Elodie Boublil, Jagna Brudzinska, Erinn Gilson, Susanne Krasmann

Further participants can register, for in person or online participation, via the conference website: vulnerability.uni-graz.at/en