Wollapalooza II! Daughters, Dissenters, Democracies, Discontents APSA Boston - 1 September 2018 Sat, September 1, 8:00am to 5:30pm, Sheraton, Republic Ballroom B
This mini-conference (hereafter, WOLLAPA-2-ZA!) to be held at APSA 2018 in Boston showcases further work in preparation for The Wollstonecraftian Mind, the first comprehensive philosophical compendium on Wollstonecraft and her legacies, and also directly engages the themes of the broader conference--democracy and its discontents--from various historical, feminist, republican, intersectional, and critical race perspectives. WOLLAPA-2-ZA! also celebrates two major bicentennials for feminist political theory in 2018: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (London, 1818) and Hannah Mather Crocker’s Observations on the Real Rights of Women (Boston, 1818) The work of these intellectual daughters of Wollstonecraft provide a frame for thinking about how Wollstonecraft’s work as a writer, mother, philosopher, and advocate of women’s and other human rights has shaped discourses and practices of dissent among discontented creatures of modern democracy, including women, slaves, racial, ethnic, gender, and religious minorities, the disabled, and children.
Co-organizers:
Sandrine Berges (Bilkent) Eileen Hunt Botting (Notre Dame) Alan Coffee (King’s College London)
8-9:45AM
BICENTENNIAL ROUNDTABLE
FRANKENSTEIN’S CREATURE AT 200: WOLLSTONECRAFT’S DAUGHTERS, DEMOCRACY’S CHILDREN, & THEIR DISCONTENTS
Format: Presenters speak for 15 minutes each, followed by discussion with audience adjudicated by chair.
Eileen Hunt Botting (Notre Dame), Chair
Emily Dumler-Winckler (St. Louis University), “Science and Virtue in Frankenstein.” Michael Lamb (Wake Forest), “Frankenstein on Trial.” Emma Planinc (University of Chicago), “On ’the unnameable’: universals and particulars in Frankenstein.” Eileen Hunt Botting (Notre Dame), “Hearing the Creature: Articulating the Child’s Right to be Genetically Modified.”
10-11:45AM
TRADITIONAL PANEL
DISSENTING LIKE A GIRL: FEMINIST MODES & DEMOCRATIC ORDERS
Format: Authors present papers (12 minutes) followed by comments from discussant (8 minutes). Chair adjudicates discussion with audience for remaining time.
Sandrine Bergès (Bilkent University), Chair
Spyridon Tegos (University of Crete), “Wollstonecraft's Appropriation of Adam Smith.” Emily Dumler-Winckler (St. Louis University), “Wollstonecraft, Religious Dissent, and Democracy.” Alea Henle (Miami University), “Hannah Mather Crocker’s Inclusion in the Archives.” Helen McCabe (University of Nottingham), “Harriet Taylor Mill as a Dissenting--and Probably Discontented--Daughter of Wollstonecraft.”
Discussant: Ruth Abbey (Notre Dame)
NOON-2PM LUNCH BREAK IN BOSTON
2-3:30PM
RESEARCH CAFE
COMPARATIVE FEMINIST REPUBLICANISMS
Format: This session format incorporates a handful of topic clusters engaging the comparative study of feminist republicanisms, past and present, each staffed with a scholar in the field who has successfully used new methods and epistemological frameworks to engage the justification and import of feminist approaches to republican politics. Attendees group together at tables to discuss research processes, methodologies, ask questions, and brainstorm together around issues in this growing field in the history of political thought, feminist theory, and political theory more broadly.
Chair: Alan Coffee (King’s College, London)
Wendy Gunther-Canada (University of Alabama-Birmingham) on Catherine Macaulay and Mary Wollstonecraft Sandrine Bergès (Bilkent University) on Republican Women of the French Revolution Lisa Pace Vetter (University of Maryland-Baltimore County) on Frances Wright’s civic republicanism and socialism Alan Coffee (King’s College London) on Mary Wollstonecraft and Frederick Douglass Helen McCabe (University of Nottingham) on Harriet Taylor (Mill) and John Stuart Mill
3:45--5:30 PM
BROOKINGS FORMAT PANEL
DEMOCRACY’S DISCONTENTS: SLAVERY, RACE, AND GENDER
Format: Each discussant presents analysis of paper (12 minutes) followed by response by author (8 minutes). In remaining time, the chair adjudicates discussion with the audience.
Chair: Wendy Gunther-Canada (University of Alabama-Birmingham)
Laura Brace (University of Leicester), “The 1792 Debates on Slavery.” Discussant: Nancy Kendrick (Wheaton College, MA)
Alvin B. Tillery (Northwestern), “Black Readers of the Declaration of Independence.” Discussant: Alan Coffee (King’s College London)
Jack Turner (University of Washington), "Empire and Equal Opportunity: Audre Lorde on the U.S. Invasion of Grenada." Discussant: Madeline Cronin (Santa Clara University)
Garrett FitzGerald (Notre Dame), “A Wollstonecraftian Theory of Restorative Justice.” Discussant: Penny Weiss (St. Louis University) WOMEN AND DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA, 1630-2018: CELEBRATING THE BICENTENNIAL OF AMERICA’S FIRST BOOK ON WOMEN’S RIGHTSThe Hannah Mather Crocker Society and The Wollstonecraft Philosophical Society are co-hosting an American Political Science Association Pre-Conference Short Course at the Massachusetts Historical Society on Wednesday August 29, 2018 from noon-4pm, followed by a reception for registered participants at the Colonial Society of Massachusetts from 5pm-7pm. This exciting interdisciplinary short course, which will bring together over 20 scholars from political science, political theory, literature, philosophy, and history to examine the enduring significance of Hannah Mather Crocker’s Observations on the Real Rights of Women (Boston, 1818), the first book-length treatise on women’s rights by an American. We will situate this understudied classic in the context of Crocker’s life (1752-1829) as a woman political actor and writer who bridged the colonial, revolutionary, and post-revolutionary eras in Boston. We will also examine the question of why the Observations and other political work by women in the early American republic mattered for later iterations of republican, democratic, and feminist theory and practice in the United States. This APSA pre-conference short course will be held at the Massachusetts Historical Society (1151 Boylston Street), a short walking distance from the APSA meeting at the Hynes Convention Center. We will have name tags for you on site. Noon-2pm Brownbag lunch and roundtable on “Why Hannah Mather Crocker’s Observations on the Real Rights of Women Matters at 200.” Constance Post (English, Iowa State) Alea Henle (History, Miami University) Sarah L. Houser (Political Theory, American University) Eileen Hunt Botting (Political Theory, Notre Dame) Sandra Gustafson (English, Notre Dame) Penny Weiss (Political Theory and Women’s Studies, St. Louis University)
Roundtable panelists will each give 10 minute presentations followed by approximately 45 minutes of discussion with the audience. Chair: Eileen Hunt Botting (Notre Dame) Lunch catered by Whole Foods care of The Hannah Mather Crocker Society
2pm-3pm. Keynote by Sandra Gustafson (English, Notre Dame), author of Imagining Deliberative Democracy in the Early Republic (2011), on “Women and Democracy in the 19th Century.”
Response by Lisa Pace Vetter (Political Science, University of Maryland-Baltimore County), author of The Political Thought of America’s Founding Feminists (2017).
30-minute discussion with participants to follow the short keynote lecture (20 minutes) and response (10 minutes). Chair: Eileen Hunt Botting (Political Theory, Notre Dame)
3pm-4pm. 200th birthday party for Crocker’s Observations on the Real Rights of Women. Cake and refreshments followed by a tour of MHS and its special exhibit on women in the early American republic, in honor of Crocker. Cake and refreshments catered by Whole Foods care of The Hannah Mather Crocker Society.
4pm-5pm. Break to explore Boston and its historical sites related to Crocker, the American Revolution, and the early republic.