CCLCS Postgraduate Colloquium 2007
Theory and Change: How Can Theory Make a Difference?
3rd-4th December 2007
Rooms SG01 and SGO2 Manton Rooms, Menzies Building
Monash University, Clayton Campus
Students in the areas of Comparative Literature, Cultural Studies and Critical Theory will be familiar with the scepticism or frank incomprehension that often greets their work from those who question the contribution which theory has to make to today’s society. At the same time, the second half of the twentieth century has seen a greater reluctance on the part of theorists, philosophers and academics to commit to the notion that theory can change the world, or that such a transformation would be desirable. Many critics of this development argue that it adds to a general narrowing of the field of possibility for social change, and further entrenches the legitimacy-by-default of the status quo.