Balvant Parekh Centre for General Semantics and Other Human Sciences in collaboration with the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad is going to organize the Seventh National Seminar on “The Enigma of Law”

Date: 2nd – 4th November, 2015
Venue: The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad

Concept Note:
The question of the law is a continuous concern in Derrida’s writings, especially in his later work. Even though “Force of Law” approaches the question of the law primarily in its distinction from the legal concept of right and within the horizon of the problematic of justice, this 1989 text refines numerous, earlier reflections on the law and anticipates others that will be developed in greater detail in later works. I mention only the distinction of the Greek notion of nomos and Mosaic Law, the difference between the laws and the Law, the enigma of the injunctive and binding character of all laws, along with the hyperbolic, but also aporetic, nature of these injunctions, the violence involved in making the law, its subsequent power or force, and so forth.

On a broader level, “Force of Law” intersects with Derrida’s elaborations elsewhere on the relation of the law to nationalism and community formation, its connection with particular idioms and language in general, the commerce between the theological and the political, that is, also the question of secularization, the whole Schmittean problematic of the state of exception, and the foundation of authority. As its very title suggests, however, “Force of Law” is also a meditation on the metaphysical concept of force, on the difference of force from violence, and, more generally, on what to understand by ‘deconstruction,’ how the latter is linked to the question of the law and under what conditions something like a deconstruction becomes possible and necessary.

Registration Fee:
Each participant is required to pay a registration fee of Rs.1500/- through a bank draft payable to “Balvant Parekh Centre for General Semantics and Other Human Sciences” on any bank in Baroda. The fee will take care of lunch and tea during the seminar. The fee does not include the cost of accommodation, and is non-refundable.

Those who need accommodation at Hyderabad should get in touch with the local convener. Participants have to make their own travel arrangements.

Deadline for Application:
The last date for receiving the proposal for participation and 300-word abstract is 31st August, 2015.

The abstract may be sent as an email attachment to Prafulla Kar (prafullakar@gmail.com), with a copy to D. Venkat Rao, the Local Convener of the Seminar. Selection for participation will be made by 15th September, 2015. The last date for registration by sending the required fee is 30th September, 2015. The last date for receiving the full paper is 15th October, 2015.

Contact:
Mr. Prafulla C. Kar
Director, Balvant Parekh Centre for General Semantics and Other Human Sciences
C-302, Siddhi Vinayak Complex
Faramji Road, Behind Railway Station
Baroda – 390007, Gujarat
Phone: 0265-2320870
Email: prafullakar@gmail.com
Website: www.balvantparekhcentre.org.in

Mr. D. Venkat Rao
Professor of English
The English and Foreign Languages University
Hyderabad – 500007
Email: telvenkat@gmail.com
Website: www.efluniversity.ac.in