Call for presentations : Cruising as critical methodology : practices and imaginaries from the shadows
London
Organization: London Conference in Critical Thought
The Call for Presentations is now open for the 12th annual London Conference in Critical Thought (LCCT), which will be hosted and supported by Birkbeck, University of London on 20th-21st June, 2025.
The LCCT is an annual interdisciplinary conference that provides a forum for emergent critical scholarship, broadly construed. The event is always free for all to attend and follows a non-hierarchical model that seeks to foster opportunities for intellectual critical exchanges where all are treated equally regardless of affiliation or seniority. There are no plenaries, and the conference is envisaged as a space for those who share intellectual approaches and interests but who may find themselves at the margins of their academic department or discipline.
We are requesting presentations on the theme of "Cruising as critical methodology : practices and imaginaries from the shadows".
Our call for presentations invites novel discussions around cruising as a lens for sociopolitical and cultural analysis, rethinking research methods, and artistic experimentations — imagining a critical engagement with cruising practices that extends far beyond the subject matter itself.
We also welcome dialogues around cruising as a methodology, in order to enlarge the potential of a conference on critical thought. Can we theoretically “cruise” the conference? What would it mean to employ cruising strategies to imagine innovative and relevant forms of intervention (movement-centered propositions, participative workshops, or performance-based talks, etc.) ?
Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:
- Cruising as a form of (counter)visuality
- Cruising as a methodology
- Cruising non human entities, uncovering novel environmental ethics
- Historical analysis of cruising to uncover present-day strategies resisting new waves of conservatism
- The aesthetics of cruising (and its penetration into mainstream culture)
- Cruising beyond the gender binary
- Critical approaches to techno-cruising
- Cruising’s mobilization of anti-surveillance strategies
- Cruising as an atmosphere with alchemical potentials for transformation
Deadline for Proposals: Friday 4th April 2025
If you would like to participate in one of them, please send an abstract for a proposed presentation with the relevant stream title indicated in the subject line to hello@londoncritical.co.uk, with emmanuel.guillaud.recherches@gmail.com and gonzaleze1419@gmail.com in copy. Abstracts should be submitted as Word documents of no more than 250 words and must be received by Friday 4th April 2025.
Please see attached document for more information.
https://www.londoncritical.co.uk/
Ezequiel González
