[spectre] Intl Confrence on Philosopy, Bandung - Indonesia, July 18-20, 2006

Wed Jan 18 16:13:39 CET 2006

International Conference

CIVILIZATION AND CULTURE
Culture as Burden and Opportunity

Bandung, July 18-20, 2006
I n d o n e s i a

Background
The increasing global interdependence today has
brought with it global risks and global problems,
since it is characterized also by anarchy of
relations, imbalance of wealth distributions,
unpredictability of its unintended consequences,
divergent claims of rationality as well as
contradictory certainties. In such  an ambivalent
“glocal” context, where terrorism seems to be the most
possible act of  resistance, where the destiny of the
global human race is at stake  and particular cultures
are experienced as both opportunity and  burden, it is
high time to rethink the interconnection  between  the
concepts of  civilization  and  culture.

To give an opportunity for a deeper reflection on the
issue, Parahyangan Catholic University, in
collaboration with the Asian Association of  Catholic
Philosophers (AACP), is organizing  an international
conference on  “Civilization and Culture : culture as
burden and opportunity”, July 18-20, 2006, in Bandung,
West Java, Indonesia.

Main Aim
The  aims of the conference are : 
1. to explore and offer new ways of thinking the
identity and self.
2. to ponder over what ultimately is the most valuable
for the growth of humanity in general.
3. to rethink the meaning of intellectual leadership
in this context. 
4. Hoping that at the end some concrete implications
for action can be envisaged and recommended.

Term of Reference
Historically, the notion of civilization developed as
a category under which various socio-cultural
processes internal to the West, such as capitalism,
nation-building, industry and democracy, could be
gathered and  understood, while at the same time
providing a broader framework  to interpret other
different societies that Europe came in contact with.
This interest soon led to the development of
comparative civilizational analysis with its
distinction between the pre-civilizational and the
civilizational, in terms of which civilizational
historiography was then set up, taking the Sumerians,
the Egyptians, and so on, as the origins of
civilization. And later on, along with the optimism of
modernity, civilization became a normative ideal which
was based on universal basic ideas such as  evolution,
progress, freedom  or rationality. But, while it had
succeeded in shaping a homogeneous world, by the end
of the twentieth century the modern notion of
civilization had also given rise to many forms of
criticism. Post-colonial discourse and  Postmodernism
have disclosed the ideological as well as the fictive
side behind such modern  universal “grand-narratives”
in which the concept of civilization is then seen as a
sort of imperialism in disguise.

Thus, the notions of civilization and culture carry
with them an accumulated heritage of meanings,
perspectives and theoretical  strategies that have
developed throughout the course of contemporary
reflection. The concept of civilization, especially,
has become a site of tension between the tendency that
emphasizes universalistic images of the human race,
and the tendency that emphasizes the plurality of
cultures and society. And many  issues related to it
are basically ambiguous, such as : the interconnection
between civilization and political transformation,
civilization and identity, images of
self-transformation behind any civilizing project,
etc. The complexity of the issue is such that, while
it is often regarded as the universal parameter of
cultural evolution, civilization may also be viewed as
harassment of human cultural wealth. And on the other
hand, culture, while it is normally viewed  as the
repository of the best local-genius, in terms of
comparative civilizational perspective could also be
seen as a burden or a threat. In fact not everything 
in tradition or culture is worth holding on to.
Therefore, further rethinking of all these is
required.  

Time and Venue
July 18-20, 2006
Savoy Homann Hotel,
Jl. Asia Afrika no 112,
Bandung  40261,
West Java, Indonesia.

Participants
Philosophers from Asia, Europe, and USA

Official Language
English

Program
July 17   :   arrival

July 18   :   
- Registration
- Opening Ceremony
- Coffee Break
- Keynote Speech:   
  1. Anthony Giddens (England) 
  2. Keping Wang (China)
  3. Azyumardi Azra ( Indonesia) 
  4. Franz Magnis-Suseno (Indonesia)
- Lunch
- Session  1
- Coffee Break
- Workshop : “Democracy and the Treatment of the
‘Other’ 
- Dinner

July 19   :
- Session 1
- Coffee Break
- Session 2
- Lunch
- Session 3
- Coffee Break
- Workshop :  “Civilization,Culture and Religious
Bias”
- Excursion + Dinner 

July 20  : 
- Excursion
- Closing ceremony + Recommendation 
- Dinner (Farewell Party)

July 21  :  Departure

Registration
- Registration Fee :  $ 150 (to be paid  in cash on
the first day)
- Contact :  
  1.  Bambang Sugiharto
      E-mail : ignatiussugiharto at yahoo.com
      Phone  : +62-22-4205476 ext 102
               +628122002133
      Fax    : +62-22-4205476 ext 117                 

               +62-22-7106392

  2.  Slamet Purwadi
      E-mail : yohanes_purwadi at yahoo.co.id
      Phone  : +62-22-4205476 ext 310 
               +6281320334920

- Secretariat :   Faculty of Philosophy
                  Parahyangan Catholic University
                  Jl. Nias 2, Bandung 40117
                  Indonesia 

Steering Committee :    
- Dr. Bambang Sugiharto
- Goenawan  Mohamad
- Dr. Haryatmoko
- Dr. Gadis Arivia
- Dr. Budiono Kusumohamidjojo

Organizing Committee :
- Fabianus S.Heatubun, Drs, LSL
- Y.Slamet Purwadi M.A
- Fransiskus Borgias Drs, LTh  

Event Organizer :
- Wawan Juanda, “Republic of Entertainment”.

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