Call For Papers
After The Death Of The Human
Michel Foucault’s 100th Anniversary International Conference
University of Lisbon, Portugal | June 18–19, 2026
Deadline for submissions: September 30, 2025
Notification of acceptance: October 30, 2025
The centenary of Michel Foucault’s birth offers a timely opportunity to reassess the profound contribution of his philosophy to our understanding of human subjectivity in the interwoven contexts of knowledge, power, ethics, and aesthetics, as these unfold throughout history, culture, and society.
Inspired by Foucault’s oeuvre and its diverse legacies, this conference invites reflection on a fundamental question: What is—and what can become of—humanity after the “death of man”? How does this notion relate to the “death of God,” the rise of biopolitics, and the ongoing erosion of core values such as truth, justice, freedom, equality, solidarity, and peace?
The implications of a post-human critique must be reexamined in light of contemporary global challenges, including the renewal of democratic institutions, the protection of universal human rights, and the pursuit of sustainable development. Engaging with, and perhaps also moving beyond, Foucault’s concepts and methodologies, we aim to better understand our historical condition—one in which the apparent farewell to “humanity” and “human nature” coexists with both the proliferation of nihilisms and the unexpected revival of plural humanisms animated by distinct philosophical stances, including the Enlightenment ideal of the public use of critical reason.
We welcome proposals for individual papers and panel sessions that address Foucault’s philosophical anthropology (or lack thereof) across the full span of his intellectual trajectory. Topics may include, for example, Foucault’s engagements with psychoanalysis, phenomenology, and existential psychology, as well as his readings of Stoicism, Kant, Marx, and Nietzsche. The conference seeks to offer an interdisciplinary forum for exploring Foucault’s diverse “views of man” from multiple perspectives—ethical, aesthetic, political, legal, educational, medical, psychiatric, or criminological—employing his key methodological tools (notably archaeology and genealogy), while remaining open to innovative reinterpretations.
As suggested by the conference title, the thematic scope is broad. Possible areas for contribution include, but are not limited to:
1. Ethics and Aesthetics of the Self
2. Power in Foucault and Emerging Forms of Power (e.g., Algorithmic
Governmentality)
3. Foucault’s Concept of Man and New Anthropologies (e.g., Donna Haraway)
4. Foucault and the Anthropocene
5. Epistemology and Interdisciplinarity in Foucault
6. Knowledge, History, and the Historical A Priori
7. Sexuality, Gender, and Pleasure in Foucault
8. Medicine, Psychiatry, Psychology, and Psychopathology
9. Education, Schooling, and Disciplinary Practices
10. Literature, Art, and Cinema in Foucault’s Thought
11. Criminology, Surveillance, and Social Anxiety
12. Critique and Parrhesia
13. Kant’s Enlightenment and Foucault’s Modernity
14. Foucault and Postmodern Critique (e.g., Decolonial and Racial Theories)
15. Foucault and the Question of Realism
16. Foucault Today: Reflections on New Publications and Unpublished Texts
Submission Guidelines
We invite submissions for individual papers and thematically cohesive panels (consisting of 3 or 4 papers). Each submission should include:
• A title, abstract (300–500 words), and 4–5 keywords
• A separate bio-bibliographical note (50–100 words)
Please submit two separate documents (in MS Word or PDF format). Papers may be written in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, or Spanish. Submissions should be sent to:
Fernando Silva: fernandomsilva@campus.ul.pt
Marita Rainsborough: marita.rainsborough@leuphana.de
Paulo Jesus: paulorenatus@edu.ulisboa.pt
Deadline for submissions: September 30, 2025
Notification of acceptance: October 30, 2025
To ensure broad accessibility, participants presenting in languages other than English are kindly asked to provide at least a partial English version of their paper (e.g., handout or PowerPoint). Presentations will be limited to 20 minutes, followed by discussion. Each panel will include up to four papers.
Participation and attendance are free of charge. Following the conference, we plan to publish a volume featuring selected contributions.
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