of the conference is to reassess the relevance and actual legacies of the original theoretical antihumanism — 60s French theory — imported in the 80s, which was what originally put Ljubljana on the world intellectual map. While deconstruction never really took hold and Deleuzianism developed later in different circumstances, the original two strands of Ljubljana theory were Lacanian psychoanalysis and Althusserian historical materialism, which, despite their differences and disagreements, both emphasised the key antihumanist tenet: a critique of the humanist notions of the subject and subjectivity, and a concept of a process without a subject. In this sense, antihumanism represented a promising beginning to a Copernican trauma for the humanities, although one that, in hindsight, remains unfinished. The fascination with machines and cybernetics, characteristic of 60s French theory, went unnoticed, parallel developments such as 80s media archaeology or 90s accelerationism were ignored, and potentially fruitful encounters with computational theory and neuroscience were and continue to be viewed with suspicion. Consequently, contemporary Ljubljana theory feels more like a theme park with only harmless rides, resembling its Copernican trauma inducing origins but without the original sense of danger.

The conference, however, will not so much obsess over the past (neither in a nostalgic nor a critical mode), but rather search for ways to make the future work in the present, as was the case with the original antihumanism. We therefore welcome any contributions related to todays ‘ahumanisms’, like posthumanism, inhumanism, xenofeminism and deep ecology; genealogical forays into machine theory, cybernetics and computational theory; explorations of animal and other alien intelligences; intitations of dialogue between ahumanities and sciences; contemporary critiques of humanism and anthropocentrism; studies of popular xenoculture(s); and more.

The conference will be open to the public and there will be no registration fee.

The working languages of the conference will be Slovenian and English.