vivirbien

Call for Participants of the International Conference

Most likely one of the oldest queries of humanity is the question: what constitutes a good life? However, for decades, in academia we have strangely marginalized this issue or approached it only secondarily, as an individual private, but not as a collective public concern. But in recent years, we started to discuss the topic extensively along diverse disciplines and in different parts of the world and elaborated theories and even state projects inspired by ideas of the good life.

The Sumak Kawsayor Suma Qamaña (“living a good life” in Quechua respectively Aymara language) of indigenous peoples from the Andes and the Resonance Theory (also called "a sociology of the good life") of the German sociologist Hartmut Rosa are the two currents discussing the good life that at this day enjoy most academic attention worldwide, even beyond the places where they were originally planted (both in geographical and in disciplinary terms). The good life according to Andean philosophies and worldviews is the most-well known and globally discussed proposal of a post-development paradigm and the Resonance Theory inspired many sociological, philosophical and even theological debates and got translated into English and Spanish only few years after its initial elaboration in German. Both approaches interconnect their visions of the good life with a relational logic that goes beyond solely human control. For both, the good life is a life that is characterized by experiences of relationalities between human beings, as well as between humans, nature and what could be denominated as the existential or divine.

However, to this date no dialogue has been established between the two approaches and this conference aims to initiate the same with the purpose of enriching both and the work of those who use them separately. Thereforewe invite researchers from all academic disciplines to submit abstracts on a possible contribution of theirs related in some way to the question of the good life. We look forward to philosophical and sociological collaborations that locate themselves on a theoretical level as well as insights into empirical fieldworks and ethnographies where researchers elaborate in their projects together with local communities, not only in the Andean area, but throughout the world, what could mean a good life.

!!! Update: Extension of the deadline for submission of proposals until March 31, 2022!