The Post-Truth Phenomenon: Conference

Sat 17 March 2018

Jesus Lane Friends Meeting House

***This listing is for the Saturday conference. See website for other listings for the Teach-Out events on Thurs 15th March and Fri 16th March: https://posttruthphenomenon.wordpress.com.

‘Post-Truth’ was the 2016 Oxford Dictionaries word of the year. Announced in November, shortly after the election of Donald Trump in the United States and the referendum on Brexit in the United Kingdom, this selection added fuel to an ongoing mainstream and social media frenzy about fake news and ‘alternative facts’ and concomitant implications for politics, citizenship, journalism, and beyond. The post-truth phenomenon, ‘relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief,’ as defined by Oxford Dictionaries, has been the subject of much instant commentary – though little academic analysis. This conference is an opportunity to consolidate and advance our understanding of the post-truth phenomenon by bringing together scholars across disciplines. At the conference’s core is the view that this is a moment of ‘knowledge controversy,’ namely, a rupture of the naturalised order that provides a window onto the norms, practices, and power relations supporting that naturalised order.

This event is a teach-out and international conference, featuring a line-up of invited speakers, as well as an art exhibition.

Cost: Saturday costs £10 for attendees (£7 for students)