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Call for Papers
Special Volume of Contemporary Aesthetics
Poverty and Aesthetics
To face one of the gravest perennial issues, it is necessary to evaluate the roots, modalities, and proportions of poverty experienced by many people in their everyday lives. To take one scholarly example, the Springer book series Philosophy and Poverty facilitates interdisciplinary collaboration and uncovers the depth and seriousness of the problems at hand. The nexus between aesthetics and poverty, on the other hand, may seem more contentious. However, following a number of recent studies[1], it is safe to say that aesthetics today is essential to connect socio-somatic and cosmo-political dimensions of poverty research.
This special volume of Contemporary Aesthetics aims to develop a more nuanced and pointed understanding of this lacuna.
Poverty is the mirror image of social conscience. It has been convincingly established by each major contemporary movement in philosophical aesthetics, from everyday and black to social and somaesthetics, that aesthetic engagement with the world and each other leads to a more intimate understanding of the subject matter, which may in turn spur us to action. Now, it is fair to assume that one’s attitude to somebody or something striking them as poor and eyesore-like (abandoned, grimy, disorderly, decaying, fetid, decrepit) would be negative, at least nominally. How come? To what extent such a reaction is guided by dominant normative values (that in their turn encourage us to look up to the rich, successful, and famous)? And if indeed one feels uncomfortable/hopeless/afraid, does that necessarily entail the choice to turn a blind eye, or perhaps this experience marks a conflict in one’s worldview that can be thereby modified?
Globally, the issue of poverty comes down to the fact that “World’s top 1% own more wealth than 95% of humanity” (Oxfam International, 2024), and that “almost 700 million people (8.5 percent of the global population) live in extreme poverty,” leaving “44% of the global population” in a state of general poverty (“Poverty, Prosperity, and Planet Report” 2024). While extreme or absolute poverty, a growing problem worldwide, implies no access to basic things necessary for subsistence, general poverty is a more complex concept, since it:
… measures poverty according to a broader range of commodity consumption typical of a given society. Thus, someone from a richer country might be considered poor if they are without certain commodities, whereas someone from a poorer country might be expected to go without certain commodities. (McClure 2023: 328)
Interestingly, we can find in the history of philosophy a number of great thinkers who espoused a positive modality of poverty. One striking example is Friedrich Nietzsche in his Zarathustra: “Blessed be moderate poverty!” This creed resonates with the likes of Socrates and Kynics, Kamo no Chōmei, Hrohiry Skovoroda, Henry David Thoreau, and, arguably, even Ludwig Wittgenstein, among others. Moderate poverty is tantamount to a simple life, one that is not characterized by privation of basic human needs, on one hand, and that is not driven by the pursuit of comfort, assets, and opulence, on the other.
In light of the above, this special volume is interested in – but not limited to – the following topics:
- aesthetic literacy/education: poverty and the dilemma of personal choice
- dire/moderate poverty and aesthetics of existence, e.g. architecture (favela, mudhouse, glass mansion) or gastronomy
- frugality and greed as ethico-aesthetic practices
- “poverty traps” and social violence, e.g. the aesthetics of the prison-industrial-complex, public housing, and orphanages
- aesthetics of houselessness/squatting/nomadism
- pragmatism and engagement with the Other, e.g. migrants, refugees; or as a migrant/refugee with natives/residents
- social aesthetics: poverty and criminality
- ecological aesthetics: poverty, health, and climate emergency
- aesthetics of war and destruction, e.g. Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan
- poverty as invention, i.e. indigenous peoples living in harmony with nature having no concept of money/destitution
- the role of art/ist in addressing poverty, e.g. protest art & hip hop
In addition to standard journal essays, the guest editor will entertain other formats, such as a video essay (limited to 2) and a photo essay (also limited to 2 for the issue). For the latter options, please contact the guest editor in advance. For standard journal essays, please consult submission guidelines for Contemporary Aesthetics at https://contempaesthetics.org/submissions/.
Please submit your contributions to the guest editor, Dr. Valery Vino, at valery.arrows@gmail.com by the 1st of December 2025.
Endnote
[1] See: Julia McClure (2023) “The Aesthetics of Poverty and the Logic of Racial Capitalism.” In Aesthetic Literacy Vol II: out of mind (Melbourne/Sydney: mongrel matter): 327-332. Also two papers by Moniza Rissini Ansari: (2022) “Cartographies of Poverty: Rethinking Statistics, Aesthetics, and the Law.” Society and Space Vol. 40 (3): 567-85; and (2020) “Aesthetics of Poverty: Visualizing Territories and Populations.” Evental Aesthetics Vol. 9 (1): 69-94.
Call for Papers
Natural Beauty and the Good Life
An International Workshop
University of Basel, Switzerland
September 19 – 20, 2025
Deadline: April 15, 2025
Contact: Stephanie Schuster (stephanie.schuster@unibas.ch)
The aim of this workshop is to investigate how experiences of natural beauty can contribute to the good life of people, that is, to discuss natural beauty’s potential eudaimonic meaning. Consider the following examples. Encountering the diversity of other living beings and inanimate natural entities can be invigorating and inspire multiple reflections on one’s way of living. Think of cases as diverse as an old gnarled tree, embodying endurance, a flying bird, expressing freedom, or the flow of water, symbolizing strength and adaptability. Furthermore, many natural entitles sensuously manifest the inseparability of life and transience. In presenting transience as a necessity, they can evoke hope for change as well as
acceptance and consolation in the face of finitude. Think of ephemeral spring blossoms or falling autumn leaves. Moreover, dwelling on landscapes, consisting of a diversity of interconnected entities, can make one realize to be part of it all, to feel at home in the world, and not to walk the Earth as stranger. In some cases, typically sublime environments which embody the deep history of this shared world and the powers that run through it, this feeling can be accompanied by a sense of awe and humble reflections on our place in it. Finally, the varieties of natural entities – reaching from tiny beetles to the infinite starry sky – can invite existential wonder and the realization that being is a mystery and life a gift.
Though many people might agree with the claim that natural beauty’s complete destruction or unavailability would be an existential loss for humanity, few authors in philosophy have addressed natural beauty’s meaning for human flourishing. Taking seriously the significance of beauty, as it is currently investigated in the emerging subfield of existential aesthetics, the workshop’s goal is to improve our understanding of natural beauty’s eudaimonic potential and its irreplaceability. In doing so, the workshop highlights environmental aesthetics’ relevance in the field of environmental philosophy and nature conservation.
We invite submissions on any topic that relates to natural beauty’s meaning for the good life. Abstracts should not exceed 500 words and should be prepared for anonymous review. In a separate document, please send your contact details and a short 100-word biography. You can email your submissions as a PDF to Stephanie Schuster (stephanie.schuster@unibas.ch). The submission deadline is April 15, 2025. Communication of acceptance or rejection will be made by May 15, 2025.
A selection of the papers presented at the conference will be collected in a book or special issue through peer review.
Relevant research questions include (but are not limited to):
- What does it mean for an experience of natural beauty to have eudaimonic meaning?
- In which ways can the experience of natural beauty contribute to the good life? What is its ethical, epistemic, and religious potential?
- How can existing philosophical work on the meaning of life be brought to bear on the study of natural beauty?
- How does natural beauty affect our relationship to the environing nature and human naturalness?
- Are there existential truths or insights that can particularly or only be found in the encounter of natural beauty?
- To what extent is the eudaimonic potential of natural beauty dependent on the appreciator’s attitude towards the natural world?
- Which works of Western and non-Western philosophy address natural beauty’s eudaimonic potential?
- Which works of art express particularly vividly natural beauty’s meaning for the good life?
- How is the eudaimonic potential of natural beauty affected by natural loss and climate change?
- Which role should the eudaimonic potential of natural beauty play in nature conservation and how does a better understanding of this potential strengthen the aesthetic argument for nature conservation?
- Should there be a human right to have access to natural beauty?
- How can a better understanding of the eudaimonic potential of natural beauty be integrated in aesthetic education?