A political supper convened by Moira van Dijk and Doro Wiese

The creation of concepts in itself calls for a future form, for a new earth and people that do not yet exist
(Gilles Deleuze & Félix Guattari, What is Philosophy?).

Human bodies are words, myriads of words
(Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass).

During this supper, Moira van Dijk and Doro Wiese wish to congregate a critical crowd composed of social actors living in the Netherlands and participants of the Third Interntational Deleuze Studies Conference Connect, Continue, Create:

“Whilst enjoying some wonderful food and each other’s company, we will discuss a range of topics that we feel are important both locally (in Amsterdam and other cities in the Netherlands, or other countries) and globally. We will be focusing on issues such as migration, housing struggles and education. How do people living in the Netherlands conceive their situation? Which (local) experiences do participants of the Deleuze Conference bring with them to the table? Does such a temporary coalition create new ideas and approaches towards the topics at hand? Where and how can Deleuze-inspired concepts help us to frame local and global problems in a different way?

Within the wider context of the Deleuze Conference, this meeting has two main objectives. We not only want to discuss housing struggles, migration, and education; we want to find out if Deleuze|Guattarian concepts and ideas facilitate an analysis of the present rather than providing a translation into the jargon of philosophy. How do concepts handed to us by philosophy enable a new and forceful analysis? We want to go beyond criticism, and see if we find alternatives. The aim is to use our conceptual knowledge creatively. And one way to do this is, we believe, is to engage in a collaborative thought experiment. To proliferate jargon and walk our way through local situations, spending specific attention to the experience of people living in the Netherlands. In short, this is a call to go beyond the scholarly mode, and to think along with people in the field.”

The format will consist of short statements from people living in the Netherlands and responses from conference participants, followed by a group discussion. During the dinner the organisers will take notes, which can afterwards be rewritten into a short public statement, and distributed among the participants.

The session will take place at a “social centre” in Amsterdam, so unfortunately there is only room for 30 participants. If you would like to participate in the dinner discussion you can email Doro: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or sign up during registration. Please state your specific interests for the discussion and what you would like to contribute, the organisers will try to accommodate as many suggestions as possible.

The dinner will take place on the evening of Tuesday the 13th of July, from 20.00 o’clock onwards. Details about the location will follow in prospective communication with the participants.  Please note that participants will have to pay for their own dinner during this event, but that the organisers will try to keep the costs of this as low as possible.

Back