[SydPhil] Critical Antiquities Workshop - Daniela Cammack

[Tristan Bradshaw]

Dear all,

At the final Critical Antiquities Workshop for the year, we are very happy to host Daniela Cammack (UC Berkeley) for her paper, ‘Proximity and Politics.’ Please note, the time of the event has changed. The event will now be held on Friday, December 3 12:30pm-2:00pm (Sydney time). That translates to the following times elsewhere:

Tokyo: Friday, 10:30am-12pm
Singapore: Friday, 9:30am-11am
Los Angeles: Thursday, 5:30pm-7:00pm
Mexico City/Chicago: Thursday, 7:30pm-9:00pm
New York City: Thursday, 8:30pm-10:00pm

To receive a Zoom link, please sign up for Critical Antiquities Network announcements here<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/7n-4CxngwOf1ozW02t8hQYL?domain=signup.e2ma.net>. Please note, if you have already subscribed to the mailing list, you will receive the Zoom link and need not sign up again.

Here is the abstract:

What difference does regular proximity to unknown others make to democratic politics? Many people dislike—even fear—crowds as oppressive, homogenizing, and intolerant, yet they can also be supportive, friendly, even joyful. This paper argues that gathering physically as masses may help to foster collective agency in a way significant for democracy. Drawing on a mix of ancient Greek, Roman, and early modern sources, it proposes that proximity—specifically, being with many unknown others during decision-making processes—helps us to act collectively because it affects our perceptions of the feasibility of potential collective actions, leading us to think “we can do this” and thereby mutually commit to the proposed plan. That effect is especially supported by public mass majority voting, helping to explain both why this procedure is attractive to participants and why outvoted minorities should be willing to commit to plans favored by the majority. Two contrasts bring home the risks and rewards of proximate politics. In ancient Greece and Rome, open mass meetings were routine, whereas modern democracy relies on forms of atomized and virtual participation which commendably support certain kinds of inclusivity but hamstring collective agency by leaving the commitment of others too much to the imagination. And in ancient Greek democracies, assemblies retained the power to convene themselves, whereas in the Roman Republic, convening power lay in the hands of elected officials. That had a detrimental effect: proximity became hitched to populism in a way that continues to look familiar today.

We hope to see you there,
Tristan and Ben


Tristan Bradshaw
ARC Postdoctoral Research Fellow | Co-director, Critical Antiquities Network
The University of Sydney
Department of Classics and Ancient History
School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Office: H606, Main Quadrangle | The University of Sydney | NSW | 2006
 +61 406 747 955
tristan.bradshaw at sydney.edu.au<mailto:tristan.bradshaw at sydney.edu.au>  | fass.can at sydney.edu.au<mailto:fass.can at sydney.edu.au>

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