Process Ecologies Network

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The writings of the British philosopher, Alfred North Whitehead, are often alluded to, but neglected in detail, in recent process thought and Continental philosophy in the UK, whilst Whiteheadian scholarship, including attention to its ecological dimensions, has been flourishing for the past century in the US. At the same time, the now mainstream acknowledgement of the need to address climate change on an international scale is not yet matched by the integration of 'ecological' thinking into philosophical research. This cross-disciplinary network seeks to address both sets of problems. Firstly, it will address the lack of UK-US collaborations between researchers in process philosophy, broadly conceived. It will promote the heritage of Whitehead studies through a dedicated UK-based network, that will be able to draw on the rich, if currently, very disparate approaches to process thought amongst UK scholars. For example, recent 'Post-Kantian' scholarship in the UK, Europe, and the US has concentrated on the legacy of Gilles Deleuze and other key twentieth-century French thinkers, leading to a resurgence of engagements with the writings of Henri Bergson, most recently in the Global Bergsonism Research Project launched in 2019 and a new journal of Bergson studies, Bergsoniana. Similar, if very specialized, interest in the work of Whitehead has been evident in mainland Europe through the European Society for Process Thought based in Germany. However, an equivalent research base, combining these strands is not evident in the UK. The proposed UK-based network will lay the groundwork for innovative expansions of research in process thinking through cross-disciplinary activities. In particular, we wish to tap into the recent 'educational turn' in the work of practicing artists, in which reflections on their own methodologies are yielding novel concepts of 'process' with unexplored transformative potential for scholarship in process philosophy. Finally, Whilst the growth of what is more generally termed 'environmental humanities' (which encompasses critical animal studies and a wide range of other related approaches) is welcome, it risks remaining on the margins of more established fields in philosophy. This network will provide a platform for brand new scholarship that promotes the mainstream integration of these approaches into contemporary process philosophy.The above movements thus complement the rich American traditions of process philosophy and theology in light of the works of Whitehead, Teilhard de Chardin, Bergson, and Charles Hartshorne, reflected in the ongoing collaborative and interdisciplinary projects of the Center for Process Studies at the Claremont School of Theology. The Center for Process Studies with its program and faculty co-directors continues to organize process-ecological events and publish valuable research with which scholars in the UK have yet to engage in depth.It is, therefore, timely to explore the links between the different configurations of process thinking and philosophies of nature and ecology in Continental thought across the UK and US, and how they might enrich one another and guide a renewed thinking of our relation to the environment and other species. To this end, the network will bring together scholars working in the above areas and provide a public-facing platform for current research that addresses concrete issues on the environment, climate change, and biodiversity that it is envisaged will appeal to new audiences within the charity sector and the general public as well as within academia.