Emerging Technologies, Disarmament, and Peace
Concerned Philosophers for Peace
37th Annual Conference
(October 18-19, 2024, Hilton UAB, Birmingham, AL)
Keynote: George R. Lucas, Jr
Concerned Philosophers for Peace (CPP) seeks to find ways to promote peaceful, nonviolent transitions in all arenas of common life, and this year’s conference will focus primarily on emerging military technologies and their effect on the prospects for peace. In the era of the Cold War, nuclear weapons were seen as providing a deterrence to war between superpowers, while pacifists pushed for total nuclear disarmament. The advent of high-tech precision weapons, armed autonomous drones and robots, and cyber-weapons have raised concerns about the risks to civilians and the incentives to wage and continue wars. We are looking for papers that examine moral questions about weapons development and the threat to peace from the proliferation of new technologies around the world. In addition to the main theme, we welcome papers on any topic related to peace and nonviolence. Submit abstracts of no more than 500 words for papers related to this theme or to the overall mission of Concerned Philosophers for Peace. Possible topics include (but are not limited to):
- Pacifist Approaches to Emerging Technologies
- Ethical Challenges of Weapons Development
- Stopping Proliferation of WMDs
- Nuclear Terrorism and Blackmail
- Nuclear Deterrence and Disarmament
- Pacifist Approaches to Disarmament
- Keeping Space Demilitarized
- Technological Advantage and Asymmetric Warfare
- Ethics of Drone Use in War
- Potential of Artificial Intelligence for War and Peace
- Keeping the Peace in Cyberspace
- Social Media, Propaganda, and Journalism
- The Culture of Technology and Peace
- Is Technology Inherently Violent?
- Using Technology to Create Safe and Peaceful Spaces
- Technologies for Peacebuilding and Peacekeeping
- The Future of Pacifism: Science Fiction or Fact?
Submission Guidelines: Deadline: July 5, 2024
Email your CV and an abstract of no more than 500 words, prepared for blind review to David K. Chan at dkchan@uab.edu. Write “CPP 2024 submission” in the subject line. Please include your name, institutional affiliation, e-mail address, and paper title in the body of your email. If you are a Graduate or Undergraduate student, please indicate so in your email. **There will be a cash prize for the best Graduate student paper and the best Undergraduate student paper.**
Bill Gay Award for an Early Career Scholar
The Bill Gay Award is for an early career scholar (defined as a scholar who is within 6 years of receiving their terminal degree) who has demonstrated their commitment to engaging with peace, peace studies, and peace and justice scholarship and/or activism. To be eligible for the award, a scholar must submit a full paper (5-7K words) at least two months in advance of the annual Concerned Philosophers for Peace conference. All submissions will be blind reviewed by the CPP awards committee. The award will be announced at the annual CPP conference by the awards committee chair, and comes with a $2000 prize, formal certificate of recognition, and paper publication (subject to editorial approval) in the scholarly, peer-reviewed journal The Acorn: Philosophical Studies in Pacifism and Nonviolence.
Many thanks to Dr. Bill Gay, long-time CPP member, contributor, and activist scholar for peace and justice. His generous financial support is the backbone of this prestigious award, and CPP hopes that awardees will follow in Dr. Gay’s illustrious footsteps as lifelong champions for a more just and more peaceful world.
CPP: Concerned Philosophers for Peace 