XLII Colloquy of the American Weil Society

The Politics and Ethics of Labour

Simone Weil’s posthumous La condition ouvrière has now been in circulation for over 70 years, and the texts of which it is composed are yet older still. And while this book might not be widely read in the anglophone world, Weil’s most-read works, such as The Need for Roots or Gravity and Grace, also offer extended reflections on labour. But despite Weil’s thorough and subtle critiques of Marxism, her moving plea to make of labour the spiritual core of modern society, her engaged participation in factory life, and an enthusiastic reception by thinkers like Hannah Arendt, she is not always considered amongst the canon of post-Marxist labour theorists. This Colloquy will seek contributions that can help to establish (or question) Weil’s importance as a theorist of labour. We hope to collectively explore Weil’s continued importance in our post-industrial, neoliberal economy.

The complete program and abstracts are available here.

Day 1—Friday, April 26th, 2024

Words of Welcome (8:45)

PANEL 1 – WEIL AND THE MARXIST TRADITION(S) (9:00-10:30)
Eric Springsted (Santa Fe): “What Is the Point of ‘Is There a Marxist Doctrine’?”
Samuel O’Connor Perks (University of Manchester): “Simone Weil, the Catholic Worker
Movement, and contested readings of Marx”
Kenneth Novis (University of Oxford): “The Factory Journals as Worker’s Inquiry”

Break (10:30-10:45)

PANEL 2 – TOWARDS A THEORY OF LABOUR? (10:45-12:15)
Inese Radzins (California State University, Stanislaus): “Method (rather than a theory)
for Considering the Politics of Labour”
Alexandre Crépeau (University of Ottawa): “Impactful and Dignified: Simone Weil and
David Graeber’s Shared Ideal of Work”
Joanna Winterø (Københavns Universitet): “How much against your will?”

Lunch (12:15-2:15)

PANEL 3 – LABOUR IN SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PRACTICE: EDUCATION,
CARE, COMMUNITY (2:15-3:45)
Alexandre Martins (Marquette University): “Insights from Weil for the Challenge of
Moral Destress in Health Care”
Sarah Dunford (Catholic University of America): “Neither Left nor Right: Intertwining
Community and Labour”
Ryan Poll (Northeastern Illinois University): “The Education Crisis and the Sanctity of
Labor in Simone Weil’s Political Theory”

Break (3:45-4:00)

PANEL 4 – LABOUR AND SPIRITUALITY (4:00-5:30)
Connor Williams (Union Theological Seminary): “Labour (justice) as spiritual exercise
in Weil and Process and Womanist theologians”
Rachel Matheson (McMaster University): “A Little Pile of Inert Matter: Flesh and Body
in Simone Weil’s Spirituality of Work”
Noemi Faustini (Pontificia Università Gregoriana): “Simone Weil’s Concept of Slavery
and Jewish Mysticism”

Day 2—Saturday, April 27th, 2024

PANEL 5 – WEIL IN CONVERSATION: HEIDEGGER, ARENDT, BATAILLE
(9:00-10:30)
Jacob Wilson (Carleton University): “Weil and Bataille on Political Community”
Robert Reed (Boston College): “Decreative Phenomenology and the Problem of Unjust
Labour”
Peli Meir (University of Haifa): “The Power of Speech and Silence in Weil and Arendt”

Break (10:30-10:45)

PANEL 6 – CONTEMPORARY APPLICATIONS OF WEIL’S THOUGHT (10:45-
12:15)
Manuel Ruelas (Ind. Scholar): “Where are we standing?”
Alejandra Novoa Echaurren (Universidad de los Andes): “Simone Weil and prerequisite
to dignity of labour in the actual neoliberal society”
Julia Morrow (Wheaton College): “Analyzing 21st century understandings of labour and
gender through a Weillien lens”

Lunch (12:15-2:15)

PANEL ON SIMONE WEIL’S POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: FIELD NOTES FROM
THE MARGINS (BENJAMIN P. DAVIS) (2:15-3:45)
Discussants: Scott B. Ritner (University of Colorado Boulder)
Sophie Bourgault (University of Ottawa)
Mac Loftin (Harvard University)
Break (3:45-4:00)

AMERICAN WEIL SOCIETY BUSINESS MEETING (4:00-5:30)