Since its emergence in the 1990s, New Materialism has marked a significant theoretical reorientation away from entrenched human–nonhuman dualisms inherited from modern and humanist traditions. Influential interventions by scholars such as Karen Barad (Meeting the Universe Halfway), Jane Bennett (Vibrant Matter), and Rosi Braidotti (The Posthuman) have sought to reposition the human among nonhuman actants, interrogate the stability of the liberal, individuated subject, and foreground the distributed material forces shaping late capitalism, ecological crisis, and climate change. Over the past three decades, these approaches have gained increasing prominence across disciplines—particularly within the environmental humanities, literary and cultural studies, performance studies, philosophy, and the social sciences—alongside the rise of the Anthropocene as a key framework for understanding human–nonhuman entanglements (Haraway, Staying with the Trouble; Tsing, The Mushroom at the End of the World; Morton, Hyperobjects).
At the same time, the conceptual breadth and interdisciplinary uptake of New Materialism have generated productive tensions, ambiguities, and critical debates concerning its definitions, genealogies, and political implications. As Coole and Frost’s foundational collection New Materialisms: Ontology, Agency, and Politics and Dolphijn and van der Tuin’s New Materialism: Interviews & Cartographies make clear, the field is less a unified theory than a heterogeneous constellation of approaches. Uncommoning Matter responds to these debates by bringing together scholars to critically engage with new materialist frameworks through both theoretical inquiry and aesthetic practice.
The conference invites contributions that examine the ongoing potential, limits, and necessary reconfigurations of New Materialism in relation to contemporary political, ecological, and epistemological challenges. In conversation with work such as Puig de la Bellacasa’s Matters of Care, Gómez-Barris’s The Extractive Zone, and Marisol de la Cadena’s Earth Beings, particular attention will be given to the role of aesthetic practices—such as literature, performance, visual art, and other cultural forms—in rethinking materiality and in testing, extending, or troubling new materialist concepts. We welcome paper and practice-based proposals from researchers across disciplines, including (but not limited to) literary and cultural studies, performance studies,philosophy, environmental humanities, art history, and social theory. The conference welcomes contributions that engage with New Materialism as a dynamic and contested field, exploring its conceptual tensions, productive limits, and ongoing reconfigurations.
Possible topics and questions include, but are not limited to:
• The conceptual limits and internal tensions of New Materialism
• Aesthetic practices as sites for rethinking materiality
• New Materialism and the Anthropocene: critiques and alternatives
• Decolonial, Indigenous, and non-Western approaches to materiality
• The human, the nonhuman, and the question of relational ontology
• Genealogies, translations, and tensions within New Materialism across disciplines and geopolitical contexts
• The converging—and conflicting—traditions that shape contemporary New Materialisms (Indigenous and decolonial, feminist, posthuman, Marxist, among others)
• Care, vulnerability, and ethics in more-than-human worlds
• Speculative, experimental, and creative methodologies giving form to materialist approaches
• Overlooked ideas and perspectives into New Materialist’ topics, questions, and concepts
• “Uncommoning” as a critical or methodological intervention
By fostering dialogue across disciplinary and methodological boundaries, Uncommoning Matter aims to critically assess and expand the relevance of New Materialism for contemporary scholarship, highlighting how intellectual and aesthetic practices together can contribute to new ways of thinking material relations today.
Keynote Speakers
• Florencia Garramuño- (Conicet/UdeSA)
• Gabriel Giorgi- (Conicet/NYU)
• Macarena Gómez Barris (Brown University)
Organizing Committee
• Silvana Mandolessi (KU Leuven)
• Anneleen Masschelein (KU Leuven)
• Reindert Dhondt (UAntwerp)
• Marina Gamba (KU Leuven)
Scientific Committee
• Nathalie Grandjean (UCLouvain)
• Marco Caracciolo (UGent)
• Stef Craps (UGent)
• Paula Bertua (UBA)
• Nadia Lie (KU Leuven)
• Ilse Logie (UGent)
• Liesbeth François (Cambridge University)
• Michiel Meijer (UAntwerp)
• Begonya Saez Tajafuerce (UAB)
Practical information
Where? The conference will take place at KU Leuven. Leuven is easily accessible by road, rail (with international trains arriving at Brussels-South Railway Station, which is a 25-minute train ride away), and air (Brussels airport [BRU] is just 15 minutes away by train).
When: 21-22 May 2026
Fees: Uncommoning Matter will not charge any participation fees, but participants will have to arrange and cover their travel to Leuven as well as overnight accommodation.
Abstract proposal: Send a 300-word abstract in English (including title, presenter’s name, and institutional affiliation), and a short bio to uncommoningmatterconference@gmail.com
Deadline: 3o March 2026
Notification of acceptance: 5 April 2026
Questions? Write to uncommoningmatterconference@gmail.com or visit https://www.arts.kuleuven.be/conferences/uncommoning-matter/home