2019 marks the fiftieth anniversary of a historical period that arguably came to a close with the deaths at the Altamont Free Concert in 1969.
From the beginning of the mass-mediated inception of the hippie era, death seemed to be just around the corner, and not just because the millions of military and civilian losses of the War in Vietnam helped to give birth to a peace movement.
From the vantage point of fifty years later, the simple narrative of the hippie needs to be reexamined and problematized. The conference asks if and how a death wish or a death drive was always already inscribed in the hippie movement. Were death, failure, and breakage an inherent vice of hippie culture?
The conference takes place 12-14 September 2019. The deadline for abstracts is 31 May 2019.
