On September 26-29, 2007, the second international pragmatism conference will be held in Babes-Bolyai University, in Cluj-Napoca, Romania: The Philosophy of Pragmatism: Salient Inquiries. I’ve proposed speaking on the following:

From Hull House to Paseo Boricua: The Theory and Practice of Community Inquiry

The social settlement called Hull House provided services including kindergarten facilities, an employment bureau, an art gallery, libraries, a cooperative residence for working women, the first Little Theater in America, a Labor Museum, and a meeting place for trade unions. Hull House exemplified John Dewey’s version of pragmatism, requiring a faith in “the potentialities of human nature.” In our work on “community inquiry,” we have attempted to continue that spirit through social action projects in which a key question is “What happens when community members are not merely recipients of services, but as Dewey argues, become part of the process of authority?” The talk focuses on the theory of community inquiry and our work with Paseo Boricua (Chicago), a modern-day version of Hull House.

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