Order and Chaos: Vernon Lee and the Politics of Disruption
University of Liverpool, School of the Arts Library
1-3 September 2026, in-person and online

Abstract deadline: 18 January 2026
Registration opens: 1 May 2026

 “It is only in our own day that people are beginning to question the perfection of established rules of conduct, to discuss the drawbacks of duty and self-sacrifice, and to speculate upon the possible futility of all ethical systems, nay, upon the possible vanity of all ideals and formulas whatever.” 
—Vernon Lee, Gospels of Anarchy, 1909

A radical breakdown of trust in institutions across government, media, education, religion— is currently gripping Western Europe and the US. An atmosphere of uncertainty and fear has been created: for individuals, for groups holding common goals, and even for whole nations as the spectres of authoritarianism and anarchy become increasingly real. Among much else, freedom of thought the right of assembly, personal/medical rights, gender preference and expression, efforts to save the environment—all are under attack throughout the world.

In 1908, Vernon Lee (1856-1935)—a writer always sensitive to new political, social and cultural formations—wrote Gospels of Anarchy with her signature blend of irony, and literary flair. The book explores, and sometimes devastates, the theories of Order and Anarchy, and of Utopia and Dystopia, promulgated by literary and philosophical giants of the nineteenth century such as Emerson, Tolstoi, Nietzsche, William James and H. G. Wells. In 1912, her book Vital Lies expanded on these themes. In a manifesto that speaks loudly to our own era of post-truth politics, she vehemently attacked those who were “redefining truth in such a way as to include edifying and efficacious fallacy and falsehood” and thus helping to dissolve the whole idea of truth altogether.

This conference aims to explore the political questions and challenges we face today through the lens that Vernon Lee brought to the same kind of challenges in her time: a lens that is simultaneously thought-provoking, curious, playful, radical, and multidisciplinary. Papers may wish to explore the breakdown and/or the imposition of illusory order or structure in various fields (educational, social, commercial, entertainment, literary, scientific, information), what damage it is doing and whether it can somehow be harnessed or managed to be beneficial; how resistance, rebellion and nonconformity in public, academic, and private life, thought and publication can modify “however infinitesimally, the opinions and ideals and institutions of the present and the future” as Lee suggests in Gospels of Anarchy.

Organisers welcome presentations, lightning presentations, panels/roundtables, workshops, or creative practice sessions that engage with the following topics (but are not limited to)

• Freedom of Thought, Speech, and Expression
• Pacifism, anti-violence, anti-nationalism, anti-imperialism
• Protest, strikes, rebellion
• Philosophy, ethics, and morality (individual, governmental, national, corporate)
• Feminisms, local, global and radical
• Trans studies
• Human and animal rights
• Psychology, psychiatry, neurology, and mental health
• Environment, ecology, and the Anthropocene
• Sustainable futures
• Education and self-development

Organisers would particularly like to hear about the ways in which Lee’s works speak to current events and trends, and postulate or enable the development of healthy, sustainable futures.

Papers (15 minutes) Roundtable/ panel (60 mins), workshops (60 mins), creative practice session (60 mins), and lightning papers (10 mins).

Organisers would be delighted to discuss proposals for panels or individual presentations, and to answer any questions you may have. Please submit questions, abstracts (300 words) and a short bio (100 words) in a Word/ GoogleDoc to the review committee email vernonleealliance@gmail.com by 18 January 2026.

Thanks to the generosity of the International Vernon Lee Society, we hope to offer bursaries to early-career/precarious scholars—more details on the application process will be made available in due course.

The conference is organized by members of The Vernon Lee Alliance (VLA):  Matthew Bradley (The University of Liverpool, UK), Elisa Bizzotto (Iuav University of Venice, Italy), Sally Blackburn-Daniels (Teesside University, UK), Mary F. Burns (Independent Scholar, US), Mandy Gagel (University of Michigan, US), Mary Clai Jones (Chadron State College, US), Tomi-Ann Roberts (Colorado College, US).