Conferences & Calls for Papers
We would appreciate it if you could inform us of any conferences you organize yourself, which you hear about, or that could be of interest to our group. Also, editors of special issues or edited volumes who are searching for contributors are welcome to 'advertise' through e-Extreme. Lastly, when you cross upon useful websites with information on conferences and calls for papers, please contact the editor responsible for this section: William M. Downs.
Making Democracy: Violence, Politics, and the American Founding
Ohio University
April 22–23, 2010
http://www.ohio.edu/washingtonforum
The newly opened George Washington Forum on American Ideas, Politics, and Institutions, which has its home at Ohio University, invites paper proposals for a conference and subsequent edited volume on violence, politics, and the American founding. The conference will be held at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio (April 22–23, 2010). Andrew Cayton (Miami University), Peter Onuf (University of Virginia), David Hendrickson (Colorado College), and Patrick Griffin (University of Notre Dame) will deliver plenary lectures. Democratic nations have seldom been created in times of peace, and the United States was no exception. This conference aims to promote academic discussion and to explore new research trends on the interplay between violence and the political, intellectual, social, and cultural histories of British North America and the United States during the last three-quarters of the eighteenth century. Papers on the conference theme in its wider Atlantic and European contexts are encouraged. The conference organizers welcome the work of advanced doctoral students and both young and established scholars in the fields of history, political science, religion, philosophy, anthropology, and literature. Proposals — which should include a 500-word abstract, a brief curriculum vitae, and current contact information — should be sent by August 3, 2009, to the conference organizers/volume editors:
Dr. Robert G. Ingram, Director, The George Washington Forum, Department of History, Bentley Annex 415, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701–2979, USA. Email: washingtonforum@ohio.edu.
Dr. Brian Schoen, Department of History, Ohio University, Bentley Annex 411, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701–2979, USA
The George Washington Center has limited funds to assist participants with part of their travel expenses. Prospective participants who may need travel assistance should include information on the amount they would like to request in their proposal. Notifications of a paper’s acceptance will be mailed in early September. The conference is supported primarily by a grant from the Jack Miller Center for Teaching America’s Founding Principles and History.
Performing Democracy: Cultural Representations in the Spanish Transition
Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA) April 7-11, 2010
Montreal, Quebec
This
panel seeks to explore the roles cultural practices played in the
Spanish transition to democracy. How did popular participation figure
into the design of the future democracy and its cultural
representations? What roles did cultural practices play in the
populace’s progressive disenchantment with the transitional
process? Is collective memory of the transition maintained by its
cultural representations? The panel calls for papers that address
these and related questions and that provide examples of cultural
practices dealing with the Spanish transition. Send one-page abstract
in Spanish or English to: David Rodríguez-Solás,
drodriguezsolas@gmail.com.
Deadline: September 30, 2009. The 41st Annual Convention will
feature approximately 350 sessions, as well as dynamic speakers and
cultural events. Details and the complete Call for Papers for the
2010 Convention will be posted in June: www.nemla.org.
Praeger: Muslims in American Popular Culture
Call for Articles
Praeger
will publish a three-volume reference set titled Muslims
in American Popular Culture in
2010/2011. The first collection of its kind, MIAPC will be marketed
mainly to university, public, and secondary school libraries. The
editors are looking for accessible articles of various lengths on a
wide variety of topics within the categories of contemporary American
Muslim entertainment, communities, social concerns, religious
expression, and politics. The first round of articles is due on
October 15, 2009; abstracts will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
Completed articles will be guaranteed a place in the collection based
on dates received and accepted. Please send abstracts or questions to
aricha31@kennesaw.edu
or to iomidvar@spsu.edu.
1st Global Conference Making Sense Of: Pain
17-19
February 2010
The Women’s College, Sydney, Australia
http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/probing-the-boundaries/making-sense-of/pain/call-for-papers/
Pain is an inevitable aspect of the experience of all sentient beings. Many, if not all, fields of human activity have the potential to occasion pain - and much of what we do as individuals and/or collectivities involves our efforts to prevent, ameliorate, cure or avoid pain. Nonetheless, despite the unpleasantness and sometimes the agony of the experience of pain, we are also capable of enduring it. Depending on the context, we may do so willingly. Yet there is also the dark side of pain: humans are capable of inflicting it and at times do so intentionally, for gain or enjoyment; they can also hurt others through carelessness and disregard of their needs and comfort. This interdisciplinary conference provides a forum for inquiry into the vicissitudes of pain: its nature and existential significance, and the many ways in which pain plays a part in our lives. Of particular concern, too, are the biological, social and interpersonal circumstances within which our reactions to pain occur. Papers will be considered on any related theme. 300 word abstracts should be submitted by Friday 14th August 2009. If your paper is accepted for presentation at the conference, an 8 page draft paper should be submitted by Friday 15th January 2010.
“An American Dilemma”? Race/Ethnicity and Welfare States in the U.S, Europe and the Nordic Countries
1-3 October 2009
University of Southern Denmark in Odense
http://www.sdu.dk/Om_SDU/Institutter_centre/C_Velfaerd/An_American_Dilemma.aspx
In the 1940s the Swedish economist and social engineer Gunnar Myrdal went to the U.S. to study racial conflicts in that country. The result was the influential book An American Dilemma, published in 1944, which has had significant impact on thinking about race in the U.S. and beyond. More than sixty years later, much has been turned upside down, and now the Nordic and European welfare states, confronted with ethnic heterogeneity and multiculturalism, often look toward the American “melting pot” for guidance on how to combine national welfare states with immigration and globalism. Taking its point of departure from the current academic debates on race/ethnicity and welfare policies, this conference aims to go beyond stereotypes of welfare state models and immigration regimes in order to compare critically Nordic, European and American experiences at significant moments in history. The conference will bring together a group of U.S., Nordic and European scholars to engage in a cross-national as well as chronological comparison of one the most complex and controversial aspects of modern welfare states: the question of “us” and “them” in relation to the development of social rights and welfare institutions. By facilitating a cross-cultural conversation, we also hope to cross the border between two very different welfare state narratives: the “idealistic” history of the Nordic and European model of welfare, and the more conflict-orientated history of the American welfare state. The organizers plan to publish the papers presented in an edited volume after the conference. In relationship to the conference will be organized a research workshop for PhD-students who are working on these questions across disciplines. This will be organized by Research School for Welfare and Diversity and take place at Roskilde University Centre.
Twenty Years After: Central and Eastern European Communist Regimes as a Shared Legacy
Prague, October 6-7, 2009
http://www.ustrcr.cz/en/international-conference-twenty-years-after
The conference focuses on the legacy of the non-democratic past of Central European countries. Unlike the more common approaches stressing the radical nature of ruptures accompanying the demise of communist regimes in the region, twenty years after the fall, both the scientific community and Central and Eastern European societies are probably ready to accept a more detailed account of prevailing – but also of transformed – social and political practices. The conference is based on an interdisciplinary or multi-disciplinary approach towards the late communist period of the 1980s and its legacy to the present day. It will offer uncommon methods and topics to the wider academic community as well as to the interested public. An institutionalized coming to terms with the past, as the key panel of the conference, will be presented through the comparative prism of transitional justice, a field well known in Western social sciences but less known terrain in the East.
Call for Articles on Anarchism
Journal for the Study of Radicalism: Special Issue on Anarchism
JSR: Journal for the Study of Radicalism invites article submissions for a special issue on anarchism. We particularly are interested in articles that analyze a particular individual, group, or current within the broader subject. We encourage articles on lesser known aspects of contemporary or historical manifestations of anarchism, as well as contested areas within anarchism. Topics might include black bloc tactics, the history of _Fifth Estate_, _Green Anarchy_ and other periodicals, conflicts between anarchist perspectives, violence and non-violence in anarchism, histories of anarchism, anarchist communities, or international aspects of contemporary anarchism. Generally speaking, the journal's historical focus is from the early modern period to the present, and the geographic range is global, so we'd be interested in articles discussing groups or individuals whose influence is international, though this is not essential. JSR is an interdisciplinary journal, and we encourage articles from a range of disciplinary backgrounds. We are especially interested in articles that include some original fieldwork, for instance, interviews or use of archival sources. Submissions should be 20-30 pages in length and conform to the Chicago Manual of Style with endnotes. Please include a one-paragraph abstract, and a brief author bio. Images for possible use in an article should be 300 dpi, and authors are responsible for requesting and receiving permission to reprint images for scholarly use. Send queries, proposals, and articles to jsr@msu.edu. The deadline for submitting completed articles is September 1, 2009, and we encourage early submission to facilitate the review process. See http://www.msu.edu/jsr and www.msupress.msu.edu/journals/jsr for more information on the journal. JSR-a print academic journal published by Michigan State University Press-is devoted to serious, scholarly exploration of the forms, representations, meanings, and historical influences of radical social movements. With sensitivity and openness to historical and cultural contexts of the term, we loosely define "radical," as distinguished from "reformers," to mean groups who seek revolutionary alternatives to hegemonic social and political institutions, and who use violent or non-violent means to bring about socio-political change.
Before and Beyond Auschwitz. New conflicts and alternative routes among exclusion, identity and diversity
27-29 January 2010, Macerata (Italy)
Studies and reflections on Auschwitz (seen) as a paradigmatic event concerning the building and the destruction of both historical and political categories have thoroughly inquired into origins and effects far beyond the 20th-century horizon. These study days aim to propose a re-evaluation of those circumstances (historical, social, political, cultural, philosophical) which, even through progressive dissipations of the sense of (human) limits, led to the formation of regimes where everything seemed possible. Together with this analysis aimed at confronting different approaches and disciplines we attempt to look into the Contemporaneity, especially the new conflicts often accompanying forms of identity closure, in the light of those exclusion/discrimination models which frequently concern the tout court differences. The intent to go beyond Auschwitz, revitalizing an idea of remembrance that is not merely conservative but try to link up with the Contemporaneity, leads to study those forms of conflict oppositions, from the peace movements to the non-violence, grown during the 20th century. Within this more general framework the following topics will be closely discussed: Minority exclusion and discrimination Gender violence: woman as subject and object of totalitarian regimes, Peace movements and pacifism Identity and politics: gender, ethnic and social class, New conflict opposition forms after Auschwitz and Hiroshima, conflicts in the contemporary world, Biopolitics. All research workers, scholars and specialists interested in the convention themes are invited to debate these topics in order to foster confrontation among different prospects and viewpoints on branches of learning. Those wishing to participate in one of the thematic workshops are invited to present an abstract of his/her own speech (max 300 words) not later than September 30, 2009. Proposals must be sent to: csgeneremc@gmail.com or faxed to 0039 0733 258 2551. Only the abstracts in Italian or English language containing name and surname, email address, speech title and a brief curriculum vitae (max 2000 characters, spaces included) will be accepted.
The Holocaust by Bullets in Ukraine. A Conference for Researchers and Educators
11
September 2009
Vught, the Netherlands
Organized by the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies in Amsterdam, an organization of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences and the University of Amsterdam (http://www.chgs.nl ), this conference marks the arrival in the Netherlands of the exhibition “The Holocaust by Bullets: The Mass Shooting of Jews in Ukraine 1941-1944,” devoted to the pioneering oral history and archeological work by the team of Father Patrick Desbois (Yadhad in Unum, Paris; http://www.holocaustbybullets.com/). One aim of the conference is to further and, indeed, initiate scholarly and educational networking across disciplines and state borders. There will plenary sessions and simultaneous sessions on Ukraine’s Shoah; both the event and its aftermath in commemoration and teaching, within and beyond Ukraine. Apart from the meetings there will be poster presentations by Dutch and Ukrainian educators. The invited speakers, chairs, and discussants are coming from various countries. Participants include Dutch teacher-trainers, their Ukrainian colleagues (present in the Netherlands as part of an exchange program), and most of the alumni of a fellowship program in genocide studies for Ukrainian citizens, in existence at the CHGS between August 2006 and June 2009. Guest of honor and speaker will be Father Patrick Desbois, who with others will also open the exhibition “The Holocaust by Bullets” at Camp Vught National Memorial on Thursday, 10 September 2009, at 2 p.m.; http://www.nmkampvught.nl/. The conference language is English. The program is available at http://www.chgs.nl.
XXIII Convegno SISP
Roma,
Facoltà di Scienze Politiche LUISS Guido Carli
17 - 19
settembre 2009
Sezioni e Panels
6.
Partecipazione e Movimenti Sociali
Donatella Della Porta e Gianni
Piazza
6.1. Movimenti studenteschi e giovanili: una prospettiva storica e transnazionale
Chairs: Donatella Della Porta donatella.dellaporta@eui.eu e Gianni Piazza giannipiazza@tiscali.it
Discussants: Francesca Forno
Abstract: Sebbene gli studenti e i giovani attivisti abbiano svolto un ruolo prominente in molti movimenti sociali, le ricerche nelle scienze politiche e sociali sui significati e le caratteristiche della loro partecipazione è ancora poco sistematica. Anche se gli studi sui movimenti studenteschi hanno una posizione rilevante nello sviluppo delle teorie sui movimenti sociali, molte ricerche si sono infatti focalizzate su pochi casi (specialmente sul movimento studentesco del ’68), mentre le più recenti proteste hanno ricevuto minore attenzione. In questo panel intendiamo ospitare contributi teorici ed empirici che riflettano sulle spiegazioni che le scienze politiche e sociali danno dei movimenti studenteschi e giovanili del passato (dalla disponibilità biografica all’emergere di nuovi codici, dal conflitto generazionale a quello sociale), come pure sul loro uso potenziale per la comprensione delle più recenti ondate di proteste nelle scuole e nelle università in Italia, Grecia, Francia e altrove.
6.2. Oltre partiti ed elezioni: una nuova destra radicale europea?
Chairs: Manuela Caiani manuela.caiani@eui.eu e Giorgia Bulli giorgiabulli@yahoo.it
Discussants: Riccardo Marchi
Abstract:
Negli ultimi anni, in Europa, come altrove, si è assistito ad
una crescita dell’estremismo di destra. Questo sia per quanto
riguarda la politica istituzionale, nella forma di un crescente
successo elettorale dei partiti di estrema destra e della loro
capacità di reclutamento di nuove leve, ma anche nel numero e
intensità di azioni (violente e non) ad opera di gruppi e
attivisti di estrema destra (es. Bundesamt für
Verfassungsschutz). Tuttavia, l’attenzione della ricerca
scientifica sull’argomento si è per ora concentrata per lo
più su partiti ed elezioni. A livello aggregato, macro cause
(per esempio, crisi economiche, ondate di immigrati, ecc.) sono state
individuate per rendere conto del successo elettorale dei partiti di
estrema destra; mentre a livello individuale sono state citate
caratteristiche psicologiche e socio-demografiche dei (potenziali)
attivisti ed elettori. Inoltre, la ricerca sulla violenza di estrema
destra ha teso spesso a sottolineare le caratteristiche patologiche,
quando non irrazionali, di queste forme di comportamento (della Porta
2005). Questo tipo di approccio lascia inesplorate cruciali questioni
come i meccanismi causali (a livello micro e meso) che intervengono
fra macro-condizioni e macro effetti, così come la costruzione
simbolica (e la comunicazione) della realtà esterna e le
dinamiche di gruppo che intensificano e radicalizzano l’attivismo
politico. Maggiore attenzione a questi meccanismi è
(esplicitamenteo o implicitamente) data nella ricerca sui movimenti
sociali. L’estrema destra odierna si presenta infatti come un
panorama molto variegato (per l’Italia si parla di “destra
plurale”) in cui convivono diversi tipi di gruppi (oltre a partiti
politici, movimenti politici, associazioni culturali, gruppi
sub-culturali skinhead, ecc.) e attraversato da profonde
trasformazioni che riguardano tanto le tematiche affrontate, quanto
le sue forme organizzative (maggior approccio internazionale?) che
comunicative (nuovi strumenti di comunicazione utilizzati?) a livello
nazionale e transnazionale.
L’obiettivo di questo panel è
quindi esplorare il fenomeno dell’estrema destra odierna in Europa,
attraverso una riflessione approfondita sui cambiamenti dai quali
essa è attualmente attraversata e sulle conseguenti nuove
sfide che essa pone. In particolare si invitano paper che
investighino le seguenti aree tematiche/linee guida del panel:
(a)
Estrema destra non partitica (es. gruppi sub-culturali, movimenti
sociali giovanili)
(b) Europeizzazione/trans-nazionalizzazione
dell’estrema destra partitica e non
(c) Estrema destra e nuove
forme di comunicazione politica (Internet, Blogs, ecc.).