CFP: Making Connections

We live in interesting times. The Arab Spring, Occupy X and anti-austerity protests are only the latest and most visible examples in a long tradition of grassroots social movements in which ordinary people create democratic alternatives to hierarchy and inequality. Here and everywhere, people are getting together and making connections between their own everyday experiences and wider patterns of relationships and power, official and unofficial. They (or we) are making connections with each other, personal and political. New patterns evolve as people experiment with different ways of organising, of relating, of connecting, of thinking. Scholars, artists and activists observe, theorise and participate in various ways, helping to make connections, both in social movements and in the movements of everyday life. Feminists, in particular, have foregrounded intersectional approaches to power, privilege and oppression. Race, class and gender; sexuality, ecology and (dis)ability; age, species and faith -- each of these and more interconnect in numerous ways, both subtle and overt.

The Anarchist Studies Network is hosting a conference to acknowledge, celebrate and deepen these diverse efforts to understand and transform our world, our lives. We want this conference itself to be a space for making connections, both intellectual and personal. It will include a blend of more or less traditional panels, participatory discussions and experiential workshops, extended breaks and social events. This first call is an invitation to propose thematic streams, workshops or panel topics by those who are willing to take a role in organising them. Further calls will invite papers, participation, performance. We're particularly keen to make connections across borders of identities, movements, disciplines and practices. We invite contributions from students, academics and unaffiliated researchers, activists and artists, health practitioners and care workers, trade unionists, community organisers and those without labels. Above all, we would like to nurture a convivial atmosphere in which to make connections with others, explore areas of both overlap and difference, create or simply meet, to learn and to share.

Our intention is for this to be a scholarly conference with a difference. Scholar means both student and teacher. By bringing together a diverse group of participants, who share in common a desire to learn and a commitment to acknowledging and creating alternatives to rigid hierarchies and exploitative relationships, we hope that each of us will have something to offer others and much to

learn. The process of organising the conference is decentralised, with the conference initiators welcoming proposals from a diverse range of session organisers covering a wide variety of engaged and engaging topics. We also invite session organisers to consider playful, participatory and/or experimental panel and workshop formats. This might range from a traditional three paper panel

followed by a discussion using alternative facilitation techniques (e.g., open space technology, fishbowl, or sitting in a circle with a facilitator) to more interactive workshop-style discussion or

experiential sessions. Our intention is not to be transgressive for the sake of it, but to encourage a variety of methods in order to facilitate making connections.

If you're interested in organising a stream or a session but are new to the role, feel free to contact us for advice about what this is likely to involve. You can also see how the 1st Anarchist Studies Network Conference in 2008 was organised by linking to the following web page, where thematic streams and their organisers are indicated in bold print:

http://www.anarchist-studies-network.org.uk/documents/Final%20Schedule.pdf

Likewise, if you'd like to do something a bit playful or different, but are not sure how or just need a little advice, please get in touch. Finally, if you are keen to be involved in a session, but not wanting to take on the responsibility of organising one, let us know and we'll see if we can match you up.

Topics we'd love to see explored include:

• Occupy X
• Race & Radical Politics
• The Arab Spring
• Anarchism & Feminism
• Embodiment & Practices of Freedom
• Anarchist/Queer
• Alternatives to Capitalism
• Direct Democracy in Action
• Revolutionary Theory and Practice
• Science, Technology and Ecology
• Non-Western Anarchisms
• Anarchism and Utopianism
• Class-Struggle Politics and Anarcho-Syndicalism
• Anarchist History
• Anarchism & Religion
• Post-anarchism
• Anarchy and Education
• Politics & Emotion
• Art, Literature & Social Transformation
• (Dis)ability
• Nurturing Autonomy
• Zapatismo, Via Campesina
• Borders, Walls & Fences
• Spaces of Resistance

And others we've not yet thought of. We welcome surprises. Please send your proposals (no more than 500 words) by 1 May 2012 to Alexandre Chrisoyannopoulos ([email protected]) and Ruth Kinna ([email protected]).

Conference Initiators

Matthew Adams, Alexandre Christoyannopoulos, Laurence Davis, Oisín Gilmore, Jamie Heckert, Petar Jandric, Ruth Kinna, Alex Prichard, Chris Rossdale & Matt Wilson

Contact

Laurence Davis DPhil
Dublin, Ireland
Email: [email protected]