Society of Anthropology of North America call for papers

[Leila Monaghan]

Steve Bialostock asked me to pass this on.  All are invited to the Society
of Anthropology of North America conference in Denver, April 15-17.  The
call for papers can be found at the below link and an outline of the
conference is described below.  Linguistic anthropology and other sessions
are welcome. <http://www.sananet.org/2010conf/papers.html>

http://www.sananet.org/2010conf/papers.html

*Reconsidering Hegemony: Anthropology in the Era of Hope and Fear*

The question of power – how it works, its complex constitution and
manifestations -- has been central to anthropology since its earliest days.
Recently anthropologists have explored the dynamics of power in scholarship
about neo-liberalism, color-blind racism, globalization, diasporic and other
oppositional politics, gender and sexualities, and many other subjects.
Perhaps the term hegemony - which has fallen out of use in recent years -
suggests productive ways to grapple anew with this question. This conference
seeks to explore the new meanings and uses of this concept given both recent
theoretical innovations and the dramatically changing political, economic
and social changes that define this era.



These changes have produced a complex political mosaic of hope and fear in
the context of changing political landscapes, intensifying economic hardship
and inequality, critiques of neoliberalism, new transnational anti-racist
and social democratic movements, growing attention to environmental justice
and climate change, highly contested and dangerous border politics, and
shifting discourses about race, the state, and imperial projects.
Understanding this complicated terrain with attention to how it is
differently experienced by various communities and social groups provides an
opportunity -- perhaps the necessity -- to focus critical attention on
hegemony as a concept, process, and catalyst for new modes of cooperation,
compromise, coercion and resistance.



We envision this conference as a forum for robust exchange. Consider this
both an invitation and encouragement to try out novel formats that promote
vibrant, engaged, sustained dialogue that challenges us to question across a
broad array of perspectives and topics. Some questions inspired by the
conference theme follow, but we are open to many others:



·      How are (different) peoples of the Americas and beyond experiencing
and responding to the challenges of a changing neoliberal order?

·      How best do we describe and understand new and continuing patterns of
difference and inequality? In what ways are injustices shaped by gender,
race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, citizenship/immigration status, and
intersections among these being reinscribed and/or resisted in local,
national and transnational contexts?

·      How are discourses about race, racism and multiculturalism being
represented and mobilized across the political spectrum in the wake of
Obama’s presidency?

·      How have hope and fear been used to advocate or challenge the
militarized, imperial projects that have shaped border politics and
international relations and relations within the Americas and beyond in the
21st century?

·      What are effective strategies, including activist, public and engaged
anthropologies, to help students and the communities we work with understand
and challenge the operations of power and hegemony?

·      What are the implications of the fiscal challenges facing
universities for the future of critical scholarship and widening access to
higher education and research?





Given the dramatic nature of political-economic changes over the past year
we need – as scholars, teachers, and global citizens -- to think boldly
about an agenda for anthropologies of North America that are theoretically
sophisticated, methodologically rigorous and creative, and that matter in
terms of the critical issues facing the diverse peoples of the Americas.





*Confirmed Featured Speakers (Other invitations still pending):*



·      Lee Baker. Dean of Academic Affairs Trinity College, Duke University

·      Jessica Cattelino. Associate Professor of Anthropology, UCLA

·      Aimee Cox.  Assistant Professor of African-American and African
Diaspora Studies, Rutgers University



*About Denver*

* *

Denver, the 20th largest metro area in America, has the 10th largest
downtown area of any major U.S. city. It is a diverse, beautiful city with
lots of amenities.





*Registration and Submission Process*



You can submit both your registration and proposal electronically.  Forms
will be available by mid-December on the SANA and ABA websites.  Detailed
information on registration, submission, costs, conference hotels, Denver
tourism and restaurants will also be posted at this same time.  Deadline for
proposal submission will be Saturday, January 30.



We are calling for and creating spaces for different types of sessions, ones
that promise to foster real discussion and debate! We seek sessions that ask
hard questions, challenge assumptions, assemble multiple perspectives, and
promote dialogue and collaboration.



Feel free to contact us with any questions or comments at:

abasana2010 at gmail.com



-- 
Leila Monaghan, PhD
Department of Anthropology
University of Wyoming
Laramie, Wyoming