21.4854, Calls: Socioling, Discourse Analysis, Anthro Ling/Slovenia

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LINGUIST List: Vol-21-4854. Thu Dec 02 2010. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 21.4854, Calls: Socioling, Discourse Analysis, Anthro Ling/Slovenia

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1)
Date: 30-Nov-2010
From: Igor Z. Zagar [igor.zzagar at gmail.com]
Subject: Questioning European Values: Discursive Constructions of Europe
 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Thu, 02 Dec 2010 17:34:24
From: Igor Z. Zagar [igor.zzagar at gmail.com]
Subject: Questioning European Values: Discursive Constructions of Europe

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Full Title: Questioning European Values: Discursive Constructions of Europe 

Date: 11-Mar-2011 - 13-Mar-2011
Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia 
Contact Person: Igor Z. Zagar
Meeting Email: igor.zzagar at gmail.com
Web Site: http://www.pei.si/Sifranti/StaticPage.aspx?id=80 

Linguistic Field(s): Anthropological Linguistics; Discourse Analysis; Sociolinguistics 

Call Deadline: 15-Dec-2010 

Meeting Description:

The widespread enthusiasm for Europe from the beginning of the 1990s is largely being replaced by equally widespread resignation. It seems that the European political project is continuing more on inertia than on genuine political, social, and economic ideas or coherent programs. At the same time, the social, economic, and political problems that have caused disappointment and disillusionment among the peoples of Europe are very real and persistent. The aim of this conference is to explore how social, political, and economic crisis of Europe is discursively constructed on the one hand, and how this crisis of popular political and social imagination is discursively represented (in policy documents, in the media, in arts).

Registration fee
The registration fee is 120 euros and covers all conference materials, refreshments, and lunches.

Venue
The conference venue will be a recently renovated three star City Hotel, located at the city center. City Hotel will provide a special room discount for conference participants for a limited number of rooms. 

Plenary speakers
Professor Bo Strath, Renvall Institute, University of Helsinki.
Professor Bob Jessop, Department of Sociology, Lancaster University.
Professor Andreas Musolff, School of Language and Communication Studies, University of East Anglia.
Professor Chris Lorenz, Department of History, VU University, Amsterdam.
Professor Jonathan Charteris-Black, Department of English, Linguistics &
Communication, University of the West of England. 

Call for Papers:

We have extended the deadline to December 15th. 

Specific conference topics:

Europe in Media and Public Discourse: How is Europe as a political entity and social agency constructed through mass media and parliamentary discourse? What do the media coverage and political discussions on European political projects reveal about the nature and functioning of the EU- and, perhaps more importantly, what do they downplay and exclude? How does the public image of Europe encode, present, and/or distort its policies and its structure? Europe, the Welfare State, and Neoliberalism On the one hand, the EU presents itself as the continuation and/or even embodiment of Europe's characteristic sensitivity to issues of social justice and equality but, on the other hand, certain EU measures and policies actually result in its precise opposite. The EU seems to be caught in crossfire of demands from multinational corporations and financial institutions on the one hand, and its own peoples on the other. Is there a way out beyond the old choice between the welfare state and neoliberalism?

A Common European History? In the mobilization rounds for its political project and enlargements, the EU seems to focus a lot on Europe's common and glorious history, while the actual history of Europe is a history of deep and violent ethnic, religious, class and gender divisions, subjugations, and inequalities. How is this common history (discursively) (re)constructed and/or invented? Is there a way to come to terms with such history that goes beyond the paeans to contemporary 'multiculturalism' and 'celebration of diversity'? Can European history teach us more than Christian charity and humility, liberal respect for private property, and superficial tolerance? Knowledge-based Economy and Knowledge Society The propaganda that followed in the wake of the Bologna reform promised the rise of the knowledge society and knowledge-based economy. Actual reforms of the universities involved budget cuts, closing down certain departments, attempts to privatize the universities, and introducing (or raising) student fees and credits. Does a knowledge-based economy mean an economy in which knowledge production is commercialized, commoditized, and standardized? How are these developments (discursively) legitimized? Is there more to European education than 'skill-enhancement' and 'lifelong learning'? Europe and Democracy Although political threats to democracy have been successfully eliminated, a new threat has emerged with the development of the EU's core project: the single market with a single currency. The new threat to democracy seems to be economic, wresting control over the most basic and crucial aspects of people's lives- such as working conditions and relations, wage policies, and governance of public institutions- away from democratic supervision and control. Can democracy survive European integration? How is democracy (discursively) (re)presented to different publics, and for different purposes?

This conference is intended to be a forum where scholars working within various fields of linguistics ((Critical) Discourse Analysis, Sociolinguistics, Applied Linguistics, Media Linguistics, Anthropological Linguistics, Pragmatics, Corpus Linguistics, Language Acquisition, Language Policies, Language Documentation, Translation, Language and Literature, Rhetoric and Argumentation) can discuss both theoretical and applied issues related to Europe (in all its possible forms) with scholars coming from other, not necessary linguistic, fields (Philosophy, Sociology, Economy, Political Sciences, Educational Sciences, Media Studies, ...). The main goal of the conference, then, is to provide a collaborative environment where the linguistic approach to Europe, European and other related phenomena can be combined with approaches (methodologies and epistemologies) of (other) Social Sciences and Humanities, in an attempt to yield a multiple and richer view of what Europe was, is, and could be, its (possible and/or potential) meanings and metaphors, implications and implicatures, as well as a more complex view of (what could be considered as) European values.

Important Dates:

15 December 2010 (extended), abstracts due.
31 December 2010, notification of acceptance.
31 January 2011, all conference fees due (registration fee & accommodation package).
28 February 2011, final program.
11 - 13 March 2011, the conference.

Organizers:

Programme Comittee
Igor Z. Zagar, Educational Research Institute & University of Maribor, Slovenia.
Primoz Krasovec, Educational Research Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Jef Verschueren, University of Antwerp, Belgium.
Guenther Kress, Institute of Education, London, United Kingdom.

Organizing Committee:

Igor Z. Zagar, igor.zzagar at gmail.com.
Primoz Krasovec, primoz.krasovec at gmail.com (please use this email address for questions and inquiries regarding the programme).
Sabina Z. Znidarsic, sabina.znidarsic4 at gmail.com (please use this email address for organizational, financial, and technical matters and questions).

For all the details, please check the conference website.




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