Special Issue of Critical Sociology

Cultural Practices in the Making of Oppositional Politics

Edited by Jean-Pierre Reed (University of Memphis)

Advances in symbolic anthropology, sociological and literary theory, and
cultural studies have increasingly challenged interpretations that see
“culture as domination” -- as necessarily producing rituals of conformity
and maintaining the status quo -- forcing many an interpreter to reconsider
the relationship cultural actors/consumers have to cultural practices and
their cultural objects. Feminists scholars, for example, have problematized
the many assumptions that go along with interpreting the subject as a victim
of ideological domination or as unproblematically indulging in cultural
pleasures, in effect calling attention to the very complex processes of
meaning making. Increasingly, these interpretive practices -- which converge
on the functional flexibility of language and explore the contradictory and
open nature of social and symbolic structures -- have been used to account
for political agency in new ways, especially in terms of how people as
agents can creatively alter and use cultural and ideological structures in
strategic ways.

This special issue -- developed from an American Sociological Association
2003 Special Session culture panel -- is designed to further explore the
mechanisms and processes through which everyday cultural practices assume a
radical or challenging nature, and play a role in oppositional consciousness
formation. We seek to demonstrate how “traditional” and/or politically
unconventional social spaces and cultural practices can exhibit a radical
potential under conditions of political mobilization. As such, we invite
submissions that critically consider the role of the everyday familiar,
cultural practices, and the “traditional” as anti-hegemonic vehicles in the
political arena. Some possible issues, topics, or questions may include, but
are not limited to, the following:


Cultural Practices and Politics
Modernity and Tradition as a Troubled Dichotomy
Social Conventions and Politics
Infrapolitics
Social Theory and Tradition
Motherhood as Political Anti-hegemonic
Religion as Radical Political
Religion and Change
What is Political?
Gender and Revolution
Gender and Social Change
Traditional Health Practices
Idioms, Symbols, and Politics
The Family in Feminist Discourse
Local Politics and Local Culture
Cultural Politics
“False Consciousness” as Political Consciousness
Idioms and Ideology: Symbolic Connections
The Politics of Sexuality Practices

Please submit a 500 word titled abstract and proposal by December 1st, 2003,
outlining the theoretical framework, main points, and methodological angle
of your paper. Forward abstracts and proposals to the Special Issue editor
at [log in to unmask] Applicants will be notified by January 7, 2004 on the
status of their submissions.

Selected papers ­ picked according to how well they fit the Special
Issue’s agenda and the journal review process -- are due May 1st, 2004. Five
(5) copies and one (1) electronic version of each final draft need to be
forwarded to:

Special Issue on Cultural Practices in the Making of Oppositional Politics
David Fasenfest, Editor
Critical Sociology
Wayne State University
656 Kirby St.
Detroit, MI 48202

Paper length limit: 20-25 pp.

Formatting and submission guidelines: See a recent issue of Critical
Sociology.

Questions: E-mail Special Issue editor.