Call for Paper Proposals
For a conference on
Spaces of Exception:
Social Marginality, Racialized Inequalities and Invisibility
in the 21st Century
May 28, 2010
Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago’s Center for the Study of Race,
Politics and Culture invites paper proposals for a day long
conference to be held on the campus on May 28, 2010.
This conference on “Spaces of Exception: Social Marginality,
Racialized Inequalities
and Invisibility in the 21st Century,” seeks to explore the
physical, social and ideological processes that go into
creating spaces of exception, that is spaces that are
characterized by the suspension of laws, norms and rights
understood to apply to all. This conference is interested in
socio-spatial forms of segregation and/or stigmatization and
the kinds of mechanisms that enable their existence or help
perpetuate them. While the notion of “the exception” appears
in the work of Giorgio Agamben (1998) in relation to the space
of the camp (such as the concentration camp or refugee camp),
this conference is interested in “spaces of exception” broadly
speaking, and welcomes papers that explore, in one way or
another, processes of spatialization that depend on ideologies
of difference, exclusivity or extra-legality.
Conference paper proposals are welcome on the following themes:
Urban marginality: What are the mechanisms of segregation,
racial and ethnic stigmatization and social inequality that
shape the landscape of the city in the current globalized
world? How do various understandings of “the city” reinforce
or dismantle the aforementioned barriers?
Spaces of containment: What are the mechanisms that go into
justifying spaces of containment? What is the relationship
between notions of “security,” “sovereignty” and “protection”
and spaces of containment such as the refugee camp, the
prison, the army camp/base, or the gated community?
Spaces of invisibility: Through what mechanisms do certain
people, groups become invisible? For example, how do notions
of sovereignty, rights, legality/extra legality/illegality,
determine who is recognizable as a social and political actor
and who is not?
Professor Veena Das of Johns Hopkins University and Professor
Teresa Caldeira of the University of California, Berkeley will
serve as the conference keynote speakers. Papers presented at
the conference will be considered for publication as a special
issue of an academic journal. All expenses – transport,
housing, meals – will be provided for persons chosen to present.
Paper proposals should not be more that two single-spaced
pages and must be
accompanied by a short two-page resume. A copy of these
materials should be
sent electronically by April 23 to each of the following:
Ramón A. Gutiérrez
([log in to unmask]) and Nell Gabiam ([log in to unmask]).
For additional information about the conference, please
contact Prof. Ramón A. Gutiérrez, Director, Center for the
Study of Race, Politics and Culture, University of Chicago at
773-702-8063 or [log in to unmask]
*****************
Nell Gabiam
Provost Postdoctoral Fellow
Center for the Study of Race,Politics and Culture
The University of Chicago
Tel:(773)834-8736
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