******************************************************
*        http://www.anthropologymatters.com            *
* A postgraduate project comprising online journal,    *
* online discussions, teaching and research resources  *
* and international contacts directory.                *
 ******************************************************


111th AAA Annual Meeting: Borders and Crossings
November 14-18, 2012
San Francisco, CA


2012 AAA: Activisms
Abstract Deadline: March 2nd, 2012


In December 2010, a street vendor in Tunisia set himself on fire in
protest at his treatment by the police. This desperate act, which led
to his death, sparked public outrage and was a key inciting event of
what has come to be known as the Arab Spring. That December,
demonstrations and protests occurred in Tunisia, spreading to other
North African and Middle Eastern countries. Over the year that
followed, 2011, demonstrations continued within that region and beyond
in countries such as Libya, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Spain, Chile,
Israel, England, Mozambique, South Africa, and the United States. That
wave of demonstrations has yet to subside as in the advent of 2012,
there are already mass protests and new developments in Nigeria,
Egypt, and Russia. As these events continue to unfold, it has become
clear that across the world, people are engaged in parallel processes.
They are interrogating longstanding institutions and practices,
ranging from dictatorships to financial systems. They are connecting
across struggles and paying attention to one another’s challenges and
opportunities.

In keeping with the 2012 theme, “Borders and Crossings,” this panel
seeks to address questions raised by the political urgency of this
moment:
+ How do individuals and collectives come to act on moral, ethical,
political and social grounding despite the constraints and fears they
face?
+ What behavior counts as activism?
+ How do movements unite and dissipate along gender, ethnic,
generational and class axes?
+ How do protests and dissent arise from the body and its needs?
+ How do emotions and sensory experiences align in individual and
collective protest?
+ How do we consider the body not just as a resource for political
expression but also as the very basis of power itself?
+ How are more recent demonstrations historically rooted in
longstanding attempts by individuals and communities to change their
world?
+ What particular geographical linkages illuminate these global dynamics?
+ How do emerging forms of activism transgress bounded conventions of dissent?
We seek scholarship on social movements as well as other individual
acts of confrontation and methods of collective action that are not
subsumed under social movements. These can include protests, union
strikes, hunger strikes, political performances, human rights
campaigns, transnational solidarity networks, scholarly advocacy, and
participatory action research, among other forms of social and
political engagement.

In particular, we seek to consider activisms as plural and relational
phenomena. The panel invites multiple approaches to social action that
engage the politics and contradictions inherent in activist practice.
Such engagement entails a commitment to rich, detailed descriptions
and contextualization of local experiences within historical and
global processes. It is important to engage multiple levels at once
and not focus solely on the local at the expense of the global or
regional processes that impact local experiences. Furthermore we
cannot limit the discussion of activisms to views of power that engage
solely with reactions to downward subjugation. Activists have their
own politics that operate along intersecting categories of social
distinction including gender, age, class, and ethnicity. We encourage
proposals that draw attention to these close range views.

For consideration, please send a CV and 250 word abstract to Tayo
Jolaosho <[log in to unmask]> as soon as possible but no later
than March 2nd 2012.
*************************************************************
*           Anthropology-Matters Mailing List                 *
* To join this list or to look at the archived previous       *
* messages visit:                                             *
* http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/Anthropology-Matters.HTML   *
* If you have ALREADY subscribed: to send a message to all    *
* those currently subscribed to the list,just send mail to:   *
*        [log in to unmask]                  *
*                                                             *
*       Enjoyed the mailing list? Why not join the new        *
*       CONTACTS SECTION @ www.anthropologymatters.com        *
*    an international directory of anthropology researchers   *
***************************************************************