*** Apologies for cross-posting *** - Happy New Year!
Dear list members,
We invite paper submissions to our panel on "Thinking through Aid Objects
to Open Up Development" at the next conference of the Development Studies
Association (DSA), held at the Open University, Milton Keynes (UK), from
June 19-21, 2019.
The deadline for submissions is January 16, 2019.
*Short abstract:*
This panel critically thinks through the role of aid objects such as
billboards, pamphlets, policy documents, humanitarian kits or medicines in
development and asks how an analytical focus on aid objects allows for
rethinking knowledge hierarchies and power differentials.
*Long abstract:*
Building on recent trends in anthropological theory that emphasize the
analytical benefits of Thinking through Things (Henare, Holbraad and
Wastell 2006; also Latour 1992; Escobar 2018) this panel seeks to think
through "aid objects" to open up new perspectives on development. This
artefact-oriented approach highlights how interactions between humans and
non-humans shape development and, crucially, how gaps are created between
the envisioned (imagined) and eventual performance of aid objects and
associated programmes.
Lisa Smirl and others already demonstrated how this approach reveals the
unintended effects of "hidden aid objects" (e.g. hotels and SUVs) that
primarily serve to facilitate the work of development professionals. In
comparison, we are especially (but not solely) interested in "hyper-visible
aid objects" such as billboards, pamphlets, posters, policy documents,
humanitarian kits, tents and even seeds and medicines, artefacts that are
explicitly designed to achieve development goals and/or to advertise the
contributions of donors. Despite, or perhaps because of, their
hyper-visible omnipresence, the material turn in development has largely
overlooked these artefacts.
We invite papers that (1) take these aid objects seriously by examining
"how they present themselves, rather than immediate assuming that they
signify, represent, or stand for something else" (Henare, Holbraad and
Wastell 2006, 3), that (2) address processes through which development
professionals and/or alleged 'beneficiaries' envision and uses these
objects; (3) that discuss what this means for knowledge production,
dissemination and hierarchies in development. How can thinking through aid
objects open up new venues for de-colonizing and addressing power
inequalities in development theory and practice?
Please submit your proposals, including a short abstract of fewer than 300
characters and a long abstract of fewer than 250 words, via the conference
website/ the following link:
https://nomadit.co.uk/dsa/dsa2019/conferencesuite.php/panels/7615
We are looking forward to your submissions!
Best wishes,
Stephanie Hobbis & Astrid Jamar
--
Lecturer, Sociology of Development and Change Group
Wageningen University & Research
Hollandseweg 1 | 6706 KN | Wageningen | Office: 3046
www.wur.nl/sdc | www.disclaimer-uk.wur.nl
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