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Dear All, Please find attached a Special Call for Papers for a forthcoming symposium. I would appreciate greatly if you could please forward this advert onto your respective departmental (specifically graduate) and research mailing lists/contacts in order to widen and diversify participation. ŒExposing Bodies: Surveillance and Embodiment¹ An interdisciplinary symposium run by The Surveillance and Everyday Life Research Group (http://surveillanceandeveryday.com/) A Special Call for Papers Friday July 8th, 2011 Faculty Common Room, New Law Building Level 4, Eastern Avenue, University of Sydney Symposium Overview > ŒŠno one has hitherto laid down the limits to the powers of the body, that is, > no one has as yet been taught by experience what the body can accomplishŠ¹ > (Spinoza, 1675/2006: 59) > > ŒThe body is not primarily an organism or an organization. It is an immanent > assemblage of kinetic particles and anonymous forces, motion and energy that > constitute every body: a bacterial body, a eukaryotic body, a multicellular > body, a cultural body, the body of machines, etc. Š A body is primarily > defined by associations and splittingsŠ¹ > (Parisi, 2004: 29) > > The University of Sydney¹s Surveillance and Everyday Life Research Group > invites abstracts for an exploratory symposium examining the everyday > voluntary/involuntary exposure of the body as facilitated by > organisationally-situated surveillance technologies and the recording devices > of modern-day citizens. > > Whether in artistic or scientific domains, the human and non-human body has > historically been subject to myriad complex processes aimed at its > identification, organization, (re)presentation and classification. An ontology > of the body as a reliable organism for measurement and as a social text that > can be visualized, identified, mapped, read, profiled, categorized, influenced > and coerced in a variety of ways, has been central to such definitional > enactments. A traditional assumption deriving from the professionalization and > politicization of health, for example, is that Œobjective¹ bodily knowledge > derived from the senses can strategically be used to understand and treat > illness/bodily dysfunctionality, to harness subjectivity in particular ways, > and to direct behavioural practices and conduct (e.g. interactional norms, > mobility, sexual reproduction and consumption). Perhaps this imaginary is best > illustrated in the relationships between biomedical science and body parts, > functions and processes, and between government and citizen. The body¹s > objectification within an array of biopolitical regimes has been greatly > facilitated by a variety of established and emergent Œenvisioning¹ > technologies with surveillant capacities, including fingerprinting devices, > radiographic x-rays, facial and voice recognition software, DNA databases, > biobanks, body scanners, video and camera transmission equipment, webcams etc. > Many of these bodily capturing Œprobes¹ and recording devices function to > convert bodily complexity, materiality and motion into discrete forms of > textual data, which can then be read, decoded, interpreted and analysed both > by individuals and by expert officials in a multitude of interesting ways. > > In contrast to expert imaginings that project a stable, universal body into > the heart of the liberal, human subject, the bodies that are processed and > (re)mediated by what have been termed Œsurveillant assemblages¹ are perhaps > closer to the open, indeterminate, unknown forms that Spinoza had long ago > described, or the mutating, dis/associating bodies depicted more recently by > Parisi. In important ways, contemporary surveillant assemblages constitute > anew the chaotic bodies they encounter and process. Situated amidst the > multiplicity of these interactions, yet cognizant of the sea of embodiment > that escapes, or is even utterly indifferent to, surveillant capture, this > symposium takes up Spinoza¹s invitation to imagine what the body can > accomplish. > > Key questions and issues for critical reflection include: how are bodies > conceived through and transformed by surveillance technologies? What > functions, within surveillant assemblages, do bodies perform? Which bodies > escape, or are excluded from, the embrace of surveillance, and why? How is > surveillance mediated through embodiment? How and why are embodied-subjects > complicit in their surveillance? How do they resist or negotiate surveillance? > How is bodily mobility regulated? How are surveillance techniques used to > mobilize the body¹s performative potential? By addressing such questions, this > symposium will establish a framework for mapping the socio-cultural and > politico-economic affinities linking surveillance and bodies. >> > Symposium Themes > > * Bodily Identification, Profiling & Biometrics > * Biomechanics & Comportment Analytics (including recognition softwares, > algorithms etc.) > * Normal/Abnormal Bodies & Classificatory Politics > * Biotechnology & Bioengineering > * Biopower & Objectivation > * Bodily Exhibitionism & Performativity > * Cyborgs, Robotics & Alternative Bodies > * Disease Monitoring and Non-Human Bodies > * Bodies in Sport & Mass Mediated Sporting Mega-Events > * Bodily Regulation & Discipline > * Body Images & Mediation > * Distributed Bodies & Bodily Flows > * Bodily Im/mobility > * Biocapital, Biobanking & Bioeconomy > * Disappearing Bodies & Re-emergent Codes > > Symposium Keynotes > > * Professor Catherine Waldby, Department of Sociology and Social Policy, The > University of Sydney: ŒBiobanking in Singapore: Post-developmental state, > experimental population¹ > * Dr Charlotte Epstein, Department of Government and International Relations, > The University of Sydney: ŒThe Big Other Is Watching You: Surveillance, > Sovereignty, Subjectivities¹ > > Participant Instructions > > Please send a 200 word abstract by Wednesday June 15th to both: > > Dr Gavin Smith [log in to unmask] > Dr Martin French [log in to unmask] >>> >>> > Very best wishes, > > Gavin > > ----------- > Dr Gavin J. D. Smith M.A., M.Res. | Lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy > Room 149, R.C. Mills (A26) | The University of Sydney | NSW | 2006 > T +61 2 9351 6681 | F +61 2 9036 9380 > E [log in to unmask] | W > http://sydney.edu.au/arts/sociology_social_policy/staff/profiles/gavin_smith.s > html > > CRICOS 00026A > > This email plus any attachments to it are confidential. Any unauthorised use > is strictly prohibited. If you receive this email in error, please delete it > and any attachments. > > Please think of our environment and only print this e-mail if necessary. > > **************************************************** This is a message from the SURVEILLANCE listserv for research and teaching in surveillance studies. To unsubscribe, please send the following message to <[log in to unmask]>: UNSUBSCRIBE SURVEILLANCE For further help, please visit: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help ****************************************************