CALL FOR PAPERS
Media, Youth Subcultures and the Politics of
Resistance in the Arab World
Conference organised by the
Arab Media Centre
Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI),
University of Westminster
Date: Friday, 20 April, 2012
Venue: University of Westminster, Regent Street Campus,
309 Regent Street, London W1
Is 'subculture' a universal category that discloses itself in similar ways, regardless of differences in historical moments or cultural geographies? Or is it inextricably linked to particular historical moments and cultural specificities?
Fifty years of 'subculture theory' in the West have provided a rich repertoire. Nick Bentley (2005) traces a paradigmatic shift from the 50s and 60s, when the dominant readings focused on 'the sociological' as a determining factor in the study of youth culture, to cultural, predominantly Marxist, class-based and ethnographic approaches in the 1970s. From there the emphasis moved to semiotic readings of subcultures in the late 1970s and 1980s, and on to a postmodern identification of 'post-subcultures'. Yet concepts such as 'youth' and 'teenager' are western social constructs par excellence, determined by historical events, including changes in geopolitics and a transition from the economies of scarcity to the economies of abundance. As Dick Hebdige (1979) has argued, ‘subculture’ is always mediated — inflected by the historical context in which it is encountered and posited upon a specific ideological field which gives it a particular life and particular meanings.
Papers are invited that explore youth subcultures in the Arab context, relating them to specific historical, economic, cultural and political moments. We especially welcome theoretical and ethnographic based papers dealing with, but not limited to, the following themes:
- Social media, subcultures and the politics of resistance
- Popular music/sport/cinema as subculture
- Sexuality, gender and the politics of representation
- Theorizing Arab subcultures/Rethinking Arab subcultures
- Contemporary Arab art and subcultures
- Subcultures and new forms of Arab identity
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
This one-day conference will take place on Friday, April 20, 2012. The draft programme envisages at least one plenary session devoted to a keynote speech. The fee for registration (which applies to all participants, including presenters) will be £95, with a concessionary rate of £45 for students, to cover all conference documentation, refreshments and administration costs. Registration will open in February 2012.
DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS
The deadline for abstracts is Monday, October 10, 2011. Successful applicants will be notified by Monday, November 14, 2011. Abstracts should be 250 words long. They must include the presenter's name, affiliation, email and postal address, together with the title of the paper and a 150-word biographical note on the presenter. Two copies of the abstract should be sent by email, one to Dr Tarik Sabry ([log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> ) and one to Helen Cohen, Events Administrator ([log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> ). The selection committee will comprise members of CAMRI, including the CAMRI Arab Media Centre.
TRAVEL EXPENSES
The conference organisers have the possibility to apply for funding to assist with travel costs of selected participants whose own institutions are unable to provide the necessary support. In order to meet the deadline for such an application, the organisers need to identify potential recipients of travel bursaries by mid-October 2011. Therefore, if appropriate, please make your needs known when submitting your abstract. However, since support funding cannot be guaranteed, participants should ensure they have alternative arrangements to cover their own travel and accommodation expenses.
PUBLICATION
Opportunities will be open for publication of selected conference papers in an edited book focusing on specific conference themes or in academic journals whose editors or co-editors are based in CAMRI. Articles may be submitted to the Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication, Global Media and Communication, Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture, and Interactions.