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Dear colleagues, A brief reminder about the ASA 2016 panel 'Envisaging new futures | The subjective turn | Social movement politics’. The deadline for submissions is next Monday, 15 February. To propose a paper, please use the following link: http://www.nomadit.co.uk/asa/asa2016/panels.php5?PanelID=4436 All the best, Alex ----------------------------- Envisaging new futures | The subjective turn | Social movement politics Short abstract The contestation of meaning has become a key locus of social movement research, pointing to debates as to how futures can be envisaged. But set against the recent 'subjective turn' in this scholarship, how more precisely is such meaning elaborated and peoples' subjectivities expressed? Long abstract From Zuccotti Park to St Paul's Cathedral, from Tahrir Square to the Presidential Palace in Brasilia, dissatisfaction with party politics and a corrosive sense of powerlessness have placed ever greater emphasis on social movements to propose new futures. But how are these futures created and what is the role of the subject within wider processes of collective mobilisation? This panel seeks to foreground how political subjectivity is created and contested, thus calling into question how we envisage the worlds in which we want to live. The contestation of such meaning has become one of the most important areas within social movement research, but if the collective provides a broader context characterised by hybrid agreements, compromises, and mediations, how more precisely is such meaning elaborated and peoples' subjectivities expressed? Marc Edelman (2002) has argued that new social movement theory, and by extension the approach of scholars who identify a 'subjective turn' in social movement studies (Razsa 2015), has "helped reproduce the fragmentation of the popular classes sought by the state and the market". But does such a focus on the subject necessarily render the collective less robust or meaningful? In addition to this broader provocation, questions that the panel seeks to raise include: how are subjectivity and the elaboration of meaning more precisely connected? What is the role of the person in mediating temporal frames of utopia? What is the potential of an analysis that foregrounds dimensions of ethical self-cultivation within the wider collective? Dr Alex Flynn British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow | Department of Anthropology | Durham University New book | Anthropology, Theatre, and Development: The Transformative Potential of Performance alexflynn.net | @alexanderjflynn ************************************************************* * Anthropology-Matters Mailing List * http://www.anthropologymatters.com * * A postgraduate project comprising online journal, * * online discussions, teaching and research resources * * and international contacts directory. * * 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 * * To unsubscribe: please log on to jiscmail.ac.uk, and * * go to the 'Subscriber's corner' page. * * ***************************************************************