 |
 |
CfP, 32nd Italian Geographical Congress, Rome, June 7-10, 2017 Session 45: "Spaces, power, and the production of the political" Convenors: Abel Polese, Dublin City University and Tallinn University; Filippo Menga, University of Manchester Description: Hobsbawm and Rude’s observed that phenomena tend to be ignored until they make headlines (1968). And indeed, a large number of scholars have tended to concentrate on phenomena that are highly visible, neglecting whatever was not easily visible. However, recent reflections on the construction of the political and on political actors have shown that there is no real boundary between the political and non-political. Indeed, key concepts such as ‘politics’, and the ‘political’, continue to be an essentially controversial and yet crucial matter in both geography and international studies. A recent critical reflection by scholars rooted in various disciplines has sparked a debate on the production of politically-relevant phenomena, and researchers have shown an increased interest on actors and dynamics that have so far been under-reported, under-studied, or have remained invisible. Examples include, but are not limited, to: • informality, or informal practices, as a feedback mechanism towards political decisions; • consumption patterns as a symbolic political spaces that redefine interethnic relations; • the way elites stretch their space of appearance to redefine their political space; • the role of rural / urban communities and associations in the production of political spaces and power reconfigurations. Centred on the above issues, this panel will engage with the notion of the political, exploring the causes that lead some social phenomena to pass unperceived, and discussing how the situatedness of scholars, civil society actors, decision makers and ordinary citizens interact with their imaginative world to define the importance of a given phenomenon. Featuring empirically grounded works, embedded in critical theoretical reflections, panellists will discuss how the political is affected by spatial assumptions and representations that stretch beyond fixed notions of border and of formal administrative divisions. Abstract submission: To submit a 300 word abstract proposal for this session, please follow this link http://www.congressogeografico.it/invio-abstract/ and select “Session 45” into the drop down list. Deadline: February 15th, 2017. *CONTACTS*: abel Polese ap[at]tlu.ee; filippo.menga[at]manchester.ac.uk