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CfP : Monsoon [+other] Grounds Details: http://www.monass.org/monsoon-other-grounds-call-for-papers/ Abstracts for papers and creative, practice based contributions are invited for Monsoon [+ Other] Grounds, the third symposium to be convened by Monsoon Assemblages, following Monsoon [+ Other] Airs in 2017 and Monsoon [+ Other] Waters in 2018. Deadline: 14 January 2019; Notification: 31 January 2019; Symposium Dates: 21-22 March 2019; Venue: University of Westminster, London, UK The monsoon is a seasonal designer of the earth, its grounds, its terrestrial ecosystems and its politics. Each year it scours river banks and fertilises valleys as it carries vast quantities of sediment from the mountains to the sea. In monsoonal regions, the pulse of life is linked to the annual cycle of its hot dry summers, bursting rains and retreating winds. Cropping patterns and management strategies respond to its variability, connecting farmers and agriculture with meteorology and atmospheric science. Human rituals celebrate these cycles – the parched earth, the bursting rains, bountiful harvests and the monsoon’s retreat. Monsoon grounds draw attention to the microbial origins of biopolitics, territory and nationhood. Since the 1970’s, its chemistries have been altered by fertilisers and pesticides, triggering political and economic disputes and giving rise to fortunes and failures. Territory has been converted into real estate, undoing intricate relations between grounds and their waters and unravelling human relations with them, while the metallurgical alchemies of the construction industry have transformed clay, silt, sand and sediment into the building blocks of everyday life. We are interested in contributions that investigate the following themes that arise from these consideration of monsoon grounds: *Geologic Grounds*: The monsoon is closely tied up with geology. It was formed from the movement of tectonic plates; its patterns are closely tied to orography and the heating of the terrestrial globe and it drives tectonic cycles through the vast amount of sediment it washes from the mountains to the oceans each year. We are interested in contributions that explore these geological processes and their intersections with social and political life. *Monsoon Soils:* As part of this theme, we are interested in contributions that explore monsoonal ecosystems, connections between the monsoon, soils, plants, animals and insects, forests, agriculture and husbandry and how these are changing as the climate heats up and monsoonal patterns change. *On the Grounds of the Monsoon*: On the grounds of the monsoon, empires have been built, wars waged, bets wagered and economies thrived or collapse. We are interested in contributions that explore the intricate connections between the monsoon, empire, economy and politics. *Monsoon Grounds as Culture:* We are interested in contributions that explore what it means to means to live life on monsoon grounds and the cultural practices associated with its variability, fertility, cycles, bounties and threats. *Constructing Monsoon Grounds:* We are interested in contributions that explore how practices of planning, design and construction and the socio-economic systems that shape them intersect with the monsoon’s agency in shaping topography and matter into grounds for habitation. Contributions are invited in response to these provocations. Monsoon [+ other] Grounds will comprise inter-disciplinary panels, key-note addresses and an exhibition and aims to bring together established and young scholars and practitioners from a range of disciplines, literatures, knowledge systems and practices (theoretical, empirical, political, aesthetic, everyday) to engage in conversations about the ontologies, epistemologies, histories, politics and practices of monsoonal and other grounds. Proposals should take the form of 150 – 250 word abstracts for either papers or creative, practice based contributions such as drawings, photographs, videos, performances, musical compositions etc. *Enquiries or abstracts should be sent to Lindsay Bremner at [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> by 14 January 2018.* Abstracts will be reviewed by the Monsoon Assemblages team and authors will be notified by 31 January 2018 whether their contributions have been accepted or not. There is no registration fee for the symposium, but participants are required to secure their own funding to attend it. Participants will be requested to submit their contributions for publication in the symposium proceedings. Confirmed keynote speakers are Albena Yaneva and Timothy Ingold. ************************************************************* * 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: * * https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/Anthropology-Matters * * 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? 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