distributed on behalf of Mike Robinson
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Steel Cities: Tradition, Transition and Transformation


1st CALL FOR PAPERS

Sheffield, June 29th - July 2nd 2006

Steel and Tourism

The steel rails of the world's railways provided the
basic infrastructure for early modern tourism. Today,
old iron and steel works provide sites for leisure
tourism. Steel as both a fundamental, functional,
interior fabric and a symbolic, highly visible
substance permeates the structures, flows, practices
and narratives of contemporary tourism. Indeed steel,
though not exclusively, can be viewed as a
pre-condition for modern international tourism. 

As part of the wider programme of the Steel Cities
Conference - see below - we invite researchers from
all disciplines to reflect upon the function, form and
emblematic nature of steel within tourism in past,
present and future contexts.  Indicative themes of
interest include:

- Material diasporas: trade, tourism and the diffusion
of material culture
- Tourism and imaginaries of steel making: Between
nostalgia and fantasy
- Technological innovation in the structures and
mobilities of international tourism and hospitality
- Steel 'works' - tourism and the problems and
possibilities of urban regeneration 
- Alchemists, Blacksmiths and Magicians: Travel and
the diffusion of knowledge
- Excalibur or the metaphorical journey from stone to
iron: Travel, popular culture and pragmatic narratives
of iron and steel

Please send abstracts of no more than 500 words by
January 13th 2006 to: [log in to unmask]

Professor Mike Robinson
Director, Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change
Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Tourism and Cultural
Change (www.channelviewpublications.com)
Sheffield Hallam University
Howard Street
Sheffield
S1 1WB
UK

Please visit Please visit:
http://www.shef.ac.uk/english/natcect/steelcities and
www.tourism-culture.com 



Steel Cities: Tradition, Transition and Transformation


For nearly two centuries steel has been the
fundamental building block of modernity,
revolutionising the lives of millions. From its use in
building and construction, in weapons production, to
its role in the home kitchen, the transformative power
of steel is undeniable. At all stages of its
life-cycle, steel impacts upon communities, regions
and nations. As China and India race to modernise
their economies with imported steel, many cities
across Europe and North America are still struggling
to cope with the transition from productive to
consumptive economies. The focus of this conference is
upon the ways in which economies and societies, lives,
landscapes and relationships have been, and continue
to be, transformed by steel. 

The ‘Steel Cities' conference will bring together
academics and professionals from a wide range of
disciplines to explore the ways by which steel has
impacted upon people, places and pasts and how it
continues to shape lives and relationships in the
context of local and global change. It will take place
in Sheffield, England’s most famous ‘Steel City’, and
will be led by the University of Sheffield and
Sheffield Hallam University in collaboration with a
number of partners who are interested in discussing
their research and sharing and disseminating good
practice. The conference will be multi-disciplinary
drawing from architecture, history, sociology,
anthropology, ethnology, cultural studies, geography,
tourism studies, museum studies, ethnology,
linguistics, economics etc. 

Themes of interest to the conference include:

- Labour relations and working environments in the
steel sector
- The uses of steel in contemporary life
- Histories and ethnographies of steel communities
- Identity and belonging in 'steel cities' 
- Representations of steel and the steel industry in
the ‘popular’ media
- The role of the cultural industries (arts, sport,
tourism, etc.) in the regeneration of ‘steel cities’
- The languages of steel cities 
- Heritages of the steel industry
- Symbolic economies of steel - iconography, art and
design




Dr David Picard
Senior Research Fellow
Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change
Sheffield Hallam University
Owen Building, Howard Street
Sheffield S1 1WB
United Kingdom

Phone: +44 (0) 114 225 3973
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Web: www.tourism-culture.com 



		
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