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Book proposition and call for chapters

*Imagining** **(in)** **the** **World:** **An** **Ethnographical** **
Perspective*


 With foreword by Jonathan Friedman


 Globalization entails macro-structural processes such as the decline of
exclusive centrality of the West followed by new “softer” and mostly
non-coercive forms of global Western hegemony leading to even larger social
inequality and polarization of wealth among people and among countries. We
understand *the** **World** **as** **unequally** **structured** **space*
where it is needed to see the global connectivity and mobility as highly
stratified processes. There is a great, yet not fully extracted potential in
social anthropology to reveal these worldwide processes ethnographically, or
to put it in Burawoyian words, to study people in their time and space and
by doing so to get an insight into the lived experience of globalization. We
think that the unevenly stratified and historically accumulative process of
globalization is ethnographically accessible through lives of people when
two interrelated levels of analytical work are taken in consideration.
First, one can trace the lives of people through the effects of global
processes and constellations of contemporary geopolitical and economical
relations characterized as a *set** **of** **possibilities* for action.
Second, we think it is possible to trace global processes on the internal
level, that is, in a *set** **of** **dispositions* and mental and corporeal
schemata. Both levels enable ethnographers to understand logic of practice
of studied people in a broader context of globalization which is mostly
unobservable by classical method of ethnographical presence.


 We decided to narrow down our ethnographical perspective on globalization
on studies of *imagination as the locus of unequal power relations*. This
focus was even intensified after discussions we had during the panel
“Situating Imagination in Times of Globalization” on the 2nd biennial
CASA/SASA conference *Of Cosmopolitanism and Cosmologies* which was held in
September 2011 in Czech Republic and chaired by Jonathan Friedman. Several
important doubts, tasks and questions arose during the discussion. Is
imagining the process of free-floating of images, representing, dreaming or
rather picturing? Is it collective or mostly individual process? Does it
have negative connotations as it had in times of slavery? Or is imagination
rather the mystification of reality as Marxist concepts from 1950s and 1960s
suggest? Is it an inertial tool of Western hegemony or rather source of
resistance?


 We believe that answers to above mentioned questions don't lie in
theoretical thinking, because there is no possibility to define imaginationonly
on an abstract level. The Appaduraian aspiration to have abstract
generalizations turned out to be problematic and even led some authors to
prefer the term “virtual” instead of “imagined”. *Imagination** **is** **not
** **a** **theoretical** **or** **ahistorical** **concept** **per** **se**,*
* **but** **it** **is** **a** **practical** **activity** **situated** **with
** **different** **meanings** **in** **diverse** **historical** **times** **
and** **socio-cultural** **contexts.* Imagination, as human practice, is
socially conditioned and conditioning as well. Thus, tracing and situating
imaginations through ethnographical case studies is in our opinion the only
possibility to have some empirically based and partially generalizable
conclusions. We think that involvement of above mentioned levels of analysis
in ethnographical situating of imagination will help us to reveal specific
unequal power relations connected to process of globalization as well.


 We announce call for chapters written as ethnographical case studies and
focused on this topic.

The deadline for proposals for chapters (3-5 pages) is 28 October 2011.

You will be notified about an acceptance of your chapter until 4 November
2011.

The deadline for chapters is *12** **December** **2011** **(**8 000-9** **
000** **words)*.

Send your proposals, chapters and eventual questions and doubts to our email
contacts: *[log in to unmask]* or* **[log in to unmask]*


 Bob Kurik and Tomas Ryska

PhD Candidates

Department of Anthropology

Faculty of Humanities

Charles University in Prague

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