CFP: Protest and Dissent: An Inclusive Interdisciplinary Conference (Vienna, December 1-2, 2018)
Protest and dissent: an inclusive interdisciplinary conference
Saturday 1st December 2018 – Sunday 2nd December 2018 Vienna, Austria
The 21st century has seen a resurgence in protest movements and political dissent around the world. Some of these have been multi-national – for example Occupy, Black Lives Matter and #MeToo – whereas others have had more limited or localised scope, focused on issues of political corruption, violence against women, or prison reform. Additionally, the recent success of populist politicians and political movements around the world could be viewed as a form of dissent by those who feel alienated by the status quo.
Protest and dissent are not new: history is full of movements that have brought fundamental change to our societies through protest, as well as those whose dissent was unsuccessful and the issues they challenged still unaddressed. Furthermore, although many popular protest movements have received widespread support, others have been condemned, both by those in power and by societies at large.
This inclusive interdisciplinary project will explore all aspects of protest and dissent, both historical and in the present moment. By bringing together a wide range of scholars, activists, artists, journalists, ngo's and professionals we hope to consider the myriad of ways protest and dissent can be expressed, why some movements experience widespread popular and support and others do not, the effectiveness of particular tactics in bringing about lasting change, and what in 2018 we can learn from earlier struggles.
Unlike other conferences or gatherings, this event proposes to step outside the traditional conference setting and offer opportunities for independent scholars, academics, activists, writers, artists and political campaigners to engage and intermingle, providing platforms for interdisciplinary interactions that are fruitful and conducive to broadening horizons and sparking future projects, collaborations, and connections.
We are excited to accept proposals for presentations, displays, exhibits, contested conversations, debates, poetic/literary performances, round tables, panels, interactive workshops and more. A potential, but by no means exhaustive, list of topics includes:
- Historical protest movements;
- Modern movements such as Black Lives Matter, #MeToo and March for Our Lives;
- Civil Rights movements;
- Repression and restriction of protest;
- Artistic, literary and musical representations of protest;
- Iconic images of protest and dissent, for example Tiananmen Square 'tank man', lunch counter sit-ins during the Civil Rights movement, and their importance;
- Online based protest;
- Personal accounts of protesting;
- Questions of intersectionality within protest movements;
- Making movements inclusive;
- Populist politics as a form of political dissent;
- The use of information, media and propaganda to either encourage or suppress protest;
- Protest within specific occupations and industries, for example Rhodes Must Fall;
- The impact of Globalisation upon protest movements;
- The commercialisation of protest and dissent;
- Geographies of protest, the 'where' being just as important as the 'why';
- Spaces and places of dissent;
- Protest and the law;
- Justice, activism and power;
- Violent resistance vs. civil disobedience;
- Comparative approaches to protest and dissent, across time periods or geographies;
- Nationalist and separatist movements;
- Revolutionary movements;
- Backlash and reactionary movements;
- Important individuals and leaders within protest movements;
- Implementing change brought by protest and dissent.
What to SendThe aim of this interdisciplinary conference and collaborative networking event is to bring people together and encourage creative conversations in the context of a variety of formats: papers, seminars, workshops, performances, poster presentations, panels, q&a's, roundtables etc.
300 word proposals, presentations, abstracts and other forms of contribution and participation should be submitted by Friday 8th June 2018. Other forms of participation should be discussed in advance with the Organising Chair.
All submissions will be minimally double reviewed, under anonymous (blind) conditions, by a global panel drawn from members of the Project Development Team and the Advisory Board. In practice our procedures usually entail that by the time a proposal is accepted, it will have been triple and quadruple reviewed.
You will be notified of the panel's decision by Friday 22nd June 2018.
If your submission is accepted for the conference, a full draft of your contribution should be submitted by Friday 19th October 2018.
Abstracts and proposals may be in Word, PDF, RTF or Notepad formats with the following information and in this order: a) author(s), b) affiliation as you would like it to appear in the programme, c) email address, d) title of proposal, e) body of proposal, f) up to 10 keywords.
E-mails should be entitled: Protest and Dissent Submission
Where to SendAbstracts should be submitted simultaneously to the Organising Chair and the Project Administrator:
Organising Chair: Emma Craddock: emma@progressiveconnexions.net
Project Administrator: viennaprotest@progressiveconnexions.net
More details at: http://www.progressiveconnexions.net/interdisciplinary-projects/human-rights/protest/conferences/