CfP – International Society for Cultural History (ISCH) Conference University of Mainz, Germany
16. – 19. September 2020
“Cultures of Participation and Belonging.”
DEADLINE: 15. December 2019
Confirmed keynote speakers:
Panikos Panayi (School of Humanities, De Montfort University Leicester); Nicholas Terpstra (Department of Italian Studies, University of Toronto)
The International Society for Cultural History invites paper and panel proposals for its 2020 annual conference on “Cultures of Participation and Belonging.”
At the latest since 2015, the self-image of the European states as open societies-open for all -is under massive pressure. Not only the so-called “refugee crisis”, but also the discussion about core values of the European culture have shown that the culture of participation and belonging – once regarded as backbone of the “new” Europe after 1990 – are questioned and under attack from different directions.
Therefore, the terms of ‘participation’ and ‘belonging’ vs. ‘exclusion’ have formed public and political debates more than any other terms have in the last years. While ‘participation’ is primarily a virulent topic in educational politics and institutions, the term ‘belonging’ is central to the discussion of practices of enclosure and expulsion foremost in the contexts of domestic and security politics. The perceived current significance and the highly emotional discourse have disguised the fact that inclusion and belonging are phenomena of human societies, which overlap time, space and different media. These phenomena are also an important issue for the understanding and interpretation of one’s world.
Furthermore, cultures of participation and belonging are a crucial factor for the stability of given societies. However, today we experience some of the possible consequences for the social and political system if these cultures are under pressure. Therefore, the historical development, the forms and consequences of such cultures will be at the center of the ISCH conference in 2020. The objective of the conference is to shine a spotlight on the question regarding the forms and narratives of phenomena of belonging and their opposite (non-belonging, exclusion, discrimination, etc.) in specific historical constellations and/or contemporary literature, art, film, etc.
Topics may include (but are by no means limited to):
*Locations of belonging
*Intentions of (self)exclusion
*Socio-economic reasons for exclusion
*Forms of affiliation and membership
*Discrimination (positive and negative)
*Shaping identities
*Narratives of exclusion and/or belonging
*Knowledge and Belonging
*Relationship between scientific discourse and common knowledge on exclusion or belonging
*Methods of enclosure, expulsion and sorting
*Representations of belonging in art and literature
In addition, we warmly welcome papers or panels discussing:
*Theory and methodology of cultural history
*New approaches to cultural history
*The history of cultural history