[Discussion] [Fwd: CFP: Technology and Cultural Studies (Australia) (6/15/02; 12/5/02-12/7/02)]

[Gonul Pultar]

Andres Vaccari wrote:
> 
> I'm organizing a panel for the forthcoming conference of the Cultural
> Studies Association of Australia (Melbourne, December 5-7, 2002). The
> panel is on technology. Some proposed questions are: How does Cultural
> Studies approach this question, if, indeed, we can speak of a
> homogeneous, coherent approach? Technology, as a cultural practice, is
> of ancient origin. But only recently has it become a discursive object,
> a preoccupation of theory and a weapon of rhetoric. What are the
> possible approaches, problematics and directions for future cultural
> theories of technology? What are (and have been) the uses and
> appropriations of "technology" (e.g., in political, cultural, discursive
> practices)? What is the position, the task of cultural studies?
> 
> Papers are welcome on all aspects of these and other questions--either
> general theoretical essays, or examinations of a particular technology,
> or technological event. Another proposed area is technology and art, or
> cultural practice. Doubtlessly, the question is vast, so surprise me.
> Abstracts of 250 words or thereabouts. The deadline is the 15th of June.
> Please email Andres Vaccari at andresvaccari@hotmail.com.
> 
> Also, you can visit the Conference's website at:
> http://www.english.unimelb.edu.au/events/csaa2002/csaa-2002.html
> 
> What follows is the general Call For Papers, and details of the
> Conference:
> 
> The Cultural Studies Program at the University of Melbourne is pleased
> to announce a call for papers for the 2002 conference of the Cultural
> Studies Association of Australia.
> 
> The CSAA conference is a disciplinary gathering for cultural studies
> researchers and scholars in Australia. To better accommodate the varied
> research interests of the field, the 2002 conference will be run with
> both a general and themed stream. Presentations on any aspect of
> cultural studies are welcome in the general stream. The themed section
> will consist of keynotes and plenaries addressing the following:
> 
> Conference Theme: Ute Culture: the utility of culture and the uses of
> cultural studies The question of culture and its uses is at the heart of
> cultural studies as both an intellectual and critical enterprise. Its
> foundational move to reconceive culture as a network of lived -- rather
> than just textual -- practices with social -- rather than just aesthetic
> -- meanings has necessarily oriented cultural studies toward a central
> concern with the utilitarian. Whether in its pioneering analyses of
> working class life and urban subcultures; its general address of the
> popular and the everyday, its concern with cultural productions of
> identity; or its attention to social institutions, industry and
> governmentality; cultural studies has sought to understand and explore
> culture as it is actively and variously used. In turn, cultural studies
> has been equally engaged with questions of its own utility. From its broad
> status as a politically-motivated critical practice to its recent forays
> into policy studies and the development of neo-vocational dialogues with
> creative industries, cultural studies has been defined, understood and
> 'sold' as an intellectual project with real world uses and effects.
> 
> The utilitarian impulse of cultural studies has been an undoubted
> critical strength, enabling new forms and applications of cultural
> critique. It has, however, been equally perceived as a limitation that,
> by some accounts, instates a populist relativism and, by others, a
> wholesale adoption and academic translation of consumerist imperatives.
> What sense can we make of the shifting intersections between cultural
> studies and notions of use? Is the value of cultural studies fully
> dependent on its own utility? What will be the uses of cultural studies
> as we move into the 21st century?
> 
> Proposals
> The Conference committee invites proposals for panels, symposia,
> individual papers or other formats to be included in the general stream.
> Panels that bring together a number of papers based on a common theme or
> topic are especially encouraged.
> 
> Proposals (of no more than 250 words) should be directed via email to
> the Organising Committee at
> csaa-2002@unimelb.edu.au . Submissions close July 26, 2002
> 
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