[Bilimsel Haber] CFP: Constructing Social Change (Netherlands) (4/30/06; 6/22/06-6/26/06)

[Sule Tarakcioglu]

CASA meeting 2006


CONSTRUCTING SOCIAL CHANGE
Desire and Utopia, Art, Knowledge and Direct Action

Date: 22 June 2006 - 26 June 2006
Location: Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

CASA
The Cultural Analysis Summer Academy (CASA) came into existence in 2003
as an international forum that seeks to discuss the shifting functions
of academia and the scholar in a globalized society. Until now CASA
organized two meetings to provide a platform for these discussions. Two
years ago people from seventeen countries all over the world engaged in
the discussions under the broad headline of 'Acting - Spectating'. The
meeting proved to be successful and created on-going debates that have
resulted in an e-journal and a proposed book publication. In 2005 a
second meeting was organized that focused on the intersection between
academic research and activism by discussing three thematic threads:
borders, markets and movement(s).

CASA continues to be an interrogatory process on the continuum of
activism and academia. The CASA meeting 2006 will focus on debates
around the construction of social change.

Change
The leftist tendency of embracing change as intrinsically positive, as
if all transformations were emancipatory, veils two important facts.
First of all, it presents the world as manageable. While change is
inevitable it is not always the result of rational choices within
collective action processes. Secondly, when human agents attempt to give
change a certain direction, they still need to take into consideration
that the effects of their actions cannot always be predicted and
anticipated, but are subject to contingent factors and can take
surprising turns. The unpredictabilities inherent in a project of
transformation make it necessary that change becomes a reflexive and
ongoing process.

Social relations
The project of changing social relations has been related to the
transformation of material dimensions of class relations and given form
by a politics of redistribution. Yet a long tradition of criticism has
shown that class is not the only social organizing principle that
constitutes our position in a complicated and wide web of power
relations. When we speak about oppression or exclusion we equally have
to mention gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, health, age, etc and
social, economic and symbolic/discursive relations that construct and
sustain the norm. Accordingly, knots of resistance and social
transformation are generated from these different positions reflecting
different forms of labor, different ways of living, different views of
the world and differing desires.

Departing from such fragmented subject positions we would like to open
up a discussion about the possibilities and limitations of and
strategies for creating more equal and inclusive social relations.
Inclusion involves changing these social ordering principles by
deconstructing the norms that nourish the production of social
hierarchies without constructing new exclusive norms. Equality does not
refer to sameness but to the acceptance and negotiation of differences
that can be articulated in dialogic processes. To strive for equality in
social relations involves the creation of the conditions that would
allow everyone to take part in the process of social change, from her
own particular social context.

Constructing social change
Dialogic processes for change in a world that is not manageable cannot
flourish when one departs from the concept and practice of 'directing
change'. 'Vanguardism' is no valid option for a participatory collective
process. Therefore, we would like to speak about constructing change,
which refers to a collective participative process that involves the
articulation of differences by creating permeability and mutual
contamination between different struggles and ideas.



CASA 2006: Constructing social change

CASA 2006 will be centered on four interrelated strategies for social
transformation, focusing on a different strategy each day. These are:
desires and utopia, art, knowledge, and direct action.

All these themes can -and hopefully will- be discussed from many
different angles. Possible questions are (but should not be limited to):

Desire and utopia
How does desire relate to social change? How can reflections on our own
desires for change and its implications be developed? Can desire be
changed or directed? What is the role of desire in research? Can desire
for alternatives help to shape an effective research strategy? What is
the role of utopian writing for the stimulation of social change? What
can be considered as utopian movements? What are the utopian aspects of
social movements and knowledge construction?

Art
How can art contribute to emancipatory change? Is art merely reflecting
social change, or can it be transformative in itself? How are art,
knowledge and desire interrelated? How should we imagine the agency and
autonomy of art in the age of global culture industries? Can art be a
form of direct action? In what way is art related to the social? What is
the role of the artist, and what is the role of the public in both the
production and experience of an artwork? How can we discuss social
responsibility of the artists?

Knowledge
In what ways can knowledge be used for social change towards more
inclusiveness and emancipation? Which agents or parameters determine
different types, modes and sites of knowledge production and
transmission, knowledge hierarchies, the organization of knowledge and
of academia? What alternatives are available concerning the production,
distribution/sharing and use of knowledge? What is the role of education
in processes of transformation?

Direct Action
What kind of interruptions and interventions are useful for reaching
emancipatory transformation? How and by whom are direct action
interventions carried out and to what ends? What kind of knowledge is
produced by direct action? Can direct action also be used for knowledge
construction and the interruption of hegemonic academic practices? Can
we talk about "aesthetics" of direct action as a way of politicizing and
mobilizing aesthetic experience?


Participation
The format of the CASA meeting is as crucial as its content. We want to
ask all of you to engage in a construction of interactive spaces that
contribute to constructing emancipatory change that is inclusive.

Interactivity, here, means acknowledging that knowledge construction and
knowledge transmission are not one-directional but rather collective
processes. Thus participants of all kinds (presenters, discussants,
facilitators, technical assistants, and organizers) should actively
engage in collaborative processes rather than in a mere conveying of
knowledge. We are open to alternative formats - from workshops to
performances - that would open spaces for participation and collective
production.

Inclusiveness, here, means open to variety. We want a large diversity of
contributions to the CASA meeting by inviting academics, artists, artist
projects and collectives, utopians, utopian writers, non-
institutional intellectuals, activists engaged in direct actions, and
other interested individuals to share and exchange thoughts and
practices. We also anticipate a diversity of practices to open debate
and reflection. CASA 2006 can be a continuum of debating, intervening,
thinking, reflecting, inspiring, inventing and constructing inclusive
emancipatory initiatives.

Proposals for contributions within the four outlined topics are very
welcome and can be submitted until April 30, 2006.

For further questions, contributions or participation please mail to:
mailto: info at casa.manifestor.org <mailto:info at casa.manifestor.org>
Website: http://www.casa.manifestor.org




 From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List