CSA Conference Call for Papers

2019 CSA Conference Call for Papers

CSA 44th ANNUAL CONFERENCE CALL FOR PAPERS / APPEL À COMMUNICATIONS / CONVOCATORIA DE PONENCIAS


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44th Annual Conference, Caribbean Studies Association (CSA)

The Caribbean in times of Tempest. Ethnicities, Territorial Resistances and Epistemic Poetics

Santa Marta, Colombia, 3rd to 7th of June 2019

As if amidst a great marine storm, the Caribbean endures times of Tempest. We seem to be the target of ever-growing devastating hurricanes from the south; sacking and pillage from the extractivism of the global north; measures of austerity derived from the neoliberal agenda of the financial “north”; natural and social disasters; drug dealing; and ongoing forms of human trafficking, slavery and feminicide. Expressions of racism, patriarchy, homophobia and xenophobia worsen. In response to such times of Tempest, it is necessary to give visibility to the diversity of the Caribbean world, its ways to imagine liberation; and to think and understand its life experiences from its own narratives and arguments. In addition, to analyze and apprehend the multiple resistances that take place at the local level against policies of plunder and death. Following our Caribbean tradition, the Tempest invites us to poeticize the future, producing critical theories that allow us to think of models of society that give priority to life.

Major themes of the conference:

  1. Historical Reparations, Ethnicities and Territorial Resistances

The ships that arrived from Africa were driven by the hurricane winds of capitalist accumulation and the dehumanizing transatlantic project. Today, the Great Caribbean speaks up on the theme of the historic reparations of infamy. Some conceive it in terms of the reparation of the past in order to live a better present and to face the future. Others relate it to the dispossession caused by enduring politics of death, terror, suffering and dehumanization within the region and in the Caribbean diaspora around the world. In order to face these situations, the Caribbean ethnicities reinvent themselves by singing remembrance, justice and truth; and, by celebrating, from their cultures, life, liberty, territories, the ethics of kinship, joys, human solidarity and respect for nature. This theme welcomes papers around topics such as: Historic reparations on the transatlantic human trafficking. Drug-dealing, illegal human trade and migration. Anti-racist and libertarian initiatives. New ethnicities and proposals of resistance to global capitalism. Musical/cultural, epistemic and emancipating dialogs between the Great Caribbean and Africa. Emerging family configurations and their impacts on the child of the Caribbean region and the diaspora. New musical and linguistic territorialities of the Caribbean. Contemporary Caribbean identity/ies, amongst others.

  1. Epistemic poetics: oral tradition, oralitura – literature, languages, arts

The creolization of the Caribbean is expressed by disruptive knowledges that question the hegemonic common sense displayed by the capitalist colonial modernity. They are, on the one hand, expressions that poeticize theory, weave cultures, and give priority to the discussion of life and Relation. On the other hand, they are oralities that reflect the histories of resistance and the construction of “other possible worlds” by subaltern peoples, here and now. Yet, they are also reflections about Caribbean philosophies that gravitate around a multiplicity of disciplinary (and indisciplinary) registries, outside the philosophic canon; and commitments for decolonizing the being and the knowing through multiple expressions. This theme welcomes proposals around topics such as: Creole languages and their relation to shaping Caribbean societies, from both formal and informal settings. Challenges, presence and manifestations of oralitura with regard to the western paradigms of knowledge. The epistemic poetics of performance, plastic arts, and music in the comprehension of the Caribbean. Endogenous educational proposals, amongst others.

  1. The Caribbean in times of Tempest: reconsidering the environmental crisis from the social movements for climate justice.

The environmental crisis of the Caribbean is closely related to a model of extraction-control and colonial subordination of minds, bodies and nature, which is reflected in the inequitable and asymmetrical integration of Latin America and the Caribbean to the world economy. To rethink the growing environmental conflicts from the poetic, aesthetic and emancipating perspectives of the environmental culture of the Caribbean, it is necessary to take into account a range of aspects. On the one hand, the deep asymmetries on the distribution of contamination derived from the predating extractive model of vulnerable island and coastal ecosystems; the uneven access to natural resources; the unequal distributions of power and income, and, the social inequities based on ethnicity, class and gender. On the other, to address the civilizing model, which expropriates ancestral knowledges and the rights to nature, amidst a silent war against the weaving of life and culture. Climate change, thus, becomes a violation of fundamental human rights, not only because of the inequity of its impacts, but also because it involves other forms of injustice such as not acknowledging or excluding the communities and their knowledges in decision making. This theme welcomes papers on topics such as: Eco/geo/graphies of the socio-environmental conflicts of the Caribbean such as mining/energy, fishing, agrobusiness or resort tourism extraction projects. Transitions by grassroots environmental movements facing climatic crisis. Water justice and food sovereignty in the Caribbean. Maritime culture, traditional knowledge and sustainable administration of the territorial sea (maritorio). (Agro)Ecological traditions of islander peasant, indigenous and afrodescendant communities regarding resilience to climate change. Water peasants and amphibian cultures; amongst others.

  1. Challenges of Caribbean Integration: Forced Migrations, Racism, Ethnicities, Border Disputes

The current political fragmentation of the Caribbean, resulting from the common colonial history of plunder and enslavement, has had effects on the possibility of joining efforts to position the region as an independent area of the world, economically, socially and politically strong.  Its different languages and political statuses and systems; its multiple ethnicities; the little communication and articulation of the islands with the continental territories of the Caribbean; the lost ties between the aboriginal and the islanders, as well as the economic interests of global forces, amongst others, have shaped and restrained the possibilities to achieve integration within the region. This theme welcomes papers on topics such as: The historic and cultural dimension of integration. Expressions of racism within and outside the region. Expressions of xenophobia towards otherwise natural migrations. Cross-border peoples trapped within political divisions of its countries. The humanitarian crisis and xenophobia towards forced migrations. The current case of Venezuela. Challenges of integration and cooperation between coastal and island territories of the Caribbean. Historic and cultural connections. Movements and migrations from the continent to the islands, between islands and from these to the continent. Border disputes between Caribbean countries, which sever the ancestral territory of its peoples as in the case of San Andres and Providence; amongst other topics.

  1. “Other” epistemologies and identities: indigenous, women, young, gender, afros and diverse sexualities

In the last decades, we have witnessed a proliferation of social movements, which seek not just the acknowledgment of their rights to non-traditional identities, but also the valuing of their contributions to new ways of understanding and apprehending the world. Even though these struggles are based on injustice derived from social inequities, they also find ground on one related to cultural differences and political representation in the different parts of society. Thus, it is necessary to learn how these new epistemologies, identities and claims of diversity are presented, what they pursue and what their contributions are. This theme welcomes papers on topics such as: Intersectionality as theory, perspective, category of analysis, methodology, and tool for political action. Feminisms as political movements in the Great Caribbean. Social movements of the young, the indigenous and the Afrocaribbean: their contribution and transcendence for the Great Caribbbean. Diverse sexualities in the Great Caribbean: actions and responses to the wave of conservativism at a global level. Caribbean responses to the so-called “gender ideology”, reactionary invention of the international Right. Alliances and networks of social movements in the Caribbean: learned lessons and successful experiences. Contributions of the social movements to the emergence of “other” epistemologies. Amongst others.

We accept individual papers, as well as collective panels and workshops. We wish to make the conference as interdisciplinary as possible, and we warmly encourage our members to propose ideas for panels, workshops, and round tables, based on multiple disciplines and languages. We welcome a wide range of participants: researchers, academics, teachers, students, community activists, cultural managers, writers, artists, and creative people of all kinds.

Sending your proposals:

Please submit all proposals online via the CSA’s website (no emails).

The EXTENDED deadline for sending proposals is: January 31, 2019

  • All proposals of participation, both individual and collective, must be articulated to one of the major themes/topics of the Conference. You MUST select the theme/topic of your choice to start the submission process.
  • Collective proposals include fully-constituted panels (3-4 presenters and presentation titles needed for each presenter), workshops (1 or more facilitators), or round tables (3 to 4 presenters – no presentation titles needed).
  • Those proposals of participation that are collective (i.e. fully constituted panels, workshops, round tables) must select ONE PERSON to act as coordinator and representative of the proposal (preferably the chair/moderator). This person will submit the ENTIRE collective proposal indicating the panel/workshop/round table title, the abstract and the names and information of all its members. For fully constituted panels, all presentation titles must be included in the collective panel proposal; abstracts for those presentations can be uploaded with the submission as well. Round table panels should include all presenters and abstract but no individual presentation titles are needed. Letters of acceptance of collective proposals will include the names of all its members and will be sent out to the coordinator (chair/moderator) – and all presenters/speakers listed on the proposal will receive a copy of the acceptance as well. The coordinators of collective proposals are responsible for any changes to their panels and presenters information, as well as communicating about scheduling concerns.
  • The abstract (or summary) of the proposal should be no more than 125 words for individual papers and 250 words for collective proposals (i.e. fully constituted panels, workshops, round tables). Fully constituted panel proposals must be coordinated and submitted by ONE person and include all the presenters’ information and presentation titles.
  • The titles of individual proposals and collective proposals (fully constituted panels, workshops, round tables) should not be more than 70 characters (we reserve the right to edit them if too long).
  • The participants should indicate in which language they will present.
  • Please send the titles and summaries of your proposals in at least two languages (Spanish, English, French, Dutch, Creole languages such as Haitian creole, Papiamento and others). Multilingual summaries/abstracts will be published in the online version of the program.
  • Be sure to include any technological, working and translating support you might need in the proposal.
  • Fully Constituted Panels should include at least three (3) and no more than four (4) people, including the moderator of the panel, whose name should be included in the proposal. This person should be the coordinator of the collective proposal.
  • Fully Constituted Panels should include multiple disciplines, institutional affiliations and languages (for example, the participation of postgraduate students and junior professors with senior professors, scholars, activists or professionals in the social sciences, arts and humanities, and other disciplines would be welcome).
  • We also welcome film presentations, visual art exhibitions and performances related to the themes of the conference. Please submit those proposals through the Submissions Portal on the CSA Website – and follow the Call for Submissions for Film, Visual, and Performance Arts on the CSA website.
  • We also welcome presentations in the Author Celebration and Literary Salon. Please submit those proposals through the Submissions Portal on the CSA Website – and follow the Call for Submissions for Author Celebration and Literary Salon on the CSA website.

Membership rates are payable by January 1st, 2019 (membership rates apply on a calendar year basis and all memberships end December 31st each year). ALL presenters must be members in good financial standing. You should register and pay registration fees by February 15, 2019 so that all proposals appear in the program.  Details about membership rates and registration are published on the CSA’s website. Registration fees are non-transferable.

We offer a limited number of travel scholarships to support our current and future members who are not funded by their institutions and countries and who would not be able to attend the conference without support. Further details on how to apply for the travel scholarships, criteria and deadlines, will be available on the CSA’s website.

For any further inquiries or assistance about the suggested themes of the conference, please contact the Program Director, Raquel Sanmiguel, at the following address: program.chair@caribbeanstudiesassociation.org

NOTE: Kindly note that that the 44th annual conference continues to be guided by the policies governing the payment of membership dues and conference registration fees which are non-refundable and non-transferable. Please view the registration webpage for the payment guidelines and stay tuned to updates on the CSA website: http://www.caribbeanstudiesassociation.org/. To present at the conference, you are reminded that you must pay both membership and registration and, this year, we have restructured  the registration portal so that you may pay both membership and registration payments using one payment portal.