Renewing the Anarchist Tradition Conference: Call for Proposals

international | anarchist movement | other libertarian press Wednesday April 05, 2006 23:27 by Cindy - Institute for Anarchist Studies

(proposals due July 1, 2006)

September 29 to October 1, 2006
at Goddard College, Plainfield, Vermont
http://www.homemadejam.org/renew

The Renewing the Anarchist Tradition (RAT) conference, sponsored by the Institute for Anarchist Studies, will again take place at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont over the September 29-October 1, 2006 weekend. The conference aims to provide a scholarly space in which to both reexamine and reinvigorate the social and political tradition of anarchism. RAT is meant as one contribution to the project of developing a more rigorous as well as contemporary theoretical framework for anarchism, and to assist in nurturing new generations of anti-authoritarian public intellectuals. As in the past, we hope that RAT continues to raise difficult questions in a support, participatory environment among anarchist peers.

For more details on RAT's mission and past conferences, see http://www.homemadejam.org/renew.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS
(due July 1, 2006)

We are now accepting proposals for individual presentations and panels/debates/panelists for the 2006 Renewing the Anarchist Tradition conference (RAT), sponsored by the Institute for Anarchist Studies. For more on RAT, including past presentations and panels, see http://www.homemadejam.org/renew. People of color, women, those outside academia, and others often excluded from scholarly life--due to gender, sexuality, class, and so forth--are especially encouraged to send in proposals. And please feel free to forward this e-mail to others who may be interested in participating in and/or attending RAT.

We're looking for individual presentations that attempt to analyze and/or critique current social relations and dilemmas; share work and ideas on anarchism's relevance and potential as a political/social theory as well as a practice; grapple with and constructively challenge/build on standard anarchist notions in light of a radically changing world; and cover a wide variety of perspectives and scholarly disciplines.

While you can also propose a full panel or debate, including all panelists, please consider simply proposing yourself for a panel topic or two and we will put the panel together based on a diversity of viewpoints. Specifically, we would like to see panel/debate proposals that explore the following concerns through an anarchist lens: specific written works and/or major theorists; contemporary social phenomena, especially those undergoing dramatic transformations; movements and/or movement building, especially in light of present-day geopolitical events; various forms of identity, particularly race, gender, and sexuality; the rise of fundamentalisms and their implications; issues surrounding racism, anti-Semitism, and/or Islamophobia; ecology; imperialism and anti-imperialism; like-minded as well as divergent strains of radical social thought/praxis, from autonomous Marxism to various horizontalist movements; past historical examples of anti-authoritarian theories and/or practices; and the changing character of such standard categories as "the state," "capitalism," "class," and so on. These are just a sampling of our ideas; please feel free to propose others, of course!

Individual presentation and panel proposals should be no more than one typed page each; remember, you can also propose yourself as a panelist and let us set up the panel itself. Please include a presentation or panel title and one-paragraph description, two to three sentences about yourself and/or other proposed panelists, and complete contact information (address, phone, and e-mail). Indicate if you feel comfortable having your presentation/panel audiotaped, and if so, if you would be amendable to postconference
"publication" of such audio on a Web site or CD. Keep in mind that presenters are asked to limit individual presentations to about 30 to 40 minutes, and end by framing a question or two for the participants in order to facilitate another 30 to 40 minutes of discussion. Panelists should each prepare about 10 to 15 minutes of material, leaving time for discussion as well. Our intent with the panels is to stimulate lively, but friendly debate, so again, a variety of perspectives on each panel is encouraged.

Proposals are due by July 1, 2006, and should be e-mailed to both coorganizers:

* John Petrovato: jpetrovato@hotmail.com
* Cindy Milstein: cbmilstein@yahoo.com

If you have further questions about proposals, please contact John, our proposal coordinator.
We will inform you about the outcome of your proposal(s) soon after our deadline date.

Please note: all presenters must also register and pay for the conference. Details to come; stay tuned to our Web site or send Cindy an e-mail to be added to our occasional RAT e-update list.