Appropriating the (In)appropriate:
Rethinking Pageants, Contests and the Anthropology of Emblems
Powerful symbols are created when bodies and persons are appropriated
as emblematic of a nation, community or institution's values and aspirations.
Although many studies have unpicked and critiqued the ideologies condensed
in such symbols, they typically take for granted the processes by which
someone or something is appropriated as symbol or emblem. This panel
seeks to revitalise the field through the cross-cultural analysis of
processes of appropriation in such diverse contexts as beauty pageants
and fashion shows, model citizen awards, advertising and diplomacy.
Often associated with agency and creativity, appropriation can also
involve more negative issues such as perceived inappropriateness, copying,
or inauthenticity. The panel therefore invites papers exploring the
relationships between those striving to be appropriated, those undertaking
acts of appropriation, and the acts' audiences. It also asks what processes
are instigated by appropriations. To what extent do appropriated entities
become 'owned' by those they are representing? To what extent do they
exhibit 'ownership' over what they symbolise? What happens when their
exposure leads them to be (re)appropriated in quite unexpected and unforeseen
ways? A final aim is to explore ethnographically the practices by which
social actors render themselves 'appropriate' for appropriation, and
how alternative, 'inappropriate', practices might be employed in acts
of
cynicism, subversion or satire. These practices themselves often involve
the appropriation of certain subjects, objects and relations (e.g. clothing,
demeanour, tuition) and the panel invites papers that interrogate the
often fraught connections between such micro-level practices and the
actor's capacity - and desire - to be appropriated. We welcome all papers
that engage with the themes of this panel, and are sympathetic towards
broad and unorthodox interpretations of the CFP. Deadline for
paper abstracts: 1st May 2008. Submit online at http://www.nomadit.co.uk/asa/asa08/panels.php5?PanelID=404.
Any queries, contact Nick Long - NJL34@cam.ac.uk
or Sharyn Graham Davies - sharyn.davies@aut.ac.nz.
Queer Excursions: New Directions
in Language, Gender and Sexuality Research
Editors: Jenny Davis, Joshua Raclaw, and Lal Zimman (Department of Linguistics,
University of Colorado at Boulder). Submissions are invited for a new
edited volume in the field of language, gender, and sexuality that seeks
to expand the present scope of these research areas. The volume will
showcase work that considers how speakers (re)produce gender and sexuality
outside of the traditional dichotomies that have been dominant in both
scholarship and popular discourses. Topics of chapters currently under
consideration focus on issues of linguistic practice among understudied
communities such as female-to-male transsexuals, genderqueer individuals,
tomboys and their girlfriends in Indonesia, polyamorists and other non-monogamists,
and members of Native American two-spirit groups; additionally, much
of this work underscores the theoretical limitations of a sociolinguistics
driven by binary categorization. The editors welcome abstracts from
scholars working within various disciplinary traditions, including sociolinguistics,
linguistic anthropology, discourse and rhetorical analysis, gender and
queer studies, and others. Background: The past two decades have seen
a significant rise in what has been termed a poststructuralist sociolinguistics,
a shift reflected in the adoption of a wide range of third-wave feminist
and queer stances within language, gender and sexuality research. Adopting
the trend toward critical examination of the dominant dichotomization
of gender and sexuality, researchers within the last decade have considered
additional intersections such as class and ethnicity, have deconstructed
the traditional primacy assigned to male/female difference, and have
established the importance of examining queer subjecthood. Yet research
that looks at gender and sexuality as positioned outside of dichotomous
categorizations – such as transgenderism and transsexuality, third
and fourth gender categories, bisexuality and pansexuality – has
been less forthcoming. Indeed, with few exceptions, the field has paid
little attention to how social actors might challenge such binary categories
through linguistic means, or to how speakers enact gendered and sexual
identities outside of the dominant categories of male and female, heterosexual
and homosexual. Rather than just constituting a simple gap in the literature,
such trends potentially contribute to the reinforcement of traditional
gender and sexual dichotomies by reinforcing the invisibility of those
groups and individuals that remain outside of them (cf. Bing and Bergvall
1996). Submission Guidelines: Potential contributors should email a
500-1000 word abstract, including a title and a description of the topic
of the proposed chapter, theoretical frameworks and methodologies employed,
and how this work is situated outside of, or provides new insight into
or potential challenges to, the binaries discussed above. Complete manuscripts
are also welcome for submission at this time. Please restrict these
submissions to a maximum length of 10,000 words and follow the Unified
Style Sheet for Linguistics (located at http://www.linguistlist.org/pubs/tocs/JournalUnifiedStyleSheet2007.pdf).
Abstracts due June 30, 2008. First round of full drafts due September
1, 2008. Please direct all correspondence to the editors at
jennifer.davis@colorado.edu,
raclaw@colorado.edu, zimman@colorado.edu.
Council on Anthropology and
Reproduction Graduate Student Paper Competition
The Council on Anthropology and Reproduction (CAR), an interest group
of the Society for Medical Anthropology, is pleased to announce its
eighth annual student paper award competition. The award will go to
the best graduate student paper on anthropology and reproduction. Submissions
from all fields of anthropology are encouraged. Criteria on which the
papers will be judged: v Ethnographic richness based on fieldwork
* Anthropological methodology
* Linkage of work to other work in anthropology and reproduction
* Effective use of theory and data
* Originality/Creativity
* Organization, quality of writing, and coherence of argument
A committee of CAR members will read the papers. The author of the winning
paper will receive a cash award of approximately $250. The winner will
be announced in both the CAR Newsletter and the Anthropology Newsletter.
An abstract of the winning article will be published in the CAR Newsletter.
Submissions must be received by June 1, 2008. Send
four hard copies of the paper. On a separate page, include your name,
mailing address, e-mail address, telephone number, and school affiliation.
Please do not include identifying information on the essay itself. Papers
should be double-spaced, no longer than 9,000 words (including references),
and references should be formatted in American Anthropologist style.
Papers already published or accepted for publication at the time of
submission are not eligible. Questions may be directed to Maggie MacDonald
at maggie@yorku.ca. Address submissions
to: Maggie MacDonald, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology,
York University, Toronto, Ontario CANADA M3J1P3
Gender Mainstreaming: the Appropriation
of Feminist Discourses in Development?
A call for papers for a panel for the Association of Social Anthropoligists
conference in December 2008 in Auckland (conference web page:
http://www.theasa.org/asa08/index2.html). Convenors: Suzanne
Clisby (University of Hull) and Maggie
Bolton (University of Hull). Gender mainstreaming is a response
to feminist and anthropological critiques of gender disparities in development.
This panel calls for an analysis of gender mainstreaming from a feminist
anthropological perspective and aims to critically explore issues of
ownership and appropriation therein. Gender mainstreaming' is heralded
as a major global strategy for ensuring the incorporation of gender
perspectives and the promotion of equality in all areas of social development.
Placing gender mainstreaming on the international development agenda
can be perceived as a successful outcome of feminist/GAD and anthropological
discourse and activism. The question is, how has this policy been translated
in terms of practice and what are the real consequences of that discourse?
The incorporation, for example, of 'gendered' terminology into policy
without the corresponding implementation at all levels can serve to
blunt women's calls for change on the grounds that their concerns have
already been addressed. More critically, is gender mainstreaming being
subverted as a tool for the appropriation of women's knowledge, interests
and concerns in social development arenas? Does the terminology of gender
obscure women and facilitate the continuation of male dominance over
development processes? Does it impose an inappropriate model of womanhood
on non-Western women? Has, then, the incorporation of feminist critiques
into international development discourse subverted feminist theories
of ownership and appropriation? Finally, to what extent has the requirement
for 'gender mainstreaming' in international development discourse become
an extension of a neo-liberal/neo-colonial project to control and 'civilise'
developing economies? Is a putative concern for gender equality in development
being used as another means to distinguish between the modern, civilised
One and the colonial, traditional Other? We invite papers that explore
one or more of these questions: we would especially welcome contributions
from feminist anthropologists engaged in development.
Women and Agriculture Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society.
Women and Agriculture. Submission deadline: May 1, 2008.
For this special issue we invite international, transnational, and comparative
studies that engage theoretical and historical analyses of women and
agriculture; and analyses of racial, ethnic, and gendered dimensions
of agriculture. We seek manuscripts on women and sustainable agriculture,
on women in leadership and decision-making positions, and in feminist
science studies pertaining to women's knowledge and changing agricultural
practices. Carolyn Sachs, Professor of Rural Sociology and Women's Studies,
Penn State University, United States, and Margaret Alston, Professor
of Social Work and Human Services and Director of the Centre for Rural
Social Research, Charles Sturt University, Australia, will serve as
guest editors of the special issue on women and agriculture. For details,
see http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/page/signs/call.html.
Inclusive Science: Articulating
Theory, Practice, and Action
June 16-18, 2008, College of St. Catherine, St. Paul MN. Our web site
is now live! Visit: http://www.stkate.edu/inclusive_science/
to learn more about the conference and submit a proposal. Conference
Overview: During the summer of 2008, the College of St. Catherine, the
nation’s largest college for women, will be hosting a national
conference in St. Paul, Minnesota on feminism and science. “Inclusive
Science: Articulating Theory, Practice, and Action” will focus
on three intersections of science and feminism: 1) Multiple Frameworks:
critiques of science from multiple perspectives including gender, race
and ethnicity, and class; 2) Pedagogies that engage women, students
of color, and students from a variety of social classes in the sciences,
technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); 3) Transformation: putting
theory into action; changing the way we do, learn, and teach about science.
This conference is designed to help scholars in and of the sciences
share knowledge and ideas; develop strategies for disseminating their
theory, pedagogies, and activism; and discuss ways to go forward. We
plan to include ample opportunity for dialog through innovative participatory
sessions and intentionally scheduled time for informal conversations.We
welcome proposals for formal papers, panels, and roundtable discussions.
However, since one of our conference goals is to foster community among
people engaged in making the sciences more inclusive, we encourage proposals
for sessions that may not fit these more traditional formats. We particularly
encourage creative formats that may include: “hands on”
workshops, panels that bring together different disciplines or perspectives,
and/or sessions that foster dialog among presenters and participants.
We also encourage presentation of “works in progress” for
feedback and discussion. We are especially grateful to the Associated
Colleges of the Twin Cities (ACTC) and The College of St. Catherine
for their generous sponsorship.
Getting Bi: Voices
of Bisexuals Around the World, 2nd edition
--Do you have something to say about being bisexual?
--Do you have a story about coming out as bi?
--Do you feel you could identify as bisexual but choose not to?
--Do you find connections (or conflicts) between your bisexuality and
other parts of your identity or life?
--Do you have something to say about desire? About relationships? About
religion? About community? About politics? About the position of bisexuals
in the place or community you call home?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, we want to publish
you! We seek short personal essays or poems (200-1000 words) by bisexuals
from Central or South America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia,
or Africa. We seek Muslim voices from anywhere in the world. If you
don't want your name in print, you can write under a pseudonym. If you
think you're not a "real" writer and would like to be included
in this anthology, we want you. If you're not comfortable writing, we
can interview you. If you are not comfortable writing in English, write
in your native language and we will translate your essay. Essays will
be published in the second edition of Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals
Around the World. The new anthology will be published in 2009, in dual
editions (English and Spanish). The first (2005) edition includes personal
narratives by people from 32 different countries, on 6 continents, ranging
in age from 15-79. Please help us make this amazing collection even
broader in scope! Send submissions to Robyn Ochs (robyn@robynochs.com)
by June 30, 2008.
Encyclopedia of Gay Folklife
The upcoming Encyclopedia of Gay Folklife,
which should be finished by the beginning of 2009 and ready for publication
mid-year, has many articles that still need authors. The Encyclopedia
of Gay Folklife will be an 800 page, 2 volume work (approx. 300,000
words). Entries will be between 500-2000 words, depending upon topic
and author's recommendations. Those authors that write 3 or more articles
will get a free copy (approx. $200 retail). The publisher is M.E. Sharpe
(contact person: Todd Hallman). Editor is Mickey Weems. We are looking
for authors for entries that reflect the breadth and width of LGBTQA
folklife. In order to distinguish this encyclopedia from other such
works about the LGBTQA community, we emphasize the following points:
Aesthetics, Identity, Ethics, Eros, Performance, Coding, Healthways,
Lived experience, Spirituality. Those who have done ethnographic research
address many of the same concerns as folklorists; such scholars would
be qualified to write entries for this work. Sexual and/or gender orientation
are not factors in considering authors for entries. Mickey Weems, editor
614-746-1778.
WID: Michigan State
University
Michigan State University's Women and International Development (MSU-WID)
Publication Series invites you to submit your manuscript for review.
The series focuses on the relationships between gender and global transformation
and publishes reports of empirical studies and projects, theoretical
analyses, and policy discussions that illuminate the processes of change
in the broadest sense. Individual papers in the series address a range
of topics including women's historical and changing participation in
economic and political spheres, intra- and inter-family role relationships,
gender identity, women's health and health care, and the gender division
of labor. We particularly encourage manuscripts that bridge the gap
between research, policy, and practice. The Working Papers on Women
and International Development series features article-length manuscripts
by scholars from a broad range of disciplines. It disseminates materials
that are at a late stage of formulation and that contribute new understandings
of women's economic, social, and political position amidst change. The
WID Forum series features short research and project reports and policy
analyses of importance in the field. It disseminates papers that are
brief or at an early stage of development and that contain insights
that can inform scholarship and influence development policy and programs.
If you are interested in submitting a manuscript to the MSU-WID Publication
Series, please contact Dr. Anne Ferguson, WID Publication Series Editor,
Women and International Development Program, 206 International Center,
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1035, USA. You may
want to refer to the WID
Style Sheet to help you prepare your manuscript for submission.
If you have any questions, please feel free to call us at 517/353-5040;
fax 517/432-4845 or e-mail papers@msu.edu.
