[ecrea] CfP: Sussex Centre for Cultural Studies Annual Conference: Echoes of Fascism

SUSSEX CENTRE FOR CULTURAL STUDIES

ANNUAL CONFERENCE FRIDAY MAY 26TH 2017

*Echoes of Fascism in Contemporary Culture, Politics and Society *

*Keynote speakers include:*

*Angela Nagle (author of ‘Ireland Under Austerity’ and ‘Kill All 
Normies: The Online Culture Wars from 4chan to Trump’)*

*Gholam Khiabany (academic and political journalist, author of ‘Blogistan’)*



‘Every age has its own fascism’ – Primo Levi

Within the past year, we have witnessed a number of alarming social and 
political developments in the UK but also globally. The success of the 
Brexit campaign in the UK, the election of Donald Trump in the USA and 
his recent imposition of a travel ban, have all been dependent on 
racially charged ideologies, and accompanied by a notable rise in 
racist, misogynist, and homophobic attacks in the UK and in other 
Western countries, as the Far Right mobilises and becomes more legitimated.

In broad terms, this conference poses questions around our ethical 
responsibilities (as academics, community organisations, and human 
beings) vis-à-vis these developments:



  * as the neoliberal consensus frays, how do we respond to resurgent
    nationalism?
  * how can, or should, we respond to the backlash against pluralism,
    the rise of the alt-right, and the waves of ‘populist’ movements
    that are sweeping across the West?

More specifically, the conference will provide an opportunity to 
consider the historical backdrop of contemporary conservative movements. 
Parallels have frequently been drawn in the media between, for example, 
1930s German fascism and the contemporary political and social 
landscape. We thus seek to question:



  * to what extent are we currently seeing ‘echoes’ of past fascist
    movements?
If every age has its own fascism, as Levi has argued:

  * can we learn from the history of fascist movements in a way that
    will help us to understand our contemporary situation?
Finally,

  * how can we put these lessons into practice as we mobilise against
    racism, misogyny, homophobia, and xenophobia?

The conference will particularly be interested in (though not restricted 
to) papers on the following topics: past fascist movements and their 
bearing on the present; the rise of the alt-right and new right-wing 
populism, and the role of class within this; the right-wing critique of 
neoliberal globalisation and the space for alternatives; the current 
state of, and threats to, human rights, reproductive rights, rights of 
freedom of movement, LGBTQ rights, and social democracies; feminist 
activism (past and present); and racialised public discourse and the 
nationalist common-sense. We also invite papers that consider these 
issues through the prism of film, visual culture, literature, memory 
studies, creative practice, etc.



This conference will take place at the University of Sussex (Brighton, 
UK), and bring together people working in academia, community/activist 
organisations, think tanks and the media.

Please submit abstracts of max. 300 words to: 
(sccsconferences /at/ sussex.ac.uk) <mailto:(sccsconferences /at/ sussex.ac.uk)>

Deadline for submissions: March 15th 2017

Best wishes,

Matilda Mroz (conference director), Malcolm James, Sally R Munt, Robert 
Topinka, Victoria Walden of Sussex Centre for Cultural Studies

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