[Commlist] CfP DSA 2019: Thinking through aid objects to open up development

We invite paper submissions to our panel on "Thinking through Aid 
Objects to Open Up Development" at the next conference of the 
Development Studies Association (DSA), held at the Open University, 
Milton Keynes (UK), from June 19-21, 2019.

The deadline for submissions is January 16, 2019.

_Short abstract:_
This panel critically thinks through the role of aid objects such as 
billboards, pamphlets, policy documents, humanitarian kits or medicines 
in development and asks how an analytical focus on aid objects allows 
for rethinking knowledge hierarchies and power differentials.

_Long abstract:_
Building on recent trends in anthropological theory that emphasize the 
analytical benefits of Thinking through Things (Henare, Holbraad and 
Wastell 2006; also Latour 1992; Escobar 2018) this panel seeks to think 
through "aid objects" to open up new perspectives on development. This 
artefact-oriented approach highlights how interactions between humans 
and non-humans shape development and, crucially, how gaps are created 
between the envisioned (imagined) and eventual performance of aid 
objects and associated programmes.

Lisa Smirl and others already demonstrated how this approach reveals the 
unintended effects of "hidden aid objects" (e.g. hotels and SUVs) that 
primarily serve to facilitate the work of development professionals. In 
comparison, we are especially (but not solely) interested in 
"hyper-visible aid objects" such as billboards, pamphlets, posters, 
policy documents, humanitarian kits, tents and even seeds and medicines, 
artefacts that are explicitly designed to achieve development goals 
and/or to advertise the contributions of donors. Despite, or perhaps 
because of, their hyper-visible omnipresence, the material turn in 
development has largely overlooked these artefacts.

We invite papers that (1) take these aid objects seriously by examining 
"how they present themselves, rather than immediate assuming that they 
signify, represent, or stand for something else" (Henare, Holbraad and 
Wastell 2006, 3), that (2) address processes through which development 
professionals and/or alleged 'beneficiaries' envision and uses these 
objects; (3) that discuss what this means for knowledge production, 
dissemination and hierarchies in development. How can thinking through 
aid objects open up new venues for de-colonizing and addressing power 
inequalities in development theory and practice?

Please submit your proposals, including a short abstract of fewer than 
300 characters and a long abstract of fewer than 250 words, via the 
conference website/ the following link: 
https://nomadit.co.uk/dsa/dsa2019/conferencesuite.php/panels/7615


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