[Commlist] CfP CSA Working Group on Culture and War

The Working Group on Culture ad War invites submissions for
the 23rd annual conference of the Cultural Studies Association
(U.S.), on May 29-31, 2025, at the California Institute of the arts,
Valencia, California.

_General call_: We invited interdisciplinary papers, panel proposals
and non-traditional forms of creative intervention that consider
the social, economic and political landscape of conflict past and
present. Submissions treating current conflicts in Myanmar,
Nagorno-Karabakh, and Ukraine are especially welcome, as
are those consonant with this year's conference theme: "Imagin-
ary Futures: Utopias, Dystopias & Protopias of Cultural Studies."

_Special Call--the War on Gaz_a: Following decades of illegal
occupation, de-development, blockade, and routinized "mowing
the lawn" to cull resistance, the Hamas-led break out and massacre
of 1200 mostly civilian Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, triggered the IDF's
12th and most devastating assault on the Gaza Strip. The whole-
sale, indiscriminate destruction of infrastructure (including hospitals
and schools), blockage of humanitarian aid, and the horrific civil-
ian death toll have moved humanitarian organizations within and
without Israel to argue that the assault meets the UN definition of
"genocide." And yet, despite livestreaming devastation and
suffering, global protest and calls for sanctions and an arms
blockade, the international institutions created to protect civilians
against such violence and to hold perpetrators accountable
have so far failed. As the war enters its seeming final act, it
challenges all of us, whether engaged in traditional disciplinary
scholarship or Cultural Studies, to develop modes of research,
critique and activism which help us meet this moment--and
future ones--by more effectively addressing this conflict
its enabling political and economic conditions, and likely conse-
quences. To that end, we invite submissions on all aspects of
the Gaza War, how to make sense of it and how to respond.

Topics might include--

Representing the conflict: agenda setting and framing in various
national media; social media and disinformation. Ethical paradox,
Palestinians as "victims of the victims."

International Law and the occupation. IHL and war crimes: rape
"human shield" allegations as a rationale for unrestricted war-
fare against civilians; the Dahiya Doctrine. Killing of aid workers
and blockage of humanitarian aid. Ongoing violence in the
West Bank. Limitations/effectiveness of the ICC and ICJ.

Suppression of free speech/academic freedom in Europe and
the U.S. The conflation of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism in
policy proposals and legislation; Project Esther. Press censor-
ship in Gaza and Israel, including the deliberate targeting of
journalists.

North American and European complicity/responsibility.

The future of Gaza: regional powers, the Palestinian Authority
and Palestinian statehood. The U.N., Trump, and U.S. foreign
policy, Expanding famine.

Activism--What is to be done? What is being done? BDS,
international resistance, arms embargo, sanctions. Coalition
building, education, campus protest, platforming Palestinian
voices.

SUBMISSION AND REGISTRATRION

Friday, December 6, 2024 submission system open.
Friday, December 6, 2024 until Friday April 4, 2025: Early
  Bird Registration.
Sunday, February 23, 2025: FINAL DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS
Friday, March 7, 2025: Notifications sent out.
Friday, April 4, 2025: Early Registration Ends. Regular rate begins
Friday, May 9, 2025: Last day to register to participate in the
conference. If you do not register by this date and are not a
current member, your name will be dropped from the program.

REGISTRATION: In order to participate in the conference and be
listed in the program, all those accepted to participate must
register before Friday, May 9, 2025: Remember: Registration
for the conference and membership in the CSA are combined
transactions. All proposals should be submitted through Easy
Chair: hhtps://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=csa2025 
<http://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=csa2025>.
Make sure to create/and/or log in to your Easy Chair account
before you attempt to submit, Please prepare all materials
required to propose your session according to the given
directions before you begin electronic submission. All
program information--names, presentation titles, and institu-
tional affiliations--will be based on initial conference submis-
sions. Please avoid lengthy presentation and session titles,
use normal capitalization and standard fonts, and include
your name and affiliations as you would like them to
appear on the conference program schedule.

SUBMISSION FORMATS:

All sessions are 90 minutes long. All conference formats
are intended to encourage the presentation and discussion
of projects at different stages of development and to foster
intellectual exchange and collaboration. Please feel free to
adapt the suggested formats or propose others in order to
suit your sessions goals.

The CSA aims to provide multiple and diverse spaces for the
cross-pollination of art, activism, pedagogy, design and
research by bringing together participants from a variety
of positions inside and outside the university. We are
particularly interested in proposals for sessions designed
to document and advance existing forms of collective
action or catalyze new collaborations. We encourage
submissions from individuals working beyond the boundaries
of the university: artists, activists, educators, independent
scholars, professionals, and community organizers.

While the language of the conference must be English,
submissions from outside the Anglophone world are
welcome.

Further information regarding various session formats,
transportation, and housing can be found at
https://www.culturalstudiesassociation.org/conference.htiml 
<https://www.culturalstudiesassociation.org/conference.htiml>

Questions regarding Working Group submissions should be
addressed to Howard Hastings at (aspinozist /at/ gmail.com) 
<mailto:(aspinozist /at/ gmail.com)> or
Tony Grajeda at (athony.grajeda /at/ ucf.edu) <mailto:(athony.grajeda /at/ ucf.edu)>.

---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ commlist.org)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------