[ecrea] CFP: Temporalities, Futures and Social Change

Connected Communities and Care for the Future themes are co-hosting a 
symposium in May on the theme of ‘Utopias, Futures and Temporalities: 
critical considerations for social change’

Deadline for proposals: Feb 15th to (K.Dunleavy /at/ bristol.ac.uk)

http://connected-communities.org/index.php/first-call-symposium-on-utopias-futures-social-change/

2016 is the 500 year anniversary of the first publication of Thomas 
More’s Utopia. Such a moment encourages reflection on the uses and 
misuses of utopias and dystopias in social change as well as critical 
reflection on the contribution of ideas of the future and of temporality 
to the processes of social transformation.

The ideals of citizenship encourage us all to desire a stake in the 
future – whether trying to shape our own lives, those of our families, 
the places we live, or wider society – and to imagine a better or 
different world. But what is this entity that we name ‘future’? Senses 
of time vary across and within human societies, and disciplines from 
philosophy to natural science present equally differing conceptions of 
it. By invoking ‘utopias/dystopias’ we wish to explore the questions of 
positionality, power, hope and despair that are at play in the 
imagination of new times and the way that these effect change in the 
present. By pluralising ‘futures’, we want to explore the diversity of 
ways in which anticipatory practices can be performed by people and 
communities. And by invoking ‘temporalities’, we want to reflect on how 
the qualities of time – endurance, succession, speed, rhythm, for 
example – interact with imaginings and perceptions of what is to come. 
Perhaps, by better understanding the temporal qualities of society, 
culture and environments, we could create social change at a scale and 
pace that connects communities with their futures, rather than 
disenfranchises them. Perhaps again, by invoking utopias and dystopias, 
we may recognise that questions of future possibility are not simply 
technical, but involve politics, fear, despair, hope, imagination, 
dreams, desires and aspirations, all of which may act as stimulus or 
disincentives for social change

Key questions include:

How have different societies thought about ‘the future’? What role have 
different conceptions of the future played in confronting the problems 
of the present or reflecting on those of the past? What role do ideas of 
the future play in creating and connecting communities? How do 
narratives across past, present and future cohere? How do the different 
temporalities of human, environmental and technological change 
inter-relate? How do societies and communities use and construct 
utopias, dystopias and other forms of anticipation to build agency and 
capacity for change? What impedes or enables these processes? What 
methodological and theoretical resources do we have for thinking about 
futurity and temporality?

Aspirations for the event

This two-day interdisciplinary symposium aims to bring together 
researchers and activists working across academia, civil society, 
heritage and arts organisations. We expect it to involve those who are 
concerned with questions of social and environmental change, 
humanitarian challenges, and community empowerment and participation, as 
well as with the role of philosophy, art, history, theory, social 
science and cultural studies in exploring questions of hope, agency, 
temporality and the future.

The event will be curated to foster new conversations and the 
development of productive new areas for research and social action. We 
expect the event to lead into opportunities for collaboration, writing 
and research leading up to the 2016 500 year anniversary of the 
publication of More’s Utopia.

Themes

The symposium will accept papers on a wide variety of themes related to 
the overarching focus of the event. To provoke conversations and 
stimulate collaborations, we propose a number of topics that might be 
generative. Submissions should explain how they relate to the theme of 
‘Utopias, temporalities and futures: critical considerations for social 
change’.

    * Anticipation, abundance and anxiety: when is anticipation healthy 
and expansive, and when does it become pathological?
    * Conflict, trauma and recovery
    * Critical temporalities: reimagining time as part of reimagining 
social life
    * Heritage, stewardship & trusteeship: what is the role of history 
in shaping and caring for the future?
    * Historical legacies: how do some aspects of the past endure into 
the present and future?
    * Imagination and agency: how are imaginative conceptions of time 
and change related to the capacity to act?
    * Intergenerational responsibility, justice and ethics
    * Materialising futures through creative practice: how can artists, 
architects and designers work with communities to imagine and make futures?
    * Human and more than human futures, where is the locus of future 
making?
    * Novelty and contingency: what are the possibilities for radical 
uncertainty and the emergence of the new?
    * The role of time in social inclusion and exclusion
    * The relationship between Utopias and dystopias

Symposium Session Formats

We are keen to encourage a variety of different session formats. The 
exact timing of these sessions will depend on the mix of abstracts 
submitted. Our aim is to encourage a space for dialogue and sharing of 
ideas that moves beyond the simple presentation of existing research.

    * Roundtables: Cross disciplinary and cross-sectoral conversations 
of up to 4 people, for 90 minutes
    * Papers: 30 minutes + 30 minute discussion
    * Workshops : 90 minutes to explore how ‘using futures’ or thinking 
differently about temporality might be mobilised to effect positive 
change in the present
    * Posters/ Pecha Kucha: Quick fire poster presentations to 
summaries emerging research and tentative ideas
    * Open Space sessions: 2 hour sessions to generate and explore new 
directions in research and practice
    * Practice as Research Submission: this might take the form of a 
short performance, small exhibition/installation or other format as 
appropriate. Note that time and space is limited so if you have 
ambitious ideas, please contact the organisers directly to discuss.

Format For Submission

All proposals should be sent by February 14th to Katherine Dunleavy at 
K.Dunleavy @bristol.ac.uk

Any questions concerning the event or proposal formats should be 
directed to Keri Facer at (Keri.Facer /at/ bristol.ac.uk) For all submissions, 
please specify which Connected Communities or Care for the Future 
project you have been associated with.

Roundtable proposals

1500 word abstract (including references) identifying the 4 speakers, 
the topics they will present on and how the roundtable will address the 
themes of the symposium. We are particularly interested in roundtables 
that put different orientations toward the future/ utopia or temporality 
into dialogue and/or that bring together academic and practitioner 
perspectives in relation to the core theme.

Paper

500 word abstract (including references) of the paper, clearly 
explaining how the paper addresses the theme of the symposium and how it 
will offer resources to think and work with for symposium participants.

Workshop session

500 word abstract (including references if appropriate) identifying the 
topic of the session, the format that the workshop will take, the 
previous experience or research that feeds into the design of the 
session and the ways in which the session will contribute to the topic 
of the symposium.

Poster/Pecha Kucha Session

The poster/pecha kucha session will enable new ideas and provocations to 
be presented quickly as a basis for promoting further conversations. 500 
word abstract (including references) identifying the topic, the fit to 
the theme of the symposium, and the new ideas that the poster/pecha 
kucha will aim to explore.

Open Space Session

We expect to host one or two Open Space sessions and invite proposals 
for such a session from experienced facilitators of these processes, on 
a topic that will be sufficiently generative to invite productive 
discussions and new directions from participants in the symposium. 1000 
word proposals should outline the experience of the facilitator in 
running such sessions, the broad topic that will be proposed

Practice as Research

500 word abstract (including references) of the proposed piece, clearly 
explaining how it addresses the theme of the symposium and how it will 
offer resources to think and work with for symposium participants. 
Please specify the space and time requirements for the piece.

Who can participate?

This event is open to any researchers and/or community collaborators who 
have been funded through the Connected Communities or Care for the 
Future Themes. The two day event will be free to participants.

Financial Assistance to participate

Bursaries covering travel and accommodation are available for up to 50 
people to attend the symposium. Those requesting a bursary should 
provide a short summary of reasons for needing this upon submission of 
abstract. Bursaries will be offered up to the total available in order 
of those with clearest financial need and in order to create a 
sufficiently diverse range of participants in the symposium.

Peer review process

There will be a light touch peer review process by the steering 
committee that aims to ensure that proposals all address the core theme 
of the symposium. The purpose of peer review will also be to identify 
productive connections and new thinking to encourage conversation and 
dialogue at the symposium. Applications from early career researchers 
and from those seeking to create interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral 
connections are particularly welcome. We may also offer places for 
participants to attend the event who are not successful in their 
proposal for a particular session.

Conference Committee

Keri Facer (Chair, Leadership Fellow, Connected Communities Programme) 
Andrew Thompson (Chair, Leadership Fellow, Care for the Future) Steering 
Group: Michelle Bastian, Jo Vergunst, Steve Pool, Joe Smith, Sian 
Sullivan, Richard Haynes, David Zeitlyn, Angela Piccini, George McKay 
(Leadership Fellow, CC programme), Michael Northcutt, Johan Siebers, 
Penny Evans

Dr A A Piccini / Senior Lecturer in Screen Media
Deputy PI: Productive Margins (Tues/Thurs); Co-I: 
knowyourbristol.blogs.ilrt.org/ (Mon/Fri)
Rm 3.17 / Department of Film and Television / School of Arts
University of Bristol / Cantocks Close / Woodland Road / Bristol BS8 1UP
T: +44 (0)117 331-5087 (Mon/Weds/Fri) / +44 (0)117 954-6713 (Tues/Thurs) 
/ 0775 834-8497
E: (a.a.piccini /at/ bristol.ac.uk)


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