[ecrea] CFP: Mobile Utopia, Lancaster University, November 2017

*Mobile Utopia: Pasts, Presents, Futures | Lancaster University | 2 - 5 
November, 2017*

*Invitation to submit individual papers, panels, artworks, posters, and 
other creative formats*

*Deadline for submissions: 15^th April*

**

‘Mobilising’ utopia can provide important insights into 
intergenerational, multi-scalar, human and non-human interconnectivities 
across transport, traffic and mobilities. From Thomas More’s /Utopia 
/(1516) to Ruth Levitas’ /Utopia as method /(2013) and John Urry’s /What 
is the future? /(2016), utopia has been a powerful means to explore how 
societies have shaped, and have been shaped by, complex im|mobilities, 
from microbial to big data mobilities, from horse-drawn carriages to 
driverless cars, from migration to planetary jet streams. Faced with the 
global uncertainties of the Anthropocene, utopia provides renewed 
analytical and creative purchase.

This joint conference brings together historians, researchers, artists, 
policy-makers, designers, and innovators to explore *Mobile Utopia: 
Pasts, Presents and Futures*.

Lancaster’s Centre for Mobilities Research 
<http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/cemore/>, the International Association for 
the History of Transport, Traffic and Mobility <http://t2m.org/> (T2M) 
and the Cosmobilities Network <http://www.cosmobilities.net/> have 
joined together to invite contributions across the spectrum of mobile 
utopian themes. In addition, proposals may address any aspect of the 
history, and social, cultural, economic, technological, creative, 
ecological and political aspects of transport, traffic and mobility.

The celebrations that marked the 500th anniversary of the publication of 
Thomas More’s /Utopia /have been both global and wide-ranging. In his 
seminal work, More outlined his ideas around an alternative society 
living in a City of Man in contrast with former visions of the City of 
God. Five centuries later, we are part of a world where 54 per cent of 
the population live in cities (Worldbank 2015), and the trend is set to 
continue and increase, with the UN estimating that the world’s 
population is to reach 9.7 billion by 2050. This poses great challenges 
concerning natural resources, (food) security, clean water, energy, 
environmental and social justice, and more. This all involves mobilities 
of different kinds, operating at different spatial and temporal scales, 
with different motivations, processes, and consequences.

Utopia is an integrative method that can assist us when thinking about 
the relationship between societies and mobilities past, present, and 
future. It can help us trace the complex interconnections between the 
urban and the rural, the digital, oceanic, global, and planetary, the 
here-and-now and the /longue durée/. Utopia creates rich ground for 
contestation, as one person’s utopia can be another’s dystopia, and 
innovative visions followed through produce unintended consequences. 
From the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals to visions of a future 
where CO2 emissions are no longer the norm, utopia helps us challenge 
the past and present by imagining the future. As research has shown, 
transformations in governance, everyday practices, and exchanges between 
communities are key to the success or failure of these visions.

This call invites proposals exploring utopia as a heuristic and creative 
methodology – rather than as a narrative closed system – which 
challenges our assumptions about what has been possible in the past and 
what will be possible and preferable in the future. We invite 
reflections on the diverse dimensions of im|mobility adopting such a 
utopian perspective from any city, country or place, in relation to any 
theme, scale, or period in history. We encourage transnational, 
comparative, artistic, design-led, interdisciplinary and trans-modal 
approaches, and welcome proposals exploring theoretical or 
methodological issues as well as those of a more empirical nature. We 
invite different submission and presentation formats. Topics may 
include, but are not restricted to:

Traffic, transport, mobilities and social futures
Urban, rural, digital mobilities
Space, geoengineering, planetary mobilities
Intergenerational mobilities
Embodiment, health, healing and wellbeing
Civility, migration and citizenship
Mobility justice, human rights and mobility
Pasts, presents, futures of tourism
Energy production and consumption
Automation, autonomous machines, robotics
Post-human ontology, phenomenology
Critiques of the concept of anthropocene, non-human mobilities
Sustainable mobilities
Utopia in the ruins of capitalism and modernity
Living alternatives
Corporate mobilities futures
Utopia as method
Mobile utopias, dystopias, anti-utopias, beyond-utopias
The history and heritage of mobile utopia
Mobile Utopia & the state, globalization, cosmopolitanism
Free-market and neoliberal utopia
Values and moral orders of mobility and travel
Arts practice and research as mobile utopia

Proposals can be for individual papers, panels, artworks, posters, and 
other creative formats as outlined below. We welcome relevant 
contributions from any academic perspective or discipline, from 
professionals, policy makers and practitioners, as well as artists and 
creative professionals, designers, and engineers. Recent entrants to the 
research field and doctoral students are very welcome.

*_Conference Format and Sessions_*

**

The conference aims to create an insightful, inspiring, creative and 
thought-provoking dialogue. To this aim, different types of sessions 
will foster exchange and discussion:

*7/7 sessions: *This means seven slides and seven minutes for each 
presentation. The sessions will have plenty of time for discussion. This 
will be supported by having both a chair and a discussant. Presenters 
shall focus on their main argument in order to avoid overly-complex 
presentations.

*Debate sessions: *Debate sessions have a maximum of five presenters. 
Each gives a five minutes focused input to the topic and this should be 
followed by discussion involving the audience. Led by a chair.

*Experimental sessions: *These sessions invite experimental ways of 
presenting, discussing and interacting. They can be experimental in 
relation to the papers/projects presented but they can also be 
experimental in relation to new formats for sessions (including 
‘unconferencing’ formats like lightning talks, dotmocracy or café 
philosophique, participatory art or performance, and so forth).

*Panel sessions: *Panels consist of a chair and four paper presenters 
and one discussant (optional). Panels should include time for audience 
discussion. Each presenter has 20 minutes (15 min + 5 min for 
questions); papers are grouped thematically.

*Art Stream: *There will be an exhibition of art works within the 
conference and we invite proposals for new or existing works for 
exhibition, screening, performance, installation, sound art, locative 
media, event or other formats. Venues for these works are tbc in 
consultation with accepted proposals, and in collaboration with 
Lancaster Arts https://www.lancasterarts.org/. There are a small number 
of bursaries available for artists who work outside of full time 
academic posts.

*_Submissions_*

**

Submission Website: http://ocs.sfu.ca/t2m/index.php/t2m/Mobilities2017

We invite a range of different submissions, especially encourage 
transnational, comparative and interdisciplinary approaches, and welcome 
proposals exploring theoretical, methodological, and empirical issues. 
If you have any questions, please contact (mobile-utopia /at/ lancaster.ac.uk) 
<mailto:(mobile-utopia /at/ lancaster.ac.uk)>

*Papers: *Individual submission of a paper consists of an abstract (300 
words) and a brief biography (100 words) including contact information. 
Papers will be grouped thematically by the programme committee and may 
become part of 7/7, experimental or panel sessions. You will be able to 
state a preference.

*Sessions: *A full, pre-organized *7/7*, *debate*, *experimental*, or 
*panel session*. A session submission should include a title, summary of 
the session theme and the method chosen for facilitating discussion (300 
words), as well as abstracts for each contribution (300 words). A short 
biography of each presenter is required (100 words), with contact 
information.

*Artworks:* Submission of art works consists of an abstract (300 words), 
a link to images and/or video of the work online (due to time 
limitations we can only view up to 3 minutes of video), a brief 
biography (100 words) including contact information, and a technical 
requirements document (1 page max) including dimensions, duration, light 
levels, and technical details for presentation of the work. Submissions 
of art works to this stream can be in addition to an abstract for 
another session.

*Posters* This is a great way to discuss early or exploratory work and 
present it as a *Poster* at the conference. Submission consists of an 
abstract (300 words) and a brief biography (100 words) including contact 
information. The full poster is due 1 September.

After *Acceptance* all abstracts will be made available to conference 
participants on the conference website. You also have the opportunity to 
submit a *Full paper *(5000 words). We strongly encourage the submission 
of full papers, which will be shared with all conference delegates. 
Authors whose contributions are accepted and who wish to submit a full 
paper will have until 1 October 2017 to do so. Papers will be made 
available in a restricted area for conference participants on the 
conference website, and, with your permission will be saved in the T2M 
archive.

For more information visit http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/t2mc2c/

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