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THE POLITICS OF POSTCOLONIALITY: CONTEXTS AND CONFLICTS
To be held at McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) on 24 October 2003
Call for Papers for a Proposed Roundtable Discussion:
Empire Resurrected: (Un)Building Imperial Colonies in the 21st Century
One aspect of the development of Post/Colonial Theory is that it relies on analyzing past events, on what took place but not on what might take place. The proposed roundtable discussion will examine the role of Post/Colonial Theory in the 21st century, and how the possibility of having the Empire Resurrected may transform it.
Some of the themes that can be dealt with during this session are:
- What are the chances of establishing direct colonialism again in the 21st century? Why did old empires give up their old colonies in favor of indirect colonialism? What are the conditions that would make them revert back to direct colonialism?
- How can Postcolonial theory respond/react to such a possibility? What would be its role?
- What are the circumstances (economical/political/cultural/social) that would facilitate the resurrection of direct colonialism/empire? What are the circumstance that might impede such a dramatic switch?
- What are the (dis)advantages of going from indirect to direct colonialism? How would this impact globalization and local nationalism?
- How can new colonial schemes be countered? What should be the new mode of resistance? What is the role of civil disobedience in this case? Is terrorism/radical resistance the new mode for countering the new empire? What are the viable modes of resistance?
Please send a detailed abstract (between 300- 500 words) with a short bibliography (150-300 words) via email to the contact below by May 1, 2003.
Senders of accepted abstracts will be notified after May 25, 2003.
Conference papers (11-13 pages) will be circulated among notified participants by Tuesday Sept. 30, 2003.
The roundtable discussion will comprise of 4-8 participants whose abstracts have been accepted and who come from different disciplines (Political Science, Economics, History, Humanities, Theory,Cultural Studies and so on). Conference papers (12-14 pages) will be circulated among notified participants by Tuesday Sept. 30, 2003. All participants will read the papers in advance and prepare helpful feedback/suggestions/questions. During the conference, each participant will provide a 5-7 minute statement (5 pages) about their topic. This will be followed by a larger discussion.
Minutes will be taken and conclusions/final remarks will be distributed among participants and among interested members of the audience. Hopefully, this roundtable discussion will outline the new role of Post/Colonialism in the 21st century, and will evolve into an edited collection of essays.
If you have any questions, or need more information, please email:
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