Call for Papers
Deadline for Submission: October 15, 2012

THE AFTERLIVES OF EMPIRE

Claimed by multiple empires for hundreds of years and proclaimed a gateway to Asia and the Pacific over the last century, Seattle and the Pacific Northwest afford a fitting backdrop to reflect collectively on the histories of empire and their enduring impact on Asian American, Pacific Islander, and other communities. We wish especially to explore the breadth and depth of historical and contemporary imperial formations and practices, to map what we might call imperial fields—the nodes and circuits of power, capital, and desire generated by colonization, commerce, and migrations around the world. Particularly on the tenth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in the so-called “war on terror,” we invite submissions that grapple with the meanings of empire, in the past and in the present.

The political urge and urgency to challenge the U.S. empire, most expressly in the movement against the Vietnam War, helped to define Asian American Studies in its founding. That urge, however, has perhaps faded over the past four decades, even as our current political moment demands that we comprehend and critique empire from and across multiple disciplines. How might we theorize or define empire in the twenty-first century? How have public policies, political and academic discourses, social practices, health services, research, teaching, and cultural productions made empire visible and invisible in the United States and beyond?

➢ We encourage submissions from a range of disciplines covered in Asian American Studies as well as from individuals and groups engaged in political and intellectual work outside the academy, including politicians, artists, and community activists.

➢ We welcome papers and panels that address the topic of “empire” from the perspective of multiple as well as intersecting disciplines, research areas, and professional fields, including legal or policy analysis, medical/health practice, education, geography, psychology, international studies, and social work.

➢ We especially encourage panels incorporating a range of institutional and extra-institutional locations, from students to senior scholars, and from artists to policy makers. Co-authored presentations and undergraduate student panels or roundtables will also be seriously considered.

➢ We will give priority to complete panel submissions (with a minimum of three papers and a maximum of four, with a moderator) that attend to the conference theme, but we will consider individual submissions as well.

➢ We accept electronic submissions. Paper and panel applicants must be members of the Association for Asian American Studies and all presenters must submit their conference registration form and fee to be included in the printed conference program. Additional information, including the membership form and submissions guidelines, is available at the Association for Asian American Studies Web site at http://www.aaastudies.org/forms