[csaa-forum] Istanbul: Response from ACS Chair

[Melissa Gregg]

As Organisational Secretary for ACS I am posting this response to concerns
raised by Tony Mitchell's email at the request of Chair Meaghan Morris.
Cheers, Melissa
 
 
Dear Tony,
 
While I understand anyone's concerns about registration fees being too high
for some local scholars to pay (a serious issue for all big conferences
now), I'd like to draw people's attention to a few facts around ACS
Crossroads 2006.
 
First, your correspondent has cited as universal the very highest fee of 250
euros. There is of course a differential scale. 250 euros is for a non-ACS
member who is not a student and does not register early. A graduate student
registering now and joining ACS--which can cost as little as 10 euros now
that ACS has replaced the old "flat fee" of 50 euros--would pay 110 euros. 
 
There are several options in between, which are incentives to register early
and join ACS. All association-based conferences charge more for non-members
(and some American associations do not allow people to present unless they
join). The fees are on the website.
 
Second, Bilgi University is in charge of running the conference, not ACS. So
it is an overwhelmingly "local" group of Turkish scholars setting the fees,
not "international cultural studies". ACS has only 2 people on the
Conference Committee. While it is true that all international conferences
are expensive now, Bilgi assures us that the ACS Crossroads 2006 fees are
lower than those of previous conferences they have held. 
 
The Turkish organisers decided those fees as the lowest possible for
providing for 500 people (meals too) for some days without getting a
deficit. A conference cannot knowingly go broke, and Bilgi University, not
ACS, bears the cost. So far, many Turkish scholars have been offering papers
enthusiastically despite the fees.

Third, ten per cent of the registration fees will be used to assist some
scholars who have difficulties, to relieve as many as we can of paying
registration, etc. Turkish scholars are eligible for this too. Again,
details are on the website. We have applied for extra funding from other
agencies and, if we get it, will be able to spread support further.
 
I would like to emphasise, Tony, the implications of this scheme, which was
thought out and put in place precisely to deal with the problems faced by
poorly paid staff. 
 
One is that it allows us to help scholars not only in Turkey but from, say,
India and Indonesia as well. If we do not do this, people will get to
Istanbul and ask angrily why there are no scholars from South-East Asia,
Latin America, Africa etc...and perhaps accuse us of Eurocentrically
limiting an "international" conference to USA and Western Europe. 

It all comes down to what kind of internationalism you want. One model is to
have mainly local and national conferences, with a couple of outside
speakers and attendees self-funding from rich countries. The other is to try
for a broadly international event, with proactive schemes in place to help
overcome the global wages gap and exchange rate inequalities. ACS prefers
the second model, learning from the success of the Inter-Asia Cultural
Studies movement in this respect.

The second implication, then, is that we need those people who CAN pay full
registration to do so if they wish to see a CS conference that is not only
made up of locals and richer Westerners get off the ground. I am paying
myself, plus making a donation; and I should point out that no ACS
office-bearers are "getting there for free". We are all contributing.
 
In short: if people who can afford the registration want to show solidarity
with poor scholars in Turkey, the most practical way to do so is to come to
Istanbul and contribute to the support scheme by registering. 
 
For every person who stays away in protest at the fees, money is NOT donated
towards registration relief for someone else. Your choice, Tony.
 
Best wishes, Meaghan  
Chair of ACS.



Chair Professor Meaghan Morris
Acting Head, Department of Cultural Studies
Coordinator, Kwan Fong Cultural Research and Development Programme
Senior Editor, TRACES: A Multilingual Journal of Cultural Theory and
Translation
Chair, Association for Cultural Studies, http://www.cultstud.org/

Department of Cultural Studies
Lingnan University
8 Castle Peak Rd
Tuen Mun NT
Hong Kong
Tel: (852)-2616-7489
Fax: (852)-2572-5170 

 
Dr. Melissa Gregg
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies
and
Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies 
School of English, Media Studies and Art History
The University of Queensland QLD 4072
CRICOS provider number: 00025B
 
phone    61 7 3346 9762
mobile   61 4 1116 5706
fax    61 7 3365 7184
 
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