[csaa-forum] CFP: "Fearful Futures: Cultural Studies and the Question of Agency in the Twenty-First Century" Kobe, Japan 2018

[Baden Offord]

The IAFOR Asian Conference on Cultural Studies 2018
an interdisciplinary conference held in the cosmopolitan port city of Kobe, Japan,
June 1–3, 2018.
In conjunction with Osaka University (Japan), Lehigh University – College of Arts & Sciences (USA) and the University of Barcelona (Spain)

Theme for 2018: Fearful Futures: Cultural Studies and the Question of Agency in the Twenty-First Century

We have reached a moment in international history that is one of potential paradigm shift. It is a moment when a problematic, but at least blandly progressivist, pro-multiculturalist movement toward “cosmopolitanism” (as Kwame Anthony Appiah might use the term) is being threatened by a far more destructive and potentially genocidal ethno-nationalism, the ferocity of which is fuelled by economic disparity, religious intolerance and retrograde ideologies regarding gender, race and sexuality. The possible global futures we face are fearful, indeed.

In this context, cultural studies has a unique role to play in tracing the genealogy of the present moment and charting different paths forward. As never before, cultural studies is called to return to its activist roots, to diagnose the ideologies driving hatred and intolerance, and to posit different models of social engagement and organization. Looking to the past, what do we learn about the challenges of today? How does culture replicate itself (or critically engage itself) in the classroom, in literature, in social media, in film, in the visual and theatrical arts, in the family and among peer groups? How do we rise to the challenge of articulating a notion of human rights that also respects cultural difference? How do cultural representations of the environment abet or challenge the forces driving climate change? What are the roles and responsibilities of the individual activist as teacher, writer, social scientist and community member?

Call for Papers:

https://accs.iafor.org/


_______________________________


Professor Baden Offord
Director | Dr Haruhisa Handa Chair of Human Rights Education
Professor of Cultural Studies and Human Rights
Centre for Human Rights Education | Faculty of Humanities

Curtin University
T: | +61 8 9266 7186
E: | baden.offord at curtin.edu.au
W|http://humanrights.curtin.edu.au
CRICOS Provider Code 00301J (WA).

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