Call for Papers "Public Spheres" International Interdisciplinary Conference Social Science Research Council (SSRC) American University of Beirut Beirut (Lebanon) 22-24 October 2004
The Social Science Research Council (New York) and the American University of Beirut invite proposals for papers and presentations at an international conference entitled The Beirut Conference on Public Spheres, to be held on October 22-24, 2004, in Beirut, Lebanon. The conference will be co-organized by the SSRC Program on the Middle East and North Africa and the Center for Behavioral Research at AUB. The concept of public spheres, as elaborated by different social theorists, has generated an important literature on the conditions shaping public discourses, on the nature of publics and public action, and on the implications of such processes for democratic theory. The literature on these issues is becoming increasingly comparative and critical, demonstrating the limits of the original notion as emanating from particular views of European history and specific socio-political transformations. This conference aims at promoting inter-disciplinary discussions that examine Public Spheres in the context of the Middle East and North Africa but also at addressing cross-regional/cross-national comparisons and advancing theoretical approaches to the notion of the Public Sphere. We encourage submissions that focus on (but are not limited to) the following themes: - The historical and contemporary nature of publics and public spheres and the emergence of political communities (national, transnational, diasporic, virtual) through conflict as well as consensus. - The construction of states and nations through the inclusion and exclusion of difference in public domains; the politics of creating distance, as well as contact, between publics and centralized power; and public means and mediums of social and political communication. - The city in the public imagination and the emergence and/or fragmentation of urban public spheres through practices of visibility, events and performances as well as conceptions of the private and the public. We aim at gathering as broad an international and multi-disciplinary representation of scholars as possible. Sessions will be organized in the customary panel format of 3-5 papers followed by a discussant. Based on the proposals, an international panel of scholars will select participants according to the fit with themes and overall goals of the conference. Final papers will be made available to participants on the SSRC website in early October 2004. Partial and full funding for travel and accommodation may be available for some participants. Proposals: For full panel sessions, submit a panel title, list of the paper titles, a session abstract of not more than two pages, and a one-page vita or resume for each participant, including the discussant. For individual proposals, submit a one-page abstract and a one-page vita or resume. Each submission must be accompanied by a Cover Sheet (click here). Deadlines Paper/Panel proposals due: June 2, 2004 Decisions announced: June 25, 2004 Final papers due: September 27, 2004 Contact: Social Science Research Council Program on the Middle East and North Africa 810 7th Avenue, 31st Floor New York, NY 10019 USA Phone: +1 (212) 377-2700 x 613 Fax: +1 (212) 377-2727 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.ssrc.org/programs/mena/Beirut_Conference/ _________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: http://interphil.polylog.org/ Intercultural Philosophy Calendar: http://agd.polylog.org/cal/
