Colloque annuel de la Société canadienne d’anthropologie
Université Laval, Québec (Canada)
May 13 – May 16, 2015
Abstract Submission deadline: 16 February 2015
Paper acceptance notification date: 23 March, 2015.
Anthropology, especially since the 1980s, has continually re-examined the modes for apprehending knowledge, that is, both the knowledge of the groups it has studied and its own knowledge. From its very foundation, and throughout its evolution since the 19th century, anthropology has question and analyzed modes of knowing in various languages and societies, pondering the related particularities of the societies and cultures it has studied and sought to describe. But for at least 25 years now, it has undertaken to radically criticize the way it has accessed and then “represented” the knowledge of others. The criticism voiced by the discipline’s critical currents has contributed to the deconstruction of knowledge in anthropology. This deconstruction process, although essential, has also had a flip side, notably the fact that—in appearance, anyway—it has all too often alienated the discipline from its own object and methods. The critical and deconstructionist enterprise has perhaps not sufficiently emphasized what contemporary anthropology produces and is able to produce. Without necessarily always taking into account all of the questions raised in connection with the strengths and limitations of the currents that have marked the discipline’s renewal over the past 25 years, the latest ethnographies are unquestionably influenced by what can be called the new landscapes of knowledge. Indeed, contemporary ethnographies tend to be enriched by a focus, among other things, on temporal spectrums (the importance of genealogical approaches) and spatial spectrums (the importance of multi-localization and geospatial approaches). The approaches that were vividly called into question in the 1990s (for example, postmodern approaches), and those considered to be too philosophical today (for example, ontological approaches), are growing in prominence, depth and scope, and allowing us to genuinely take stock of the discipline and its canonical methodology. Moreover, they enable a better balance to be struck between the subjective place of anthropology with respect to its object, on one hand, and its “objective” investigation methods, on the other. Transformations within the discipline’s interpretive, critical and methodological frameworks—at times successive, at times simultaneous—are contributing to enriching the landscapes of knowledges that are being constructed and co-constructed, and that are now influencing all of the social and cultural sciences. It is becoming possible to suppose that anthropological theories, in their meta-paradigmatic and transformative dimensions—both before and after the ethnographic moment—are defining plural and regenerative perspectives on the conditions for knowing the social worlds and groups that we have studied, as well as on the conditions for representing and disseminating this knowledge. The object of the discipline, i.e., social worlds in their complexity, heterogeneity, genealogy and spatiality, requires novel forms of “re-cognition” on the part of all actors. How to take into account social, individual and collective worlds, subjectivities, socialities, singularities, ontologies, languages and even the discipline itself as it is now developing outside the circles from which it originated? After having assumed its Western and colonial history, anthropology is developing in such a way that it is now able to rethink the nature of its knowledge project, as well as the knowledge of those whom it claims to know. Anthropology has always been plural, in a sense, as a result of its diverse theoretical currents, but today it is much more than that. The horizon of a plurality of knowledges can no longer be seen only from the perspective of the theoretical currents stemming from the West, but also from the perspective of those stemming from studied groups (which we might call the perspectives of social worlds, or ontologies). This horizon must also be seen from the standpoint of the “scientific” knowledge that is developing from many of these social worlds, that is to say, anthropologies themselves (known as world anthropologies). As a result, the discipline requires increasingly sophisticated and decolonized ethnographic methods that will enable such perspectives to emerge and to be defined.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
The Keynote speaker is Tim Ingold, professor at the School of Social Sciences at Aberdeen University, Scotland. Tim Ingold is proposing a large and profound view of the discipline and of the worlds in which anthropologists are engaged. Through fecund and stimulating dialogues with a variety of disciplines like ecology, arts, philosophy, archeology and architecture, this scholar of international reputation is proposing novel ways to think the production of anthropological knowledge. His recent trajectory, since the publication of The Perception of the Environment (2000), is challenging the social sciences and the humanities, through a series of provocative essays : Lines (2007), Being Alive. Essays on movement, knowledge and description (2011), and Making (2013).
PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS
CASCA 2015 invites different types of proposals and strongly encourages panels and symposia that will bring together presenters from a variety of academic and non-academic backgrounds. Bilingual sessions of different forms are also strongly encouraged.
PhD students returning from their fieldwork, and M.A students who have finished their thesis, are invited to present the results of their first-hand research or in-depth and advanced analytical work. Students must be part of sessions with faculty or professionals. Please note that course-based projects cannot be presented as conference papers.
15-minute papers
Individual proposals accepted by the CASCA 2015 program committee will be organised into thematic sessions. The submission for a paper must include the presentation title, abstract (of 100 – 150 words), keywords, and co-authors (if applicable).
Poster presentation
Proposals for posters must include the presentation title, abstract (of 100 – 150 words), keywords, and co-authors (if applicable).
Suggestions for designing an effective poster are available at:
http://www.aaanet.org/meetings/upload/how-to-create-anthropology-posters.pdf
90-minute panels
Panels will be composed of 4 to 5 presentations, followed by a discussion. Please do not include more than 4 presentations should a formal discussant be invited. The submission for a paper must include the presentation title, abstract (of 100 – 150 words), keywords, and co-authors (if applicable). If you are part of an organised panel or symposium, you must provide the name of the organiser and the title of the panel. The panel organiser should provide a 100 – 150-word abstract describing the theme of the proposed panel or symposium and include a list of the participants (including, the chair and the discussant).
Symposia
Symposia will be composed of at least 2 panels of 90 minutes each, back to back in the same location (as scheduling permits). The symposium organiser should provide a 100 – 150-word abstract describing the theme of the proposed panel or symposium and include a list of the participants (including, the chair and the discussant).
Round-tables
Round-tables will be 90 minutes in length, addressing a specific theme or issue to be submitted by the organiser of the round-table, but do not include formal presentations. The roundtable organiser should provide a 200 – 250-word abstract describing the theme and include a list of the participants (including the chair). Roundtable participants do NOT submit individual abstracts but do need to go through the regular CASCA 2015 registration process, filling in the appropriate fields of the round-table participation form.
Organisers of panels, symposia, or roundtables may wish to advertise their session and find presenters through the CASCA listserv (email your call for papers to cascanews@cas-sca.ca or through the Conference Classifieds section on the CASCA website http://www.cas-sca.ca/)
Mais informações: http://www.casca2015.ant.ulaval.ca