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Call for abstracts for proposed session: SfAA 2010
Please distribute this call for abstracts for a proposed session in the 70th Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA), March 24-27, 2010
Next year, while we are enjoying the beauty and serenity of Mérida—la Ciudad Blanca de México—the world will still be in the grip of a cataclysmic economic meltdown. Perhaps the only silver lining in this dark storm will be that the greater the destruction to the current iteration of capitalism, the greater the opportunity for transformation. Change is inevitable; however, the direction and qualitative nature of that process is as yet undetermined. As citizens, we are responsible for affecting the direction of that change and the conditions (peaceful or violent) under which they occur.
With this in mind, please consider participating in a session intended to help anthropologists to develop a stronger and more relevant public presence during the current global crisis. In keeping with the conference theme, we will examine anthropologists’ (particularly applied and practicing anthropologists’) self-imposed vulnerability in and exclusion from addressing the problems arising from the global spread of the capitalist culture and economy. However, in addition to critiquing the discipline’s actual values and practices in this realm, session participants are requested to offer insights and suggestions for making our life-work more accessible to society and more relevant to its needs during this critical transformational phase.
The underlying premise of this session is that sustainable, systemic change can be achieved only when individuals first become effective change agents within their own, immediate spheres of influence: their families, workplaces, professions, and communities. Fundamental change depends upon citizens acknowledging their culpability in the growing economic gap and chaos and taking personal and collective responsibility for transforming it. By cleaning up our own backyard first—speaking truth to power, whistle-blowing and requiring transparency and accountability within the discipline—anthropologists with vision, commitment and courage will help to initiate a progressive and peaceful—bloodless—grass-roots revolution, from the inside out.
Ideally, the session will cover a range of topics and perspectives that reflect the heartfelt concerns of the individuals who respond to this call for papers. As examples, the following topics are among my own primary concerns with some of the discipline’s actual values and practices; however, I invite and welcome submissions that address a far wider range of topics:
While the theoretical trends most recently adopted by anthropologists endorse acts of agency by members of the subaltern classes against the hegemonic elites, many anthropologists themselves systematically practice or fail to resist these practices (e.g., coercion and oppression) within their own departments, universities, discipline and professional associations. When this is the case, how can anthropologists genuinely expect or claim to help others to resist hegemonic forces?
The development of explicit and implicit, collaborative and fiduciary relationships with corporate management has discouraged many applied and practicing anthropologists’ from speaking truth to power and (in cases) has overridden their research ethics and pedagogical responsibilities. Additionally, these pursuit of these collaborative and fiduciary corporate relations have led some departments to develop applied concentrations and programs that are
. . . increasingly more focused on the “professionalization” of students into private practice than on teaching the basics of anthropology (e.g., theory, history, and critical thinking);
. . . marketed as a less expensive substitute for a professional degree, but they are ineffectual in producing either consummate anthropologists or professionals;
. . . are primarily public relation tools that faculty use to develop consulting opportunities.
If you believe this session can be an inspirational “call to arms” for anthropologists to participate in the transformation of the capitalist ethos, from the inside out, and you want to participate, please submit an abstract to the following email addresses: pcrespin@wayne.edu and pamela_crespin@hotmail.com
Thank you,
Pamela Crespin
Asst. Prof., WSU Department of Anthropology
Next year, while we are enjoying the beauty and serenity of Mérida—la Ciudad Blanca de México—the world will still be in the grip of a cataclysmic economic meltdown. Perhaps the only silver lining in this dark storm will be that the greater the destruction to the current iteration of capitalism, the greater the opportunity for transformation. Change is inevitable; however, the direction and qualitative nature of that process is as yet undetermined. As citizens, we are responsible for affecting the direction of that change and the conditions (peaceful or violent) under which they occur.
With this in mind, please consider participating in a session intended to help anthropologists to develop a stronger and more relevant public presence during the current global crisis. In keeping with the conference theme, we will examine anthropologists’ (particularly applied and practicing anthropologists’) self-imposed vulnerability in and exclusion from addressing the problems arising from the global spread of the capitalist culture and economy. However, in addition to critiquing the discipline’s actual values and practices in this realm, session participants are requested to offer insights and suggestions for making our life-work more accessible to society and more relevant to its needs during this critical transformational phase.
The underlying premise of this session is that sustainable, systemic change can be achieved only when individuals first become effective change agents within their own, immediate spheres of influence: their families, workplaces, professions, and communities. Fundamental change depends upon citizens acknowledging their culpability in the growing economic gap and chaos and taking personal and collective responsibility for transforming it. By cleaning up our own backyard first—speaking truth to power, whistle-blowing and requiring transparency and accountability within the discipline—anthropologists with vision, commitment and courage will help to initiate a progressive and peaceful—bloodless—grass-roots revolution, from the inside out.
Ideally, the session will cover a range of topics and perspectives that reflect the heartfelt concerns of the individuals who respond to this call for papers. As examples, the following topics are among my own primary concerns with some of the discipline’s actual values and practices; however, I invite and welcome submissions that address a far wider range of topics:
While the theoretical trends most recently adopted by anthropologists endorse acts of agency by members of the subaltern classes against the hegemonic elites, many anthropologists themselves systematically practice or fail to resist these practices (e.g., coercion and oppression) within their own departments, universities, discipline and professional associations. When this is the case, how can anthropologists genuinely expect or claim to help others to resist hegemonic forces?
The development of explicit and implicit, collaborative and fiduciary relationships with corporate management has discouraged many applied and practicing anthropologists’ from speaking truth to power and (in cases) has overridden their research ethics and pedagogical responsibilities. Additionally, these pursuit of these collaborative and fiduciary corporate relations have led some departments to develop applied concentrations and programs that are
. . . increasingly more focused on the “professionalization” of students into private practice than on teaching the basics of anthropology (e.g., theory, history, and critical thinking);
. . . marketed as a less expensive substitute for a professional degree, but they are ineffectual in producing either consummate anthropologists or professionals;
. . . are primarily public relation tools that faculty use to develop consulting opportunities.
If you believe this session can be an inspirational “call to arms” for anthropologists to participate in the transformation of the capitalist ethos, from the inside out, and you want to participate, please submit an abstract to the following email addresses: pcrespin@wayne.edu and pamela_crespin@hotmail.com
Thank you,
Pamela Crespin
Asst. Prof., WSU Department of Anthropology
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