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Call for Papers Theme: Remote Subtitle: Rethinking Remoteness and Peripherality Type: International Interdisciplinary Conference Institution: Island Dynamics Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University) Location: Longyearbyen, Svalbard (Norway) Date: 16.–19.1.2017 Deadline: 30.4.2016 __________________________________________________ This international conference explores the concepts of remoteness and peripherality. These concepts are used in numerous disciplines, including geography, development studies, anthropology, spatial planning, and cultural studies. But what do remoteness and peripherality mean in practice, from the perspectives of the people and places deemed to be remote and peripheral? ‘Remote’ and ‘peripheral’ presume a centring of (potentially colonial) power elsewhere and tend to be defined in terms of accessibility to major urban areas. Are remoteness and peripherality essentially relative concepts, only comprehensible with reference to the near and the central? Can remoteness and peripherality ever be experienced internally, or are they simply projections from the outside? If political, economic, and social power rest with the big cities and centres, is it fruitful or is it damaging to cast some communities as remote and peripheral? Notions of ‘remote’ and ‘peripheral’ connote economic stagnation, decay, and underdevelopment (or absence of development) and are associated with a lack of connectivity, indicating a local state of de-globalization. And yet ‘remote’ is not univocal. Might it be possible to reclaim remoteness and peripherality as drivers of societal creativity, innovation, and resilience? The field of island studies in particular has hosted important debates regarding peripherality, with scholars arguing for a recentering of research to the perspective of ‘peripheral’ island peoples (Hau’ofa, ‘Our Sea of Islands’; McCall, ‘Nissology: A Proposal for Consideration’; Baldacchino, ‘Studying Islands: On Whose Terms?’). More recently, urban island studies scholars have further problematised concepts of remoteness and peripherality by arguing that seeking to reclaim the peripheries by cutting out the centres may present remote communities as self-centred and otherworldly – without necessarily succeeding in placing them at the centre of discourse (Grydehøj et al., ‘Returning from the Horizon’). This conference will further advance scholarly and practical understandings of the remote and the peripheral. This Island Dynamics conference is a collaboration with: RMIT University’s School of Global, Urban and Social Studies - International Development & International Studies. Submissions Conference presentations will concern all aspects of remoteness and peripherality. The conference is open to researchers, policymakers, NGO representatives, and community representatives from around the globe. You are also welcome to attend the conference without giving a presentation. The deadline for abstracts is 30 April 2016, but to ensure that you have the opportunity to take part in the conference and have the time to seek funding from your institution or government, we recommend that you submit your abstract early. (Due to the logistical challenges arising from the conference’s ‘remote’ location, only a limited number of delegates can attend, and we will be accepting registrations on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.) Proposing a presentation: To propose a presentation, fill in all sections of the form at: http://www.islanddynamics.org/remote/cfp.html If you have difficulty using the form, e-mail convenor Adam Grydehøj (agryde...@islanddynamics.org) for more information. Submission Type: Select between two submission types. Standard Presentations last a maximum of 20 minutes, followed by around 10 minutes’ audience discussion. These talks may be accompanied by PowerPoint presentations. Organised Sessions are groups of 3-4 Standard Presentations concerning a single theme and organised by the presenters (rather than the conference’s scientific committee). To propose an organised session, the corresponding author must submit a title and abstract for the session as a whole, including the names of the authors. Each participating presenter must then submit the abstracts that form part of the Organised Session. Abstract: The abstract of your talk must be between 150-200 words total, including title. Shorter or longer submissions may be ignored. Make sure to include a title for your abstract. Do not format the text using italics, bold, or underlined words, and avoid discipline-specific jargon and citations to other works. Biographical Note: Your biographical note (maximum 100 words) should be written in complete sentences and include your research areas, academic degree, and affiliation as applicable. If the presentation has more than one author, the corresponding author should provide biographical notes for the other authors as well. About Longyearbyen Longyearbyen (population 2200) is the world’s northernmost town, the main settlement on Norway’s vast, largely ice-covered Svalbard archipelago. The polar night, when the sun never rises above the horizon, lasts from late October until mid-February. Most residents stay for only a season or a few years, and even those who do remain must eventually return to their homelands: The Norwegian state provides no health and social care, with the result that it is colloquially said that ‘In Longyearbyen, it is illegal to die.’ Furthermore, the risk of attack by polar bears means that people are only permitted to leave town in the company of someone with firearms training. Longyearbyen is iconically remote and peripheral, but the town is also highly cosmopolitan, hosting residents from over 40 nations, an active cultural life, and an economy based on tourism and mining activities. The community is young, close-knit, and diverse. Longyearbyen is thus the perfect place to explore the contradictions and paradoxes of remoteness and peripherality. About the conference REMOTE is a ‘Community Explorations’ conference, allowing delegates to contextualise knowledge and engage with community members. 16 January is devoted to an optional day-long tour of Svalbard’s spectacular arctic landscape: Participants will travel to a glacier by dog sled and enter the mysterious realm of an ice cave. (Delegates may request a shorter and less physically demanding excursion to replace the dog sled trip.) On 17 January, delegates will explore Longyearbyen’s community, speaking with representatives from government, local businesses, and cultural organisations. 18-19 January will feature conference presentations by delegates, held at the Radisson Blu Polar Hotel Spitsbergen. Publication We will be putting together an edited book or journal special issue as a result of this conference. More information will be available in the second half of 2016. Conference website: http://www.islanddynamics.org/remote.html __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: http://interphil.polylog.org Intercultural Philosophy Calendar: http://cal.polylog.org __________________________________________________
