Call for papers: Anthropologists between the Middle East and Europe: war, crises, refugees, migration and Islamophobia

The AMCE has launched a call for papers on the following topic : ‘Anthropologists between the Middle East and Europe: war, crises, refugees, migration and Islamophobia’, for the 14th EASA Biennial Conference (Anthropological legacies and human futures) which will take place at the University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy from the 20th to the 23rd of July, 2016.

Convenors:
Pedram Khosronejad (Oklahoma State University) :
Leonardo Schiocchet (Austrian Academy of Sciences)

Abstract: Dawn Chatty recently stated that while the 20th century has been called the ‘century of the refugee’, the 21st century looks set to become known as the ‘century of displacement and dispossession’. Postcolonial heritage fuelling conflicts in the global South tints much of this displacement and dispossession. However, much of it has also been caused by new wars in the global South involving the global North. The Middle East, in particular, has been for decades under a generalized state of war that has had a tremendous, if differential, impact on people’s lives. Recent ongoing wars in Yemen, Libya, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, and increasing political, religious, and ethnic clashes and refugee catastrophes from the Middle East to Europe, signal radical geopolitical change. How should anthropologists and their professional associations relate to such changes? Should we remain “aloof from” or actively engage in the “great issues of our times” (Fried, Hariis, and Murphy, 1967)? As regional specialists and social theorists, anthropologists have both moral and professional concerns for the effects of war. We must acknowledge both the perpetual dynamic motion of global history and the especially troubled present condition of conflict and transformation in the contemporary Middle East. Anthropology then, with its emphasis on lived experience, is currently facing a dilemma: on the one hand we must collect and interpret critical data, while on the other hand ethnographic research is both difficult and sensitive. Bold yet comprehensive positioning is thus critical, given our ethical responsibility to contribute to the understanding and resolution of such complex problems. In this panel, we aim at engaging in constructive new thinking by understanding how such anthropological investigations may impact and spark debate within the European public sphere, inspiring policy makers, faith communities, and media representatives. Complementarily, we intend to enrich the dialogue surrounding the role of anthropologists vis-à-vis policy making in multicultural and multi-religious countries, such as France, that hinge on principles and norms regarding the right to offend and to defend, according to interpretations and mobilizations of discourse such as those of freedom of expression and securitization.

In this panel, we aim at engaging in constructive new thinking by understanding how anthropological investigations may impact and spark debate within the European public sphere, inspiring policy makers, faith communities, and media representatives.

Deadline : 15/02/2016

Instructions for online submission of papers: http://www.easaonline.org/conferences/easa2016/cfp.shtml

Online submission of abstracts: http://nomadit.co.uk/easa/easa2016/paperproposal.php5?PanelID=4146

Webpage of the panel: http://nomadit.co.uk/easa/easa2016/panels.php5?PanelID=4146