[nativestudies-l] CFP: Infectious Democracy

[jkauanui at wesleyan.edu]

Greetings-
I hope colleagues can get some indigenous
panels together for this conference.
PLEASE FORWARD
Thank you,
J. Kehaulani Kauanui, 2008 NEASA President



~~~
New England American Studies Association (NEASA)
Annual Conference, September 19-20, 2008
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
~~~
Call for Papers
Infectious Democracy: Histories and Cultures of American Politics
The 2008 Conference of the New England American Studies Association will
examine the histories, complexities, and nature(s) of American political
culture and its contentious relations to democracy as expressed both at
home and abroad. From the debates about governance between indigenous
peoples and settlers, to the pivotal moment in which many of the ideals of
American democracy were crystallized in the Declaration of Independence,
to the 2008 presidential election, the meanings of democracy in American
political cultures have been far from self evident. NEASA's 2008 conference
asks how democratic practices and rhetorics can be attractive, contagious,
invigorating, and debilitating. The ideals of the early republic, the
icons of
the founding fathers, the symbolic power of democracy, and the power of
democracy to engage and motivate an electorate operate in tandem and in
tension with the abuses of settler colonialism, histories of
disenfranchisement, the US war and occupation in Iraq, and the belief that
the US can and should determine the sovereignty of other nations.
The 2008 conference invites papers and panels that consider the myriad
ways in which rhetorics and practices of democracy can be tools for both
expanding and limiting freedom. Potential topics for panels include American
electoral politics; voting rights and voting wrongs; grassroots movement for
freedom and justice; literary representations of democracy; American
colonialist/imperialist practices at home and abroad; Native American
citizenship and sovereignty rights; civil and human rights campaigns; gay,
lesbian, transgender politics; the politics of immigration; and the role of
“democracy” in the media. We invite paper and panel proposals in all areas
of study and from the range of academic disciplines in the humanities and
social sciences. Proposals with a New England regional focus are welcome.
We especially encourage proposals from those situated outside of the
traditional academy, including independent scholars, curators, artists,
secondary educators, librarians, activists, administrators, and other
cultural workers.

Please submit paper or panel proposals to: neasacouncil at gmail.com
by April 15, 2008
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