Conferences and Events

ASMCF Conference 2010

La France et la Crise: bilans, ruptures, antécédents
Modern and Contemporary France annual conference, Nottingham Trent, 9-11 September 2010

Call for proposals

The current economic crisis surely constitutes a major turning point for France, Europe and the broader world. Since around 1983 - the time of the Socialist government's famous shift to the right - the march of liberal globalisation has seemed unquestioned and inevitable, decisively shifting the balance of power between capital and nation-states on the one hand, between management and labour on the other. The crisis has thrown that apparently inevitable process into doubt, questioning our assumptions and inviting us to an urgent mapping of the present and a rethinking of our understanding of an immediate and longer-term past and possible futures. The conference will be organised around four major themes. We list these below with suggested panels for each theme. The suggestions are not meant to imply that alternative ideas for panels or individual papers are not also warmly welcomed.

1. Mapping the crisis

We would welcome proposals in the following areas:

  • Narratives of crisis (frameworks, actors, causes, solutions, periodisations)
  • The impact of the crisis on 'mainstream' politics
  • The crisis as moral crisis
  • Policy responses to the crisis
  • The crisis and the margins
  • The geography of crisis
  • The crisis and the world of work
  • The crisis in mainstream and alternative media

2. Reactions to the crisis

We would welcome proposals in the following areas:

  • Political alternatives (Greens, anti-capitalists, counter-globalists)
  • Protest movements and protest repertoires
  • Social movement reactions
  • Gendered reactions/implications
  • Cultural responses (film, novel, theatre, song, bande dessinée etc.)
  • Intellectual reactions and interventions

3. The international perspective

We would welcome proposals in the following areas:

  • The crisis and development from a French perspective
  • The crisis and French Exceptionalism
  • France, Europe and the crisis
  • The French role in broader international responses to the crisis

4. Histories, bilans

We would welcome proposals in the following areas:

  • The 'bilan' of the neo-liberal years: patterns, changes, resistances
  • The crisis and the legacy of 1968
  • The crisis and the 1930s
  • The crisis of the 1970s

In line with the ASMCF's interdisciplinary approach, this three day conference will welcome papers from a wide variety of disciplines including international relations, history, geography, politics, economics, sociology and religious, gender, literary, cultural, film and media studies. We welcome both proposals for individual papers (300 words max.) and for panels, which should consist of three presenters and a named chairperson. Papers may be delivered in English or French. The total time for one paper is 20 minutes both for presentations in panels as well as for individual presentations. Postgraduates students are strongly encouraged to present papers.

Postgraduate Poster Session: Postgraduates in the early stage of their research are invited to present their work at the conference Poster Session. The Poster Session aims to enable postgraduate students to participate in the conference programme, receive feedback from specialists in an informal and friendly setting and to prepare them for presenting papers at future conferences. If you require further information about presenting a poster at the ASMCF annual conference, please contact the ASMCF postgraduate representative, Lindsey Dodd (l.a.dodd@reading.ac.uk).

Proposals for papers and panels (with contact details) should be sent to Martin.O'Shaughnessy (martin.oshaughnessy@ntu.ac.uk) or Chris Reynolds (chris.reynolds@ntu.ac.uk) by 1 February 2010.

ASMCF Annual Conferences 2011, 2012 and 2013

The ASMCF Annual Conference 2011 will take place at the University of Stirling.

The Executive committee welcomes bids to host the Annual Conference in 2012 and 2013. For information on how to submit a proposal please consult the:

Honorary Secretary: Steve Wharton
or:
Conference Officer: Maggie Allison

You can contact them using the contact form on this website.

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