Society for Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology: SLACA 2010
SPRING CONFERENCE, MARCH 24-27, 2010, IN
MERIDA, MEXICO
The Society for Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology will hold its
Second Annual Spring Conference, along with the Society for Applied
Anthropology, in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, under the theme
"Vulnerabilities
and Exclusion in Globalization."
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ENGAGING ENGAGEMENT IN LATIN AMERICA IDENTITY POLITICS: FROM
ANTHROPOLOGICAL ACTIVISM TO THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF ACTIVISM
Engaged anthropology exhorts practitioners of the discipline to tear
down the walls in both our research and in our classrooms; that we
should all, in and through our work, strive to be activists. To be
sure, anthropology's history of working closely with non-Western
societies--those that have often borne the brunt of such oppression--
behooves us to be ever-vigilant and mindful that our research is not
used to further or maintain conditions wrought by colonialism, racism,
sexism or global capitalism. Engaged anthropology challenges us to--
when possible--to take up the cause of these peoples and bring the
unique methodological and theoretical approaches of anthropology to
bear in aiding the communities in which we live and work. Frequently,
this means helping communities to redefine their identity--ethnic,
religious, political, ecological and economic--vis-à-vis national
governments, state ideologies, international development policies and
legal frameworks in order to gain access to resources, status and
land. These redefinitions can result in the rewriting of histories,
traditions, memories and collective identities in response to changes
in government policy, new constitutions, or external pressures.
The present panel seeks papers that critically examine the role of
activist approaches in reconstructing historical identities and
memories in the Latin American and Caribbean context--from indigenous
peoples to victims of despotic governments to the descendants of
maroon slave communities.
Moreover, it specifically seeks papers that questions this approach to
activist anthropology that privileges political and social objectives--
however commendable--over theoretical, and epistemological concerns.
--
Abstracts should be sent by October 15, 2009 to Allan Dawson,
Department of Anthropology, Drew University (adawson@drew.edu) or Ari
Gandsman, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of
Ottawa (agandsman@gmail.com)
