CASCA2014 CFP: When Image Worlds Collide. The uncertain promise of humanitarian imagery.

When Image Worlds Collide. The uncertain promise of humanitarian imagery.

Images of suffering and striving others are ubiquitous in humanitarian
and development campaigns. Their mass circulation in the digital age
prompts new questions for anthropologists about their production and
reception as well as intended goals and actual effects. How do images
'frame' what we know about humanitarian crises and the campaigns to
address them? How do such visual framings reflect moral and political
positions and influence the choice of interventions? How does
humanitarian imagery shape our understanding of others and our
relationships to them?

In keeping with the CASCA conference theme, 'Promising Uncertainties,'
this panel brings together scholars conducting anthropological
research on the role of imagery in depicting humanitarian crises and
campaigns of all kinds - concerning health, human rights, food
insecurity, refugee flight, and violence, among others. Papers in
this panel will attend to the images by which humanitarian
organizations represent themselves and their work. They may also
attend to formal and informal visual documentation or 'coverage' of
humanitarian crises.

We are soliciting 15 minute paper presentations. Please send an
abstract of 150 words to Maggie MacDonald
(maggie@yorku.ca<mailto:maggie@yorku.ca>) by Feb 10, 2014.