CFP: International Rhetoric Workshop: “Crossing Traditions: Reimagining the Political”
Uppsala University, Sweden
17-19 August 2016
The International Rhetoric Workshop (IRW) invites PhD students and emerging scholars to participate in developing the study of political rhetoric and its theoretical traditions. At beautiful Uppsala University, Sweden, we will meet in the last days of summer to advance rhetorical scholarship on “Crossing Traditions: Reimagining the Political”. The theme seeks to engage with questions of how various traditions of rhetorical theory meet and merge within global rhetorical practices, and how these crossings can change and develop the concept of the political. The IRW seeks to bring the diverse global community of rhetoric scholars together in a collaborative setting.
Contemporary rhetorical studies include the study and criticism of contemporary persuasive practices, theoretical discussions on the conditions for communal meaning-making, and historical studies of rhetorical practices and rhetorical thinking in different times and places. The emphasis rhetorical studies places on cross-fertilization between these different forms of inquiry opens opportunities to take on the challenges posed by contemporary politics. The workshop theme seeks to be true to this characteristic of rhetorical studies, and focuses on the crossings of various rhetorical traditions and how global rhetorical practices can change and develop our conception of the political and its possibilities.
The concept of the political has been a keystone in rhetorical thought since its instigation in ancient Greece. With world-wide communication and instant circulation, recurring crises and ever-increasing risk, environmental global challenges, and the racializing, sexualizing, and gendering of bodies, the importance of rhetoric at its intersection with the political continues to increase. It is simply not possible to imagine the political without also taking into consideration rhetorical practices that negotiate all of these issues. Examinations of the political and its materialization in particular contexts and advances in theoretical models that better fit today’s world are therefore much needed.
Suggested themes or questions to be furthered at the workshop:
– Geographically structured traditions of rhetorical practices: their local, regional, and national contestations.
– How these traditions crosses boundaries: how they are compared, merged or intersected with other specific practices globally.
– How various rhetorical scholarships on political practices and political theories change and merge across academic traditions.
– Rhetorical conditions of possibility for the political to emerge.
– How rhetoric’s multifaceted, transnational intellectual history has crossed borders: its ancient heritage, its Arabic-European transformations, its mutation into post-colonial settings and histories of thought.
– How rhetoric’s continuous engagement with political, philosophical, and aesthetic thought is played out in global political settings.
Format and participants
The format consists of a three-day workshop at Uppsala with an opening keynote address on each day; breakout sessions in which workshop participants review and discuss drafts of ongoing research with faculty; and faculty discussion panels on topics relevant to the theme.
IRW will include three keynote addresses from internationally recognized scholars working in the intersection of rhetorical and political thought: Debra Hawhee (Penn State University, USA), Kari Palonen (University of Jyväskylä, Finland), and Philippe-Joseph Salazar (University of Cape Town, South Africa).
The core activity of the workshop will be engaged discussion and development of participants’ work-in-progress. Papers will be pre-circulated to a small group of about 5-6 workshop participants and one member of the invited faculty and everybody is expected to have constructive suggestions and comments on each other’s work.
IRW will also have panel sessions, led by the invited faculty, on methodological and theoretical topics relating to the theme. The invited faculty consists of: Mats Rosengren (Uppsala University, Sweden), María Alejandra Vitale (University of Buenos Aires, Argentina), Jiyeon Kang (University of Iowa, USA), Jairos Kangira (University of Namibia), Dilip Gaonkar (Northwestern University, USA), Anne Ulrich (University of Tübingen, Germany), Alan Finlayson (University of East Anglia, UK) and our three keynote speakers. They work in the fields of postcolonial intellectual history, securitization, neo-liberal forms of governmentality, the changing forms of protest movements, the challenge of the political to continental thought, and national political rhetoric at the intersection of geopolitical rhetorical practices.
In keeping with the small and informal setting, IRW will accept 50-60 participants based on quality of research, geographical spread, and relevance to the workshop theme. Abstracts should be no longer than 300 words and submitted through the form below. Abstract submission is open to PhD students and emerging scholars who have received their PhD no earlier than January 2014.
How to apply
Deadline for abstract submission: 30 March 2016.
Please note that if an abstract is accepted for the conference, a full draft paper of your work-in-progress should be submitted by 30 June 2016. Final papers should be 4000-6000 words in length, excluding notes and references.
Letter of acceptance will be sent no later than 20 April 2016.
Registration fee (includes participation in the workshop with pre-circulated paper, one informal dinner, as well as breakfast and lunch for three days): 100 EUR
To submit your abstract, please follow this link to the submission form.
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