Conference:

The Culture of Reconstruction:

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Aftermath of Crisis

University of Cambridge, 25-27 June 2008

Call for papers

Deadline 22 February 2008

Background

The Cambridge University Post-Conflict and Post-Crisis Group was founded in 2005 and is composed of graduate students, research and teaching staff, and fellows from departments as varied as engineering, business, medicine, architecture, economics, development studies, anthropology, history, modern languages, archaeology, geography, law and political science. It has recently been awarded a two-year grant (2007-2009) by the Centre for Research in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CRASSH) for further research and activities.

The Group was founded in the belief that in order to do justice to the complexity of post-crisis scenarios, holistic research and action is needed. Societies emerging from a natural disaster, armed conflict or acute social and economic crisis share similar characteristics: insecurity, uncertainty, violence, increase in poverty, displacement of people, loss of life, organized crime, trauma, and physical destruction. They also share needs: re-establishing rule of law, stabilizing the economy, rebuilding, conflict mitigation and prevention, integrate traumatic events, inscribing and negotiating memories, strengthening civil society, reconciliation, nation building and identity, etc. Interdisciplinary perspectives on the aftermath of crisis are therefore the core concern, and key strength, of this research and discussion group.

Conference Information

As the culmination of the second year of the Group, a two-day conference is being convened from 25-27 June 2008, entitled The Culture of Reconstruction: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Aftermath of Crisis. The conference will be inaugurated by Lord Paddy Ashdown who will be giving a lecture entitled "After Iraq - shall we ever intervene again?" on the evening of Wednesday, 25^th of June.

While interdisciplinary in nature, the conference aims to be ‘solution oriented’. It will bring together professionals working on post-conflict and post-crisis scenarios to exchange perspectives and experiences, in order to enable dialogue between researchers, policy makers and practitioners, approaching this work from different backgrounds and perspectives. Panels will be organised in such a way as to encourage discussion across disciplines and methodologies. The Group solicits contributions addressing the complexity and nuances found in theories, methods and case studies in post-crisis reconstruction work. Panels topics include:

• the culture of reconstruction;
  
• accountability and stakeholders;
• the politics of space and security;
• reconstructing culture;
  
• identity, religion and heritage;
• mourning and memorialisation;
• ownership and capacity building;
• governing affect: truth, guilt and legitimacy.

Contributions based on particular case studies are particularly welcome.

Some indicative that the conference will address are:

• How are new cartographies of power etched into a devastated landscape, and what implications do they have for security, inclusion and exclusion?
• Who are the stakeholders intervening in post-conflict situations, how do their objectives conflict or complement each other, and how can, or should, they be held accountable?
• How do mourning processes contribute to the closure, or the continuance of conflict, and what role do burials and bodies play in this respect? By what means can mourning be ‘translated’ into a memorial and what implications does this have for reconciliation, in the short-, medium-, and long-term?
• How do timing, perceptions of temporality, and pivotal moments affect reconstruction practice? How do these factors influence notions of the ‘post’ in post-crisis?
• How are identities distorted by crisis and what implications does this have for reconstruction?
• How is the nation reinvented in the aftermath of conflict and what are the implications for the rewriting of history, preservation of heritage, exclusionary policies?

The conference will also include a creative element. We warmly welcome writers, visual artists, photo-journalists, performers, documentary makers and other creative professionals to present work that directly addresses post-conflict and post-crisis scenarios. We would also welcome posters that provide illustrative case studies to the issues being discussed.

Submission Guidelines

Contributions based on case studies are particularly welcome. Papers are limited to 20 minutes; posters should contain a mix of visual and verbal information and be no smaller than A2 size.

- Paper/presentation: 500 word abstract sent as PDF or Word document.

- Poster: 100-500 words abstract and a detailed description of poster format

- Performance/Documentary/Photography: 100-500 word description, sample images/video if available, and approximate duration or spatial requirements.

All proposals should include full contact information and a brief academic or professional biography.

Deadline for proposals is 22 February 2008; acceptance will follow shortly afterwards.

Please send 500-word paper and poster proposals (including a brief academic biography) or any further enquiries to the Coordinating Committee at cambridge.postcrisis@googlemail.com.

Registration for the conference will run until 25 May 2008, to register please contact us at the same e-mail address.

For more information and regular updates on the conference please visit our website at www.postconflict.group.cam.ac.uk or the CRASSH website at www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/2007-8/postconflict.html.