Call for Papers Anthropology of Europe Workshop University of Chicago "Utopian Projections, Dystopian Horizons: Unsettled Polarities in European Time & Space" Graduate Student Conference May 18, 2001 Please send 250-word abstract and a CV by Wednesday, March 7th to: Attn: Anthropology of Europe Workshop Department of Anthropology University of Chicago 1126 E. 59th Street Chicago, IL 60637 USA Address any questions to Gustav Peebles or Drew Gilbert at: gpeebles@midway.uchicago.edu or acgilber@midway.uchicago.edu Europe is a place where geographic orientations and dichotomies (North vs. South, East vs. West, the Atlantic Fringe) have been tropes of powerful distinctions as well as geopolitical and economic ordering principles. This common referencing of spatial poles replicates itself in the temporal sphere, wherein utopian and/or dystopian visions are projected onto other times, in various imagined pasts and futures; these temporal projections then become a frame for social action in much the same way as the spatial poles. Unlike previous eras, however, now the EU as a governing body has become available as one of the premier foils for this "projective imaginary." The tropes of geography and temporality dovetail in ubiquitous debates over whether to "move toward [or away from] Europe." Examples include: the way in which some on the left in Sweden pin nostalgic hopes for the return of the welfare state by creating it within the EU; the way in which Spanish frustration over the reorganization of labor becomes indexed with EU membership and fears of being subsumed under the puritan work ethic in the "Northern" model; the way in which Slovenes index membership within the EU as the decisive break with their "Balkan" past. Thus, we find that with the potential expansion of the EU, the meanings attached to the geographic and temporal oppositions are currently in flux and undergoing redefinition, while the EU itself is being employed as a strategic resource in these battles over meaning. Hence, this graduate student conference aims to discuss this positioning of the EU within a series of currently ambiguous oppositional poles. How is this evolving governing body being imagined in relation to them? How are various groups attempting to employ it as the propelling force of their own politics? How are recent moves toward expansion eastward going to alter these polar oppositions within Europe while either exiling or drawing in places traditionally considered "outside of" Europe? How can anthropology and other social sciences approach these problems with new methodologies or sites of interest? Limited travel funds may be available to graduate students travelling from within North America. Listed with AZER.com: 02/27/2001 AI Home | Magazine Choice | Topics | Store | Contact us From Azerbaijan International © Azerbaijan International 2000. All rights reserved.