CFP Mobilizing the Commons: Everyday Activism and Mobility Struggles around EU Border Regimes
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We warmly invite you to submit a paper proposal for our panel =E2=80=9CMobilizing= the Commons: Everyday Activism and Mobility Struggles around EU Border Regi= mes=E2=80=9D to be held at the Conference of the German Association of Social and = Cultural Anthropology (GASCA/DGSKA) at the University of Cologne/K=C3=B6ln, 29 S= eptember - 2 October 2025.
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We invite proposals for ethnographically grounded papers that speak to the = panel theme, =E2=80=9CMobilizing the Commons: Everyday Activism and Mobility Strug= gles around EU Border Regimes=E2=80=9D (see abstract below). Applicants who face d= ifficulties in traveling to Germany because of visa restrictions should cont= act the organizers with their concerns. While we recognize that this confere= nce may not be accessible to all, we encourage advanced PhD students and ear= ly career researchers to apply, along with scholars at any stage in their ca= reers. Paper abstract deadline is 15 January, 2025. Please submit your paper= proposal here: https://tagung.dgska.de/en/rules-infos/
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Convenors: Monika Palmberger (University of Vienna)
Elissa Helms (Central European University)
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Short abstract:
This panel invites ethnographic explorations of how the anthropology of com= moning can enrich studies of small-scale and resistant forms of solidarity, = citizenship, or humanitarianism by migrants and non-migrants acting in physi= cal and digital arenas to challenge EU border and migration regimes.
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Long abstract:
This panel examines how informal acts in various forms challenge and resist= EU border and migration regimes. Recent discussions of commoning in anthrop= ology, particularly mobile commons, bear resemblance to dynamics analyzed th= rough other concepts that aim to theorize similar autonomous or subtle forms= of citizenship, solidarity, or humanitarianism. Drawing on feminist perspec= tives that see citizenship and borders as constructed and gendered processes= , we aim to explore how different actors=E2=80=94both "citizens" and "non-citizens= " navigate rights, identities, and solidarities through embodied practices i= n both physical and digital environments, thereby transforming private and p= ublic spaces into political arenas.
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Our focus is on how decentralized and resistant practices of migrants and n= on-migrants reshape and redefine communal belonging and structures of solida= rity in relation to bordering and citizenship regimes. We ask how these ofte= n disparate threads of scholarship can be brought into dialogue with the ant= hropology of commoning to sharpen our understanding of how small-scale acts = attempt to counter or mitigate the power of borders and migration regimes in= the contemporary EU context. We invite ethnographically grounded papers tha= t offer theoretical insights into the dynamics of everyday, small-scale acts= and activism around the EU border regime in digital and physical arenas. Ho= w do these practices challenge dominant forms of knowledge and social relati= ons? How do they navigate inclusion and exclusion in a polycrisis context? F= inally, how can the concept of the commons be brought into theoretical dialo= gue with related concepts such as resistant forms of solidarity, citizenship= , humanitarianism or autonomous approaches to migration?
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The conference theme is =E2=80=9CUn/Commoning Anthropology=E2=80=9D For more informatio= n, see https://tagung.dgska.de/en/theme/
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Paper abstract deadline: 15 January, 2025
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Paper proposals must consist of: a paper title the name/s and email address/es of author/s a short abstract of fewer than 300 characters a long abstract of fewer than 250 words =20
Proposals must be submitted online (not by email) via the workshop list ava= ilable through the following link: https://tagung.dgska.de/en/rules-infos/=20
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Best wishes,
Monika and Elissa
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Dr. Monika Palmberger
https://www.monikapalmberger.eu
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