Call for papers

Workshop: Beyond identity? New Avenues for Interdisciplinary Research on Identity

Wrocław, 8-9 November 2019
Organisers: Academia Europaea Wrocław Knowledge Hub and the Willy Brandt Center for German and European Studies, Wroclaw University.

Identity has been a contested concept in social sciences and humanities. On the one hand, there are some doubts whether the concept has much analytical value, given its broad meaning between constructivism (dynamic nature) and essentialism (fixed nature). While some scholars proclaim radical social construction of individual identity (e.g. Bauman’s “liquid identity”), others point to fixed parameters of, for instance, national identity and the unparalleled power of identity-making entities such as states.
Against this background, the workshop seeks to devise an interdisciplinary dialogue spanning social sciences and humanities - sociology, anthropology, political science, psychology, philosophy, history, cultural studies, literature and linguistics. The main aim of the workshop is to bring together insights from various disciplines into how individual and collective identities are formed, negotiated and fixed, how individual and collective formats and purposes in identity interact or clash. In particular, the fixed aspects of identity-making versus socially constructed factors (including xeno-formatting of identity, for instance, by states) will be of interest in order to determine the degree of “constructability” in identity-making processes. A further goal would be to debate the long-established, classical research positions and the newest advancements in theory and empirical findings in various disciplines, also to better grasp possible changes of paradigms in exploring identity.
In addition, scholars would engage in discussions on how to combine various disciplinary insights into an analytical framework that could be used to explore the contemporary issues of identity, devise common approaches and find possible solutions to current identity problems including sectarianism, nationalism, ethnic violence, violent identity politics and identity-fuelled wars.

The workshop will map out positions of compatibility, difference, and even disagreement in theories and methodologies in various disciplinary takes on identity, with the intent to develop cross-disciplinary analytical and theoretical frameworks and thus deepen our understanding of identity-related processes.

The workshop is organized by the Wrocław hub of Academia Europaea with the financial support of the AE Hubert Curien Initiatives Fund allowing us to cover the costs of travel and accommodation for the participants.
As one of the outcomes, the Organizers are planning a publication in the form of a special issue of The European Review, Cambridge University Press.

The Conveners are: Professor Ireneusz P. Karolewski, MAE, from the Willy Brandt Center for German and European Studies, Wrocław University and Professor Virginie Mamadouh, MAE, from the University of Amsterdam, Dr. Dorota Kołodziejczyk from the University of Wrocław, Postcolonial Studies Center.

We invite abstracts of approximately 300 words with keywords for 20-minute presentations showing a potential for interdisciplinary dialogue and research, with the author bio-note including publications by 4th of October 2019.


Organising Committee: Professor Ireneusz P. Karolewski, MAE, from the Willy Brandt Center for German and European Studies, Wrocław University and Professor Virginie Mamadouh, MAE, from the University of Amsterdam, Dr. Dorota Kołodziejczyk from the University of Wrocław, Postcolonial Studies Center, Katarzyna Majkowska and Adam Żygadło from the Academia Europaea Wroclaw Knowledge Hub.

USEFUL INFORMATION
A selection of papers will be published. The workshop language is English.
Financial arrangements: the Organisers cover the conference fee and provide accommodation (up to 2 nights), travel reimbursement (up to 100 EUR) and insurance.

Please address all correspondence to: Katarzyna Majkowska (majkowska@acadeuro.wroclaw.pl).