Society for the Anthropology of North America and Association for Black Anthropologists 2010 Conference

Reconsidering Hegemony: Anthropology in the Era of Hope and Fear

April 15-17, 2010

University of Colorado - Denver
Denver, CO

The program for the SANA-ABA 2010 Conference is now available. Download it now!

The online registration for the SANA-ABA 2010 Conference is now closed, but registration will be available onsite.

The question of power – how it works, its complex constitution and manifestations -- has been central to anthropology since its earliest days. Recently anthropologists have explored the dynamics of power in scholarship about neo-liberalism, color-blind racism, globalization, diasporic and other oppositional politics, gender and sexualities, and many other subjects. Perhaps the term hegemony - which has fallen out of use in recent years - suggests productive ways to grapple anew with this question. This conference seeks to explore the new meanings and uses of this concept given both recent theoretical innovations and the dramatically changing political, economic and social changes that define this era.

These changes have produced a complex political mosaic of hope and fear in the context of changing political landscapes, intensifying economic hardship and inequality, critiques of neoliberalism, new transnational anti-racist and social democratic movements, growing attention to environmental justice and climate change, highly contested and dangerous border politics, and shifting discourses about race, the state, and imperial projects. Understanding this complicated terrain with attention to how it is differently experienced by various communities and social groups provides an opportunity -- perhaps the necessity -- to focus critical attention on hegemony as a concept, process, and catalyst for new modes of cooperation, compromise, coercion and resistance.

We envision this conference as a forum for robust exchange. Consider this both an invitation and encouragement to try out novel formats that promote vibrant, engaged, sustained dialogue that challenges us to question across a broad array of perspectives and topics. Some questions inspired by the conference theme follow, but we are open to many others:

• How are (different) peoples of the Americas and beyond experiencing and responding to the challenges of a changing neoliberal order?
• How best do we describe and understand new and continuing patterns of difference and inequality? In what ways are injustices shaped by gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, citizenship/immigration status, and intersections among these being reinscribed and/or resisted in local, national and transnational contexts?
• How are discourses about race, racism and multiculturalism being represented and mobilized across the political spectrum in the wake of Obama’s presidency?
• How have hope and fear been used to advocate or challenge the militarized, imperial projects that have shaped border politics and international relations and relations within the Americas and beyond in the 21st century?
• What are effective strategies, including activist, public and engaged anthropologies, to help students and the communities we work with understand and challenge the operations of power and hegemony?
• What are the implications of the fiscal challenges facing universities for the future of critical scholarship and widening access to higher education and research?

Confirmed Featured Speakers (Other invitations still pending):

• Lee Baker. Dean of Academic Affairs Trinity College, Duke University
• Jessica Cattelino. Associate Professor of Anthropology, UCLA
• Aimee Cox.  Assistant Professor of African-American and African Diaspora Studies, Rutgers University

About Denver

Denver, the 20th largest metro area in America, has the 10th largest downtown area of any major U.S. city. It is a diverse, beautiful city with lots of amenities.

Registration and Submission Process

You can submit both your registration and proposal electronically. Forms will be available by mid-December on the SANA and ABA websites. Detailed information on registration, submission, costs, conference hotels, Denver tourism and restaurants will also be posted at this same time. Deadline for proposal submission has been extended to 5 p.m. EST February 27, 2010.

We are calling for and creating spaces for different types of sessions, ones that promise to foster real discussion and debate! We seek sessions that ask hard questions, challenge assumptions, assemble multiple perspectives, and promote dialogue and collaboration.
Feel free to contact us with any questions or comments at: abasana2010@gmail.com.

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SANA Conference Archives:

Spring 2008, Wrightsville Beach, NC

Spring 2007, New Orleans, LA

Spring 2006, New York, NY

Spring 2005, Meridia, Mexico

Spring 2004, Atlanta, GA