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Alienation/ Racism/ Interculturality

Call for Papers

(Deadline: December 31, 2003, request: a short description of the suggested
topic [maximum 400 words/ ca. one A4 page] and a short biography)

Organizer Institute for Regional and Migration Research (IRM)

Conference languages: German and English

For more information:

contact contact@irm-trier.de, www.irm-trier.de

Migration processes always entail varied experiences of encounter, a tableau for cultural and social exchange among those who meet as wanderers as well as those who “greet” them. These encounters involve diverse communicative relationships and also form a basis for the development of common social and political activities and experiences.

In Europe the conditions and mentality for contact with foreigners were decisively shaped in history and developed during the rise of capitalism and bourgeois society, eras for which colonialism and fascism had special relevance. Exploitation and suppression went along with the cultural devaluation of the oppressed, which in its extreme form lead to the dehumanization of the colonized. Additionally exploitation and suppression accompanied the cultural revaluation of the European male, who became a role model for humanity. As European influence spread, hierarchical structures of mentality were embedded, which even today, as extensions of dominance and prejudice, still define and mediate contact with foreigners.

Those practices were not limited to contacts outside of Europe – where the concept of “race” was refined, with racism becoming the predominant ideology and practice. Also within European bourgeoise society itself processes and practices of categorization were adopted and applied towards women, children, Jews, the handicapped and the sick, who were stigmatized and made into outsiders. These offered oppositional images to bourgeoise self-esteem and self-assurance. In this context the intertwining of racism and sexism with the specific power relations of class and nation becomes apparent.

This conference intends to explore and discuss the close relationships among alienation, racism and interculturality. What forms of hierarchy exist? How did they evolve? What recent developments can be observed? What effects and consequences do new forms of migration, e.g. transmigration/transnationalism, have upon their form and content? What has the history of emigration, wandering and expulsion, of the building and destruction of individual and collective life-perspectives meant to culturally diverse societies? What role have patriarchal cultures played in intercultural processes? What gender issues are relevant and what is their function in classifications and hierarchies? What are the consequences of gender emancipation and gender democracy in a culturally plural and multi-polar society?

The terms “interculturality and multicultural (or transnational) identity“ should be objects for critical investigation. Often these terms are positively valued in contrast to racism. What biases are intrinsic to these terms, e.g. heterogeniety or an emphasis on individuality rather than upon intermingled community? What mechanisms transform the intercultural discourse into a contest of power and dominance?

Intercultural practice should also be considered. What does “intercultural practice” mean? How could the different forms of encounter and practice be judged with a view towards a social practice oriented by reference to emancipatorial and democratic principles?

The presentations will be published in a volume of the IRM series “Contributions to Regional and Migration Research”.

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