Emerging Expertise: Holding Accountability Accountable
Type: Call for Papers
Date: April 6, 2017 to April 9, 2017
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Subject Fields: Diplomacy and International Relations, Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies, Human Rights, Law and Legal History, Psychology
Emerging Expertise: Holding Accountability Accountable
The Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies (Clark University)
6-9 April 2017
Successful
innovation brings together novel ideas and methods in ways that
generate new forms of expertise. The Strassler Center’s conference on
Emerging Expertise will put a diverse array of scholars, lawyers,
policymakers, and practitioners working on issues germane to Holocaust
and Genocide Studies (broadly defined) into conversation with one
another with this goal in mind. The central focus will be on
“accountability” as a theoretical concept, methodological concern, moral
principle, legal demand, and form of ethical engagement.
First,
“accountability” is not a thing; rather, it is a dynamic relationship
among (groups of) persons that varies across time and space. What
research methods best capture this dynamism and diversity? And how can
we more effectively convey these relational aspects of “accountability”
to multiple audiences (e.g. affected populations, policy makers,
lawyers, NGOs, and the general public,)? Second, a similar question can
be posed about agency in contexts of mass violence where definitions of
moral action not only conflict, but configure, what “accountability”
means and what is needed for it be realized in competing ways. Do we
need to develop different genres of “accountability” to avoid collapsing
these differences? Third, (trans-) national legal mechanisms and
localized efforts to promote justice can make it possible to hold some
actors accountable for their involvement in human rights violations.
However, many obstacles continue to limit the effectiveness of such
approaches. To what extent do lessons learned and current best practices
offer innovative ways to overcome or bypass these obstacles? Fourth,
how does new scholarship in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, when
combined with experience drawn from people implementing programs in the
field, affect how we understand “accountability” historically and
comparatively? Finally, how does a focus on “accountability” as an
object of historical analysis and/or a practical goal to be achieved
call on us to reexamine critically the ethics of our own professional
practices? Answers to these questions will provide much needed insights
into “accountability” in all its varied forms.
Potential panels
include, but are not limited to, historical and contemporary analyses
of: Gendered Violence; Regional Mass Violence (Religious or Ethnic);
Corporate Accountability; Redistributive Justice; New Tactics in
Prevention; Human Rights Norm Entrepreneurs; Ecologies of
Reconciliation; Collective Healing Practices; Memory Projects; and
Pedagogy.
Participation is open to early career academics and professionals with no
more than seven years of experience: advanced doctoral students,
post-doctoral fellows, and assistant professors, in the case of the
former, and professionals (including practitioners) in any field engaged
with Holocaust and Genocide Studies, in the case of the latter. The
Strassler Center will cover approved transportation, food, and lodging
costs for people selected to participate in the conference.
Interested parties should submit an abstract (250 words) to Dr. Sarah Cushman (scushman@clarku.edu) by 30 June 2016. Notification of acceptance will be sent in October.