CfP:Genealogies of Knowledge conference
Genealogies of Knowledge I
Translating Political and Scientific Thought across Time and Space
7-9 December 2017
1st Call for Papers
The
production and circulation of knowledge across temporal and cultural
spaces is a well-established research theme among classicists and
historians of political
thought, ideas, science and medicine, but recent developments have
opened up new perspectives on this area of study. The study of social
knowledge flows has advanced our understanding of these transit
processes in critical and productive ways. While earlier
‘diffusionist’ models of knowledge production and distribution were
predicated on the ascendancy of European thought and science, and the
treatment of other cultures as no more than producers of data to be
collected, theorised and understood, emerging models
of social knowledge foreground how the very process of circulation
produces new knowledge and recognise the contribution of all actors and
locations traversed by such flows over time. This development is
particularly welcome at a time when the media of knowledge
production and circulation, successively moulded by the manuscript,
print and electronic cultures, are being reconfigured in the digital
culture of the 21st century. In this deterritorialised and
decentralised arena of instantaneous knowledge production
and circulation, “questions of trust, testimony, and communitarian
objectivity are simultaneously questions of how knowledge travels, to
whom it is available, and how agreement is achieved [or not]” between
experts and ordinary people (Secord 2004: 660-661).
Social movement and digital media scholars who advocate and practise
alternative forms of political participation and collective forms of
knowledge construction are therefore increasingly playing an important
role in reconceptualising these trajectories of
knowledge production and contestation.
The
contribution of translation to these processes across centuries and
cultures has long been documented and studied. A significant body of
research, often
undertaken by scholars outside translation studies, has drawn on a
range of case studies to show how concepts and values have been and
continue to be renegotiated and transformed at specific historical
junctures through processes of (re)translation, rewriting
and other forms of mediation. But translation is becoming enmeshed in
the study of knowledge production and circulation in new and exciting
ways. New and powerful computerised tools promise to enable researchers
to trace the genealogy and transformation of
key concepts in the humanities and sciences across temporal and
cultural spaces through translation. The explanatory power of
translation as a key force driving the study of transformation and
change, on the other hand, has led scholars in other areas of knowledge
to use the concept ‘as a trope through which the local concerns of the
appropriating discipline may be addressed’ (Baker and Saldanha 2011:
xxi).
Hosted by the research team leading the AHRC-funded
Genealogies of Knowledge project
at the University of Manchester, this conference will provide
a forum for engaging with questions of current import in relation to
the role of translation in the production and circulation of political,
scientific and other key concepts in social life across time and space.
Topics of interest include but are not restricted
to the following:
·
The evolution through translation of key cultural concepts pertaining to the body politic in ancient and modern times
·
The
evolution and transformation of the epistemological foundations of
traditional scientific discourse (causation, evidence-based knowledge)
across time and
space.
·
The
role of translators, interpreters and other gate-keepers in shaping the
intellectual history of different periods and cultures
·
Processes
of mediation impacting the construction, expansion and transformation
of sacred texts and the concept of the sacred across time and space
·
Translation at the interface between positivist and constructivist scientific traditions
·
The role of historical and modern lingua francas in the production, transformation and circulation of concepts and values
·
The
impact of translations from lingua francas into vernacular languages
and across vernaculars from antiquity until the modern period
·
The
role of both far-right populist groups and radical democratic movements
in contesting the meaning of key cultural and political concepts (e.g.
Brexit-Trumpism
vs neoliberalism; state-centred vs non-state models of democracy;
#Blacklivesmatter; #Vivapalestina)
·
The
contestation of traditional scientific discourse based on notions of
expertise and rationality by networked communities and independent media
(post-truth
era, citizen science, increased challenge to expert knowledge and
ethos)
·
Corpus-based
insights into the production and circulation of values and concepts in
past and present times: epistemological and methodological issues
·
Developing corpus software for mapping and visualising the historical evolution of concepts
The language of the conference is English.
Venue
The
conference will take place at the Manchester Conference Centre, located
on Sackville Street within easy distance from train stations and
Manchester International
Airport. Accommodation is available on site. In addition, numerous
hotels and other forms of accommodation are available within walking
distance of the conference venue. Further details will be announced on
the website.
Plenary Speakers (to be announced)
Submission of Abstracts for Individual Presentations
Abstracts of 300-500 words should be sent by
15 February 2017 to: Professor Mona Baker (mona.baker@manchester.ac.uk), Professor
Luis Pérez-González (Luis.Perez-Gonzalez@
Submission of Panel Proposals
Panel proposals should be submitted by
15 March 2017 to Dr. Kamran Karimullah (karimullah.kamran@manchester.
- a short outline of the panel/theme (150-200 words)
- name, affiliation and brief resumé of the panel convener
- proposed title of panel
- list of presenters, where available (panels will also be promoted through an open call)
Panels
should consist of 3 papers of 20 minutes plus ten minutes for
discussion each. Multiple panels on the same theme will also be
considered.
Registration
Full Conference Rate (3 Days, inclusive of refreshments and lunch)
Early Registration (by 1 September 2017) £250
Late Registration £325
Students, Early Registration £180
Students, Late Registration £225
Single Day Registration £125
Conference Dinner
£45
Important Dates
·
Submission of abstracts: 15 February 2017
·
Notification of acceptance of abstracts: 31 March 2017
·
Submission of panel proposals: 15 March 2017
·
Early Registration: 1 September 2017