the Thrill of the Still (themes, poetics of (Im)Mobility)

Call for Papers: The Thrill of the Still. Analyzing Global Processes between Immobility and Mobility

Mobility is one of the key terms used in the explanation and description of processes of globalization. The contrary moment of stability, of the persistence of traditions and structures in general, that is, of immobility, has so far been mostly neglected. Manifestations of both the mobile and the immobile frequently imply and rely on each other. Change often settles into stable patterns just as equilibria are the result of the interaction of dynamic processes. It therefore seems necessary to consider mobility and immobility and the rich variety of opposing meanings each of these terms evoke not only as complementary factors but as mutually determining categories.

The conference will analyze mobility and immobility with respect to their mutually constitutive relationship. It will attend to the wide array of meanings of both negative and positive connotations that are ascribed to both terms. It will be crucial to fundamentally re-examine the categories of time and space as the principal determinants of mobility and immobility (time-space compression, disappearance and reappearance of space, etc.), the relationships of structure and process as well as of continuity and discontinuity. While the main focus will be on research from the fields of the cultural and social sciences (“Kulturwissenschaften”), we welcome contributions to theoretical questions and to concrete phenomena from a wide spectrum of areas such as art, literature, music, historical and political processes as well as from the sciences and engineering.

The conference will be structured around three main areas:

1. Agents, Objects, Practices of (Im)Mobility

• People: migrants, merchants, travelers, tourists

• Products, goods, commodities: channels, circulation, disposal

• Technologies of (Im)Mobility: cars, planes, rockets, computers

• Places of (Im)Mobility: the global city, airports, museums

• Rituals of motion and rest: travel, traffic, station, arrival, departure



2. Representations of (Im)Mobility

• WWW: global interconnectedness

• Popular culture: between throwaway society and authenticity

• Arts & Literature: themes, poetics of (Im)Mobility



3. Logics of (Im)Mobility:

• Acceleration and Standstill: philosophical-historical reflections on time in a global context

• Static and Dynamic Space: philosophical-historical reflections on space in a global context

• Cosmopolitans and Citizens: sociology / anthropology of global society

• Cultures in Contact: hybridization / creolization / assimilation

The international conference (June 31 2008) will allow participants from different disciplines and contexts to enter into a dialogue. Contributions from doctoral and post-doctoral candidates are welcome. The conference language will be English. Papers: 30 minutes; discussion: 30 minutes.

Proposals in English of one page maximum as well as a CV (incl. list of publications) to be sent to the coordinators of the graduate program (Christian Knirsch and Claudius Werry: promotionskolleg[AT]uni-mannheim.de). Deadline: October 31, 2007