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CfP: Norbert Elias, emotional styles and historical change, 14-15 June, University of Adelaide

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An Interdisciplinary Collaboratory – ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions, Change Program, University of Adelaide

1. Conceptualization

This is an international Collaboratory on the historical development of emotional styles in Europe and North America from medieval times to the present. The meeting will focus on the seminal ideas of the sociologist Norbert Elias about changes in emotions and society in his The Civilising Process (1939) and his work more generally. Contributions are sought from historians, sociologists, cultural theorists and others working in the field of the history of emotions and may take the form of substantial historical essays or theoretical papers discussing alternative models and interpretations to those of Elias.

Besides making substantive contributions to historical knowledge, the Collaboratory will address two important theoretical issues:

* what are the drivers of change in Western societies’ emotional regimes?
* what is the role of collective emotions in socio-historical change?

These questions have been chosen because of their intrinsic importance and their salience for sociologists and anthropologists, as well as historians and students of law, media, politics and religion.

2. Date and Venue

The Collaboratory will be held at the University of Adelaide 14-15 June, 2011. It is sponsored by the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions, Change Program. The meeting is organized by Professor David Lemmings and Professor Ann Brooks.

3. Call for Papers

Please submit an abstract of 200 words by 1 February 2011. Completed papers should be submitted by 15 April 2011. Papers are invited on the following themes:

The history of emotions, especially relating to:

  • collective emotions and historical change
  • collective identity
  • mass emotions and media
  • violence
  • the body
  • crime, the administration of justice and punishment
  • gender and social theory
  • the state and emotional politics.

Papers should not exceed 8,000 words in length. They will be pre-circulated to delegates and uploaded onto the Collaboratory web site. At the meeting abbreviated presentations will be made by all but the keynote speakers so as to maximise time for discussion. Discussants will be called for at a later point and further details will be circulated in January 2011.

Abstracts should be submitted to david.lemmings@adelaide.edu.au and ann.brooks@adelaide.edu.au.

4. Keynote Speakers

Keynotes will include Professor Barbara Rosewein (Loyola University of Chicago), Professor Bryan Turner (City University of New York and the University of Western Sydney), Professor Nicole Eustace (New York University) and Professor Stephen Mennell, (University College Dublin and the Norbert Elias Foundation).

5. Registration and Accommodation

There will be no formal Registration fee but a charge of AUS$80 will be made to cover the costs of the Collaboratory dinner. Accommodation details will be provided in January 2011.