[URBANTH-L] AAA CFP: Dangerous Intersections of Indigeneity in Latin America

Angela Jancius acjancius at ysu.edu
Mon Mar 13 13:16:17 EST 2006


From: Jason Pribilsky <pribiljc at whitman.edu>

Call for Papers:

American Anthropological Association Meeting,
San Jose, CA, 11/15/06-11/19/06


Proposed Panel: Dangerous Intersections of Indigeneity in Latin America

Patrick Wilson, University of Lethbridge
Jason Pribilsky, Whitman College

The rise of indigenous movements in different parts of Latin America has
taken shape in recent decades at critical points of convergence between
indigenous leaders, human rights and environmental activists, church
leaders, and academics, among others.  These movements, rooted in cultural
politics and the articulation of expressions of indigeneity that reflected
these interconnections have also been heralded for strengthening subaltern
voices, working against the frequently violent repression of Latin American
states, deepening democracy, and contributing to the formation of a
grassroots environmentalism.  Yet, as these early studies of indigenous
movements demonstrated, indigeneity is produced both globally and locally,
and as with any element of identity politics, it is co-opted and used for a
variety of political purposes, not all of which may be seen as progressive
or working in the interests of "indigenous peoples" as an
artificially-created monolithic group.  This panel will examine other
intersections in the global and local cultural politics of indigeneity,
including the co-optation of indigeneity by development specialists, medical
practitioners, landed elite, or in the context of the sometimes divisive
politics of local and regional indigenous movements.

While there has been considerable theoretical treatment on the ways
multiculturalisms "menace" and how neoliberal agendas at times skillfully
co-opt multicultural and intercultural social movements, ethnographic
accounts of the ways these maneuvers affect and "endanger" indigenous groups
are still lacking. Asking the question, do indigenieties endanger, we seek
ethnographically rich papers that approach this question from various
angles.

If you are interested in participating, please send a preliminary abstract
(of approximately 250 words) to co-coordinators Patrick Wilson, Assistant
Professor of Anthropology University of Lethbridge [patrick.wilson at uleth.ca]
and Jason Pribilsky, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Whitman College
(pribiljc at whitman.edu) by no later than March 25. Once a group of potential
papers has been selected, we will write a more focused panel abstract to
reflect the common themes addressed in the abstracts.


Finally, below is a blurb from the AAA's CFP to help you construct your
abstract to reflect this year's theme of "Critical Intersections/ Dangerous
Issues."

"Anthropology has reached a critical intersection in its history and
heritage as a discipline. This year's theme, "Critical
Intersections/Dangerous Issues," provides opportunities to explore and
evaluate both new and established links among increasingly specialized areas
within the field. Two standard definitions of the term "critical" are
particularly apt: "characterized by careful analysis" and "designating a
point at which change occurs." We invite papers that showcase collaborative
efforts to analyze pressing issues of archaeological, biological, cultural,
biocultural, medical and linguistic concern by producing new intersections
of knowledge. We also invite explicit critiques of such collaborations by
those who are familiar with the potential dangers of crossing conceptual,
institutional, pedagogical and political boundaries."




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