Critical Urbanism Lab - International

CfP: “Spatial Turn” in Contemporary Social Sciences and Humanities

urblab — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 21:42:39 +0000

Journal for philosophy and cultural studies Topos published by the European Humanities University (Vilnius) welcomes submissions for publication. A special topic of the next issue is “Spatial Turn” in Contemporary Social Sciences and Humanities.

Guest editors: Yuliya Biedash and Siarhei Liubimau

The aim of this issue is to analyze causes and consequences of “spatial turn” observed in social sciences and humanities over last decades. Why does the necessity to revise traditionally established notions of space (and spatial configurations like city, border, home, homeland, workspace, spatial identity, etc.) emerge in various research fields? Is it possible to talk about the rise of new research paradigms, which enable adequate depiction, and diagnosis of currently lived socio-spatial transformations?

The thematic cluster of the issue includes the following topics:

- the social dimension of space;

- body – media – space;

- space and power;

- urban spaces;

- space and globalization.

Deadline for submissions: February 1, 2011

Manuscripts should be addressed to: journal.topos@ehu.lt and yuliya.biedash@ehu.lt

Contributions can be presented in English, German, French, Russian and Belarusian. They should not exceed 40.000 characters for articles and 20.000 characters for reviews.

Call for Participation: Suburbs

laimikis — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 17:31:25 +0000

Peripheral Visions: Suburbs, Representation and Innovation
Kingston University, United Kingdom, 18-19 June 2011
Deadline: 01/02/2011

Recent work in the burgeoning interdisciplinary field of suburban studies has focused on how suburbs have become increasingly diverse and dynamic places. Arguably, though, perceptions of suburban life, whether in executive commuter belts, banlieues or shanty towns, continue to be dominated by a relatively narrow range of representations. Yet, as suburbs have emerged, developed and diversified, new forms of creative production – across film, photography, literature, music and digital media – have arisen from and in response to them.

This two-day conference will investigate what it is about these seemingly inauspicious environments and lifestyles that has rendered them so inspirational. It seeks to illuminate the aesthetic shifts and formal innovations that have been involved in their representation over the last century, across all media and genres, and within and across different cultures and territories. By focusing on such innovations, Peripheral Visions will interrogate developments to concepts that are central to twentieth and twenty-first century life, including property, autonomy, consumption and citizenship.

Confirmed keynote speakers:
Professor Rob Shields (University of Alberta)
Professor Carrie Tarr (Kingston University)
Dr Jo Gill (University of Exeter)
We welcome proposals for panels and papers which explore topics including, but not limited to:

· Defining suburban aesthetiics and poetics
· Suburbs and genre
· The suburb as fictional world
· New technologies and auto-documentary / subcultural production
· Pioneer suburbs and their representation
· Poverty on the periphery / the suburbs in economic crisis
· Suburban pasts, suburban futures
· Representing transnational suburbs

We also welcome contributions which cross critical/creative boundaries.
Please submit abstracts (of up to 500 words) online by 01/02/2011. Email enquiries to m.dines@kingston.ac.uk or t.vermeulen@let.ru.nl

6th International Conference of Critical Geography 2011 (Frankfurt, 16-20 August 2011)

urblab — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 15:39:09 +0000

First Call for Participation
6th International Conference of Critical Geography 2011
“Crises – Causes, Dimensions, Reactions”
Frankfurt, Germany, 16-20 August 2011
http://www.iccg2011.org

We are thrilled to announce that the 6th International Conference of Critical Geography will be held in Frankfurt, Germany, 16-20 August 2011. Following very successful conferences at Vancouver (1997), Taegu (2000), Békéscsaba (2002), Mexico City (2005) and Mumbai (2007), we will be meeting at Goethe University Frankfurt to discuss “Crises – Causes, Dimensions, Reactions”. The focus will be on critical and emancipatory discussion aimed at radical explanation and change, organized in (but not limited to) eleven themes (see below). The format is designed to enhance debate beyond the confines of national traditions and academic hierarchies. While the primary conference language will be English, we will explore creative ways to deal with the multiplicity of languages. In addition, Theme 9 will address language concerns and Theme 11 will be presented in German.

Call for Participation

We invite participation from a wide range of scholars, activists, artists, organizers and others interested in critical socio-spatial praxis. It is our aim to minimize formal paper presentations and encourage all forms of critical discussion. Please feel free to be creative when it comes to the form of your participation. Our goal is to ensure that at least 50% of conference sessions operate using alternative/experimental formats (workshops, movies, panel sessions, performance, art, poetry etc). Theme coordinators will organize ten 90 minute sessions each. Please voice your interest in participation by submitting a proposal by 1 December 2010 to one of the theme coordinators listed below: Theme 1: Financial, economic and fiscal crisis
coordinators: Wendy Larner (Bristol) bristol.ac.uk>, Jerónimo Montero (Durham) durham.ac.uk>
keywords: globalization, neoliberalism, political economy, financialization, credit ranking agencies, overaccumulation, bank bail out, state debt …

Theme 2: Urban crisis
coordinators: Anders Lund Hansen (Lund) keg.lu.se>, Kanishka Goonewardena (Toronto) rogers.com>, Anne Vogelpohl (Berlin)
metropolitanstudies.de>
keywords: housing, infrastructure, right to the city, gentrification, (racialized) urban conflict, urban crime …

Theme 3: Ecological crisis
coordinators: Sybille Bauriedl (Kassel) uni-kassel.de>, Nik Heynen (Georgia) uga.edu>, Markus Wissen (Vienna) univie.ac.at
keywords: global warming, “natural” disasters, hybridity, production of nature, “climate wars/refugees” …

Theme 4: Subjectivities – in crisis?
coordinators: Anke Strüver (Hamburg) uni-hamburg.de>, Iris Dzudzek (Frankfurt/Main), uni-muenster.de>
keywords: sexuality, gender, age, race, class …

Theme 5: Oppositional struggles worldwide
coordinators: Andy Cumbers (Glasgow) ges.gla.ac.uk>, Dave Featherstone (Glasgow) ges.gla.ac.uk>
keywords: identity, gender, labor, urban, migrants’ struggles, organizing …

Theme 6: Geopolitics, Biopolitics and the Critical Spaces of the Political
coordinator: Claudio Minca (Wageningen) wur.nl>, Christian Abrahamsson (Wageningen) < abrahamsson28[at]gmail.com>
keywords: critical geopolitics, biopolitics, borders/security, war on terror, camp(s), imperialism, military geographies, counter cartographies, critical theory and/in space, spatial theory and totalitarianism, critical spatial theory and planning, revolution and space

Theme 7: Mobilities in crisis
coordinator: Juanita Sundberg (UBC) ubc.ca>, Blanca R. Ramírez (Mexico) prodigy.net.mx>
keywords: migration, migration policies/management, criminalization, illegalization, mobilities…

Theme 8: Universities / geography in crisis
coordinators: Ulrich Best (York) yorku.ca>, Lawrence Berg (UBC) ubc.ca>
keywords: economization and neoliberalisation of universities and (higher) education, “excellence”, situation of critical and radical geographies, social movements and academia, radical teaching and pedagogy …

Theme 9: Babel-crisis – Critique through translation?
coordinators: Mélina Germes (Erlangen) geographie.uni-erlangen.de>, Shadia Husseini de Araújo (Erlangen) geographie.uni-erlangen.de>, Philippe Kersting (Mainz) geo.uni-mainz.de>, Jörg Mose (Münster) uni-muenster.de>
keywords: science and the diversity of languages – problem or chance?, critical potential of translation, multilingual experimentation

Theme 10: Europe and its Others
coordinator: Luiza Bialasiewicz (Royal Holloway) rhul.ac.uk>
keywords: Questioning ‘Europe’ and ‘Europeanization’; Europe’s borders and beyond; European geopolitics/Europe in the World; Geo-histories of European imperialism and colonisation; Europe’s elsewhere and Europe’s elsewheres

Theme 11: Forschungswerkstatt Kritische Geographie IV
coordinator: AK Kritische Geographie
keywords: sessions organized by and for German language students and everybody interested, building on and continuing discussions from previous meetings; language: German

About the Conference
The conference will include: 95 sessions on the themes listed above, local field trips (plus one to Berlin after the conference), keynote lectures, opportunities for networking and a series of plenary sessions to plan the future of the International Critical Geography Group and its associated conferences.

Fees (including coffee/tea/water for breaks, four dinners/dinner receptions, one party) will range from 25 to 200 Euros based on need and ability to pay.

The website for the conference can be found at:

http://www.iccg2011.org

We have worked with Tourism Frankfurt to create a list of hotels near the venue that have made special allocations for the conference. Conference participants, however, are responsible for booking their own accommodation. Please find a booking interface for hotels of different categories with easy access to the conference venue at:

http://www.frankfurt-tourismus.de/cms/tourismussuite/soko/iccg_2011_en.html

There are also backpacker style-hostels close to the conference venue:

http://www.frankfurt-hostel.com/en or http://www.5elementshostel.de.

Please note that Frankfurt is a popular tourist destination in the summer and it is very important to book your accommodations early.

For further information about the conference or to register your interest in attending, please contact Beth DeVolder hotmail.com> or Levi Gahman ubc.ca> at the University of British Columbia.

We are looking forward to seeing you in Frankfurt!

Minsk is among the TOP-10 cities for tourists in Eastern Europe (lonelyplanet.com)

urblab — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:48:37 +0000

Фота Bruce Bi // lonelyplanet.com.

Мeнск у дзесятцы самых прывабных гарадоў для турыстаў ва Ўсходняй Еўропе

Менск увоходзіць у дзесятку самых прывабных гарадоў для турыстаў ва Ўсходняй Еўропе. Рэйтынг апублікаваў папулярны брытанскі турыстычны партал lonelyplanet.com.

1. Юлійскія Альпы – Славенія.

2. Сараева – Боснія і Герцэгавіна.

3. Выспа Млет – Харватыя.

4. Стары Архей – Малдова.

5. Талін – Эстонія.

6. Локет – Чэхія.

7. Торунь – Польшча.

8. Здзяр – Славаччына.

9. Рыга – Латвія.

10. Мінск – Беларусь.

via: hurnievic.livejournal.com

Welcome Jakub Grygar, a ‘new’ member of the Critical Urbanism Crew

urblab — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 20:18:56 +0000

Hi all. Please, welcome one more urban scholar in our the ‘urbanism crew’ section. Jakub Grygar, Ph.D., is currently teaching and researching at Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic. His academic interests include ethnicity, nationalism, EU integration, urban anthropology, social memory and his current research project is titled Enacting the EU: international borders and politics of space in Polish-Belarus context. To learn more, read here.

Although with many of us Jakub has been in cooperation for quite a while, nonetheless it’s pleasure to see him ‘officially’ as part of the critical urbanist team.

Welcome, Jakub!

On photo: Jakub Grygar is welcoming Critical Urbanism Lab and its members.

Seminar: Belarus & Ukraine in the Context of Spatial Dimension of Globalization

urblab — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:24:53 +0000

Open Seminar titled ‘Belarus & Ukraine in the Context of Spatial Dimension of Globalization: State, Capital, and Territoriality’ took place in L’viv (Ukraine), December 4-5. The seminar was co-organized by the Laboratory of Critical Urbanism (Vilnius, Lithuania) and the Center for Urban History of Est Central Europe (Lviv, http://www.lvivcenter.org/).

Program of the event can be downloaded here.

Tagged: Belarus, globalization, state, territoriality, Ukraine

Teaching Urbanism: ‘Tourism in the Context of Critical Theory’ & ‘Social Anthropology and the City’

urblab — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:56:15 +0000

Hey, check out our ‘teaching urbanism’ section for 2 more sullabi updates kindly contributed by our 3 team-members: Dzmitry Karenka & Siarhei Liubimau (‘Tourism in the Context of Critical Theory‘) and Yakub Grygar’s course “Social Anthropology and the City‘. All courses are stored here.

Tagged: city, critical theory, social anthropology, tourism

‘Gender and Space’ Course in ‘Teaching Urbanism’ section

urblab — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:13:11 +0000

Hi there,

We’ve got a new section on the blog called ‘teaching_urbanism’ which will store the educational materials (course sullabi, bibliography lists, etc.). Currently, there’ s ‘Gender and Space’ Course that was kindly contributed by Ben Cope. However, there’s more to come soon. Keep updated.

Tagged: Creative Mapping, Critical Geography, Gender, Intervention, Space, Urban Planning

Alternative Culture & Urban Space (video)

urblab — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:07:16 +0000

Here’s the video from the Budapest conference “Alternative Culture & Urban Space” which many of us attended. Lude made a great video presentation out of it. Now we all can enjoy the clear answer what the “Urban Studies” and “Alternative Culture” stand for. The only thing that I wish to be changed is writing Belarus instead of “Byelorussia” (the country that doesn’t exist anymore, at least officially).

Ben, c’etait un superb introduction au sujet!

more about "video Urban Space – budapest, hongrie…", posted with vodpod

Thank you Lude!

Urban Disaster: Minsk Sea-City

urblab — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:52:54 +0000

Today, July 24, 2009, due to the heavy rain, certain areas of Minsk (Niamiha, Kamarouka, vul. Jakuba Kolasa, andothers) got literally under water – blocking the city traffic and driving crazy car owners who happened to be seized by the flood. The event was a true sublime in its clash between the forces of nature and the civilization of the city. It was interesting to see how quickly citizens of Minsk started to post pictures of the flooding in different online communities and forums More pictures here:

Tagged: flooding, minsk, urban disaster