Call for abstracts | Conference “Talking about (the Silencing of) Palestine: On its Epistemological and Political Challenges”, 16-17 January 2025, Goethe University Frankfurt — LIMITE : 20/11/2024
Place: Goethe University Frankfurt (Main), Germany & (in parts) hybrid
and contemporary reality of Palestinian life and its endangerment.
Knowledge production on Palestine is conspicuous by its absence in contemporary German universities – with critical research being relegated to a state akin to erasure (Toukan 2024, Hanbali et al. 2024). There are well rehearsed reasons for this, ranging from deliberate silencing of critical scholarship (Public Funding Affair in 2024) and events on Palestine (e.g. Palestine Conference 2024 in Berlin) in the recent past to the more gradual loss over decades of professorial chairs and institutes with expertise in the region. Yet there is a history of scholarship on Palestine, and a substantial critical theoretical and empirical expertise in Germany on these and related domains that provides important epistemological lenses for analysing the significant changes undergoing contemporary societies, such as the normalization of fascist politics and repression against (academic) debate. Still, when compared to other national or international circumstances, research on Palestine and the societal discourse associated with Palestine lag behind in Germany, tied down by self–silencing and taboo, enacted by legally binding funding guidelines of what should be said, firings of anti–hegemonic standpoints, denunciations and multiple cases of doxing (Al–Taher/Younes 2024, ELSC 2023) as well as the silencing of Jewish–decolonial voices (Veracini 2024) and anti–zionist positions.
In such a repressive atmosphere where it is difficult to discuss and undertake research on Palestine, this conference aims to facilitate a framework to do so. It will foreground internationally recognised scholars working on Palestine, genocide and holocaust studies both within and beyond the German–speaking context as well as experts on academic freedom. By bringing together engaged researchers – with an explicit invitation to those who have been targeted by repression within their institutions for speaking about Palestine – the conference will also provide space to discuss some of the epistemological consequences that arise when (not) doing research on Palestine in German academia. Further, the conference is intended to strengthen a network of critically engaged scholars, with the aim of assembling a collective publication. In doing so, the conference intends to destigmatize the topic of Palestine and thereby lend credibility to broader struggles for justice, freedom and peace.
The conference will feature a range of formats, including panel discussions, keynotes and workshops. Central will be the issue of epistemic violence in Palestine, as well as inquiries into the challenges and opportunities of doing research on and in Palestine/Israel. Next to these fixed formats, the event seeks to create collaborative spaces for researchers and organizersto network and exchange ideas.
• (Critical) History and the Contemporary Situation in Palestine
• Epistemic Violence and Epistemicide in (German) academia on Palestine–Studies
• The Archiving of Palestinian Experience in Art, Literature and material culture & practices both within (historic) Palestine and the diaspora
• Nakba–Studies and Holocaust–Studies and their (im–)possible interrelation
• Relating scientific knowledge production with social movements in the context of Palestine/Israel
• Architectures of Settler Colonialism and its security complex
• International Law, the ICC and ICJ trials, “Lawfare”
• Possibilizing Futures of Palestine: The Right of Return, (Municipal) Democracy and Socialism?
Please feel free to submit contributions on topics not listed here. We explicitly seek to foreground research on Palestine that might fly ‘under the radar’ and further welcome (individual or co–authored) submissions from students (both undergraduate and graduate), faculty, independent scholars, artists, organizers and otherwise engaged writers as well as researchers and legal experts of international law and/or scientific freedom. The abstracts will form the basis for either a workshop or participation in a panel discussion. They will be selected based on the evaluation of the planning–committee and under consultation of advising scholars.
Length of the abstracts: max. 300 words
Deadline: 20th November 2024
talkingaboutpalestineconference[at]proton.me
Conference timetable: 16th to 17th of January 2025
The conference will be held in English, but submissions in German are accepted as well.
For further inquiries and questions, please contact us at:
talkingaboutpalestineconference[at]proton.me
OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
Chargé de diffusion scientifique (23 octobre 2024). Call for abstracts | Conference “Talking about (the Silencing of) Palestine: On its Epistemological and Political Challenges”, 16-17 January 2025, Goethe University Frankfurt — LIMITE : 20/11/2024. IISMM. Consulté le 19 avril 2025 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/12jyi