International Conference and Summer School of the "BMBF-Research Network for Latin America"
The third International Symposium organized by the Research Network for Latin America took place the 2nd and 3rd of July in Bielefeld. The results of the accompanying Summer School Media Praxis are available now:
On screen (in spanish: Interviews with latinamerican speakers)
On air (in german: radio contribution, Radio Bielefeld)
"Mobilizing Ethnicity - Competing identity politics in the Americas: Past and Present"
Conference: July 2nd to July 3rd 2012 in Bielefeld
Summer School: June 27th to July 6th 2012 in Bielefeld
Within the context of the Quincentenary of the European expansion to the Americas in 1492, numerous indigenous groups throughout the continent mobilized to denounce the (post-) colonial legacy of present societies and to express their political, economic and cultural needs. The year 1992 can thus be related to a paradigmatic transition in ethnic identity politics. Traditionally restricted to local or national contexts, ethnic identity politics in the 1990s became much more globally connected, expanding into an increasing range of fields of social practice such as economy, law, academia, ecology and medicine. While social movements from a variety of ethnic backgrounds pushed for institutional change by appealing to the international attention markets, they were joined by a growing diversity of social actors in the re-negotiations of ethnicity and cultural difference in the public space.
Both the Summer School and the International Conference address this prominent role of ethnic identity politics in the ongoing struggle for defining the principles and boundaries of social inclusion and political participation in the Americas with regard to the historical processes and present situations. The aim is to establish a balance of two decades of intensive and conflictive identity politics in the Americas and to identify new tendencies of the strategic use of ethnicity in politics, economics and culture.
Registration for the Summer School (including the Conference) ended May 1st 2012.
Registration for the Conference ended June 3rd 2012.
Official Leaflet for the announcement of the Summer School and the symposium / Official Leaflet Conference / Official Leaflet Summer School
An anthology resulting from the conference has been released in 2013: Bejarano, Eric Javier; Grebe, Marc-André; Grewe, David; Lobensteiner, Nadja (Hg.) (2013) "Movilizando etnicidad. Políticas de identidad en contienda en las Américas: pasado y presente // Mobilizing Ethnicity. Competing Identity Politics in the Americas: Past and Present", Frankfurt a.M. (Iberoamericana/Vervuert).