Abstraktikutsu: Affective Intimacies: A workshop with Sasha Roseneil and Kinneret Lahad (18.-19.11.2019)

Abstraktikutsu: Affective Intimacies: A workshop with Sasha Roseneil and Kinneret Lahad
18.-19.11.2019, Tampereen yliopisto (abstraktien viimeinen jättöpäivä 24.5.2019)

How to rethink intimacies through the lens of affect theories? What kind of potential do affect theories provide to renew feminist debates concerning intimate relations?

The questions above lie in the core of a workshop on affective intimacies, which is the final event of the Academy of Finland funded research project ‘Just the two of Us? Affective Inequalities in Intimate Relationships’ (2015-2019). The event, to be held at Tampere University on 18-19 November, 2019, consists of public keynotes by Professor Sasha Roseneil (University College London, UK) and Dr Kinneret Lahad (Tel Aviv University, Israel) and a two-day workshop where participants’ work-in-progress papers will be commented on by the keynote speakers, organizers and fellow participants.

We invite abstracts from scholars across all career stages, from PhD students to established scholars, who are interested in the issues of affect and intimacy, in particular within feminist and queer studies. The workshop aims to publish a special issue on affective intimacies in 2021.

For the workshop, we invite submissions that address the embodied, affective and psychic aspects of intimate entanglements. They may include but are not limited to the following themes:

I Affect, intimacy and power
How affect takes part in shaping the everyday fabrics and textures of intimate relationships? How are gendered and sexualised vulnerabilities maintained, produced and challenged through affective intimacies? How do affective privilege and affective inequality materialise in intimate encounters?

II Collective intimacies
How the affective histories of communities condition the possibilities for intimate attachments and detachments? How can the intimate becomings be conceptualised and empirically explored with others? How collective affective registers foster the experience of intimacy or the lack of it? What kind of political potential might new patterns of intimacy have?

III Queering affects
How can those forms of intimacy which escape cultural recognition and intelligibility be acknowledged? How might unpredictable and unruly affects participate in queering intimacy? What kind of challenges do new forms of intimate practices pose to affective research practice?

The maximum number of accepted papers will be 12. Other attendance is limited by registration only. Participation is free of charge, however participants are expected to cover their own travel and accommodation costs, as well as their meals.

Please submit your abstract (max. 300 words) and a short bio (max. 100 words) by May 24, 2019 to affective.inequalities(a)tuni.fi. Decisions on acceptance will be made in June. The accepted participants are expected to submit a work-in-progress paper of 8-10 pages by November 1, 2019. The papers will be circulated among the participants, and all participants are expected to read these work-in-progress-papers for comments.

For further information, please contact: Dr. Marjo Kolehmainen at marjo.kolehmainen(a)tuni.fi.

The workshop is organized by an Academy of Finland funded research project “Just the Two of Us? Affective Inequalities in Intimate Relationships” (287983): http://affective-inequalities.fi/en/