Message posted on 11/10/2019
Call for Proposals "Mimicry in Metabolism(s)" 13t-14 February 2020 - University of Oslo
Call for Proposals: <br> <br>Mimicry in Metabolism(s): Industrial Chemicals, Synthetic Hormones, and Un= <br>ruly Bodies <br> <br>University of Oslo <br>UiO:Life Science and Convergence Environment "AnthroTox=2E Combining = <br>anthropology and toxicology to study global toxicants" <br> <br>13-14 Feb 2020 <br> <br>Endocrine disrupting chemicals as well as synthetic hormones interfere wit= <br>h and alter human and nonhuman metabolisms=2E Endocrine disrupting chemical= <br>s have been identified as potentially harmful to reproductive health, thoug= <br>h discussions are deeply rooted in "medicalised understandings of the = <br>body and normative gender identities" (Lee & Mikitiuk 2018)=2E Cer= <br>tain synthetic hormones, however, act as support for the coming into existe= <br>nce of non-binary and non-cisgender positions=2E Key to all these mechanism= <br>s is the potential of some chemicals and synthetic hormones to mimic proces= <br>ses on the endocrine level=2E <br>Therefore, this workshop takes the concept of mimicry as a starting point = <br>for a productive cross-disciplinary discussion on hormones, chemicals and a= <br>ffected bodies in "late industrialism" (Fortun 2012)=2E Mimicry a= <br>nd mimesis are key concepts within philosophy and biology to engage with ph= <br>enomena like imitation, camouflage, adaption and deception=2E As relational= <br> concepts, they cut across conventional boundaries and demarcations such as= <br> original/forgery, real/copy, nature/culture or life/technology, connecting= <br> or disrupting presumed spheres of difference, such as biology and culture = <br>(Maran 2017)=2E Broadly used in the life sciences the concept can be found = <br>in a variety of disciplines=2E For the purpose of this workshop, (post)colo= <br>nial and queer-feminist engagement with mimicry is of particular importance= <br>=2E Here, the notion of mimicry is equipped with a critical perspective on = <br>power relations=2E Correspondingly, mimicry as a concept but also as a prac= <br>tice needs to be understood as embedded in power relations and, to that eff= <br>ect, simultaneously a result of as well as a threat to hegemonic power (Bha= <br>ba 1984)=2E It is about questioning naturalized binary notions of gender, a= <br>bout performative enactment without reference to an original or authentic, = <br>an "imitation without origin" and "parodic proliferation&quo= <br>t; (Butler 1990)=2E On paving the way for these movements of thought, it is= <br> possible to overcome fixed dichotomies and, for instance, to examine envir= <br>onmental harm without relying on heteronormative assumptions or predefiniti= <br>ons of what counts as a "normal body" (Agard-Jones 2013; Davis 20= <br>15)=2E <br>Different from classic approaches of environmental anthropology and risk m= <br>anagement, this workshop takes a polluted world as a starting point (Liboir= <br>on et al 2018)=2E It asks for the temporally uneven "chemical infrastr= <br>uctures" of late industrialism (Murphy 2013)=2E Expanding the social s= <br>tudies of synthetic chemicals and their harmful effects toward the analysis= <br> of sex and environment as co-constituted (Ah-King & Hayward 2013), thi= <br>s workshop examines the multiplicity of social practices of chemical mimicr= <br>y that engage with ambivalences and contradictions, opening up for broader = <br>aspects of intoxication, environment and the gendered and sexed body=2E&nbs= <br>p; <br> <br>Against this background, we would like to highlight the following topics a= <br>nd questions: <br>1) How can we know hormone mimicking substances? What are the variou= <br>s forms of knowledges (artistic, activist, scientific, etc=2E) and im= <br>aginaries at stake to engage with hormone mimicking substances in the (more= <br> than human/ other than human) body and the environment? <br>2) What are possible intersections of queer politics and environmental jus= <br>tice? How can we avoid a fallback into heteronormative concepts of gender a= <br>nd bodies while simultaneously taking into account the diverse inequalities= <br> in exposure to harmful chemicals? <br>3) What are possibilities of seizing or appropriating technosciences on re= <br>production and toxicology? And to which end? What are the practices i= <br>n place and the politics at stake? <br> <br>The intention of the workshop is to bring together social anthropologists,= <br> toxicologists, science and technology studies (STS) scholars, Do-It-Yourse= <br>lf (DIY) and hacker movements and popular culture=2E It will gather work in= <br> gender and postcolonial studies and other disciplines on synthetic biology= <br> engaging with the concept of mimicry=2E <br> <br>We invite contributions in a range of formats (short presentations, panel = <br>inputs, artistic research formats)=2E Please submit an abstract of 150 word= <br>s to franziska=2Eklaas@sai=2Euio=2Eno by 15 November 2019=2E Confirmed part= <br>icipants will be asked to precirculate a position paper before the workshop= <br>=2E <br>Limited financial support for participants without funding is available=2E= <br> <br> <br> <br>Organizers: <br>Franziska Klaas, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Oslo <br>Susanne Bauer, TIK Center for Technology, Innovation and Culture, Universi= <br>ty of Oslo <br> <br>This workshop is supported by UiO:Life Science, University of Oslo and the= <br> Convergence Environment "AnthroTox=2E Combining anthropology and toxi= <br>cology to study global toxicants"=2E <br> <br> <br> <br>Bibliography: <br> <br>Agard-Jones, Vanessa=2E "Bodies in the System=2E" Small Axe: A C= <br>aribbean Journal of Criticism 17, no=2E 3 (42) (November 1, 2013): 182-92 <br>Ah-King, Malin, and Eva Hayward=2E "Toxic Sexes-Perverting Pollution = <br>and Queering Hormone Disruption=2E" O-Zone: A Journal of Object Orient= <br>ed Studies 1 (2013)=2E <br>Bhabha, Homi=2E "Of Mimicry and Man: The Ambivalence of Colonial Disc= <br>ourse=2E" October 28 (1984): 125-33=2E <br>Butler, Judith=2E Gender Trouble=2E 1st ed=2E New York: Routledge, 2006=2E= <br> <br>Davis, Heather=2E "Toxic Progeny: The Plastisphere and Other Queer Fu= <br>tures=2E" PhiloSOPHIA 5, no=2E 2 (2015): 231-50=2E <br>Murphy, Michelle=2E "Distributed Reproduction, Chemical Violence, and= <br> Latency=2E" S&F Online=2E (2013) Accessed September 27, 2019=2E https://sfonline=2Ebarnard=2Eedu/life-un-ltd-feminism-bioscience-ra= <br>ce/distributed-reproduction-chemical-violence-and-latency/=2E <br>Fortun, Kim=2E "Ethnography in Late Industrialism=2E" Cultural A= <br>nthropology 27, no=2E 3 (2012): 446-64=2E <br>Lee, Robyn, and Roxanne Mykitiuk=2E "Surviving Difference: Endocrine-= <br>Disrupting Chemicals, Intergenerational Justice and the Future of Human Rep= <br>roduction=2E" Feminist Theory 19, no=2E 2 (August 1, 2018): 205-21=2E&= <br>nbsp; <br>Liboiron, Max, Manuel Tironi, and Nerea Calvillo=2E "Toxic Politics: = <br>Acting in a Permanently Polluted World=2E" Social Studies of Science 4= <br>8, no=2E 3 (June 1, 2018): 331-49=2E <br>Maran, Timo=2E Mimicry and Meaning: Structure and Semiotics of Biological = <br>Mimicry=2E Biosemiotics=2E Springer Int= <br>ernational Publishing, 2017=2E view formatted text
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