Eurograd message

                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 &quot;AnthroTox=2E Combining =
<br>anthropology and toxicology to study global toxicants&quot;
<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 &quot;medicalised understandings of the =
<br>body and normative gender identities&quot; (Lee &amp; 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 &quot;late industrialism&quot; (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 &quot;imitation without origin&quot; and &quot;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 &quot;normal body&quot; (Agard-Jones 2013; Davis 20=
<br>15)=2E&nbsp;
<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 &quot;chemical infrastr=
<br>uctures&quot; 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 &amp; 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;&nbsp;
<br>
<br>Against this background, we would like to highlight the following topics a=
<br>nd questions:
<br>1)&nbsp; How can we know hormone mimicking substances? What are the variou=
<br>s forms of knowledges (artistic, activist, scientific, etc=2E)&nbsp; 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?&nbsp; 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 &quot;AnthroTox=2E Combining anthropology and toxi=
<br>cology to study global toxicants&quot;=2E
<br>
<br>&nbsp;
<br>
<br>Bibliography:
<br>&nbsp;
<br>Agard-Jones, Vanessa=2E &quot;Bodies in the System=2E&quot; 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 &quot;Toxic Sexes-Perverting Pollution =
<br>and Queering Hormone Disruption=2E&quot; O-Zone: A Journal of Object Orient=
<br>ed Studies 1 (2013)=2E&nbsp;
<br>Bhabha, Homi=2E &quot;Of Mimicry and Man: The Ambivalence of Colonial Disc=
<br>ourse=2E&quot; October 28 (1984): 125-33=2E&nbsp;&nbsp;
<br>Butler, Judith=2E Gender Trouble=2E 1st ed=2E New York: Routledge, 2006=2E=
<br>
<br>Davis, Heather=2E &quot;Toxic Progeny: The Plastisphere and Other Queer Fu=
<br>tures=2E&quot; PhiloSOPHIA 5, no=2E 2 (2015): 231-50=2E
<br>Murphy, Michelle=2E &quot;Distributed Reproduction, Chemical Violence, and=
<br> Latency=2E&quot; S&amp;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 &quot;Ethnography in Late Industrialism=2E&quot; Cultural A=
<br>nthropology 27, no=2E 3 (2012): 446-64=2E&nbsp;
<br>Lee, Robyn, and Roxanne Mykitiuk=2E &quot;Surviving Difference: Endocrine-=
<br>Disrupting Chemicals, Intergenerational Justice and the Future of Human Rep=
<br>roduction=2E&quot; Feminist Theory 19, no=2E 2 (August 1, 2018): 205-21=2E&=
<br>nbsp;
<br>Liboiron, Max, Manuel Tironi, and Nerea Calvillo=2E &quot;Toxic Politics: =
<br>Acting in a Permanently Polluted World=2E&quot; Social Studies of Science 4=
<br>8, no=2E 3 (June 1, 2018): 331-49=2E&nbsp;
<br>Maran, Timo=2E Mimicry and Meaning: Structure and Semiotics of Biological =
<br>Mimicry=2E Biosemiotics=2E Springer Int=
<br>ernational Publishing, 2017=2E&nbsp;