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Call for papers
DIASPORA AND THE CITY:
MEMORY, EMOTION AND BELONGING
Annual Conference of the Association of American Geographers
Boston, Massachusetts
April 15–19, 2008
Organizers: Alison
Blunt, Jayani Bonnerjee, Noah
Hysler-Rubin and Shompa Lahiri,
Queen Mary, University of London
Although ideas and lived experiences of
diasporas are intrinsically transnational, a wide range
of research invokes the nation through material and
imaginative connections to a past, present, or imagined
‘homeland.’ Other research focuses on the
city primarily as a site of diasporic resettlement.
Drawing on historical and contemporary research, the
session will focus on the city as a distinctive location
within ‘diaspora space’ (Brah, 1996) and
will address the ways in which the city, as a place
of origin and resettlement, is a site of diasporic memory,
emotion and belonging. Through its focus on urban diasporas
and the importance of the city in fostering diasporic
imaginations and experiences, the session will extend
debates about transnational and postcolonial urbanism,
cosmopolitan cities and urban memory.
Key themes include:
- the emotional, embodied and sensory geographies
of cities in diaspora
- diasporic tales of the city through life stories,
cultural practices and representations
- cities as sites of diasporic origin and resettlement
- urban modernities, cosmopolitanism and consumption
in diaspora
- public and private spaces of diasporic urbanism
- familial attachments across cities and diasporas
- comparative studies of cities and diasporas
- diasporic memories, imaginings and experiences
of the city
Please send abstracts of up to 250 words
to Alison Blunt, Queen Mary, University of London (A.Blunt@qmul.ac.uk)
by Wednesday 17 October.
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