The New Metropolitan is please to share the following event which is being organised by the International Conference of Critical Geography (ICCG) ‘Precarious Radicalism On Shifting Grounds: Towards a Politics of Possibility’.

It takes place on 26-30 July 2015 in Ramallah, Palestine.

Deadline for Submissions: 20 December 2014 iccg2015.org

The sense of revolutionary times triggered by recent events such as the Greek revolts, the Indignados and Occupy movements, as well as the Arab uprisings and the Idle No More protests in Canada, has been gradually overshadowed by a wave of virulent and violent responses by both state and global powers. Although these and other struggles have captured our imagination, an anxious feeling of being in a permanent state of crisis seems to have taken over as we observe an increase in and normalization of socio-economic and spatial inequalities and political repression against the population.

This regression, which takes the form of a rise on authoritarianisms, revanchists’ responses, encroachment of fundamental rights, precarity of subsistence, social relations, employment, or the consolidation of populist right wing and fundamentalist movements, is to a large extent eclipsing and undermining the political space and fundamental work of individuals, communities and movements around the world. It certainly is a precarious time for radicalism. This grim landscape inevitably raises crucial questions about the current moment and its prospects. Are we witnessing and experiencing a fundamental historical shift? If so, how are we to interpret this transition? Or can these times be transformed into a moment of political possibility by reconsidering and/or expanding existing paradigms as well as by reconnecting solidarities and struggles?

The aim of the 7th International Conference of Critical Geography (ICCG 2015) is to provide an inclusive venue for the discussion of these and other themes that examine the geographies of critical social theory and progressive political praxis. Despite the significance of the issues at stake, we hope to create a fun, engaging and friendly atmosphere that welcomes a wide array of scholars, activists, artists, organizers and others interested in critical socio-spatial praxis.

The ICCG 2015 will be organized around nine main themes (see below) that connect to and expand the conference underlying subject, that is ‘Precarious Radicalism On Shifting Grounds: Towards a Politics of Possibility’. These main themes are:

1 | Imperial, Colonial, Postcolonial and Anti-colonial geographies

2 | Articulations and spaces of capitalism

3 | Migration, Mobility and Displacement

4 | Nature, Society and Environmental Change

5 | Mapping Bodies, Corporeality and Violence

6 | Critical “Development” Geographies: perspectives from the Global South

7 | Geography and matter / materiality

8 | Remaking Space through Ideology, Culture, and Arts

9 | Knowledge Production, Education and Epistemic Agendas

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

Field Trips

This edition capitalizes on the context by putting emphasis on fieldtrips that will build upon and further expand the conference themes through engagement with local articulations and actors, and opening the door to discussion of parallels and differences in other parts of the world. Excursions correspond to a third of the total program duration, whereby a repertoire of 6 routes and destinations will be available for participants to choose from in accordance to preferences. Details in this regard will be released in spring 2015.