The 2016 Annual SOYUZ Symposium
Politics of Difference: Migration, Nation, Postsocialist Left and Right
Franke Institute for the Humanities
University of Chicago
March 11-12, 2016
The Soyuz Research Network for Postsocialist Cultural Studies is an interdisciplinary forum for exchanging work based on field research in postsocialist countries, ranging from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union to Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Soyuz is an interest group in the American Anthropological Association (AAA) and an official unit of the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES). The Soyuz symposium has met annually since 1991 and offers an opportunity for scholars to interact in a more personal setting. More information on the Soyuz Research Network can be found at their website.
The SOYUZ theme this year gains immediacy and poignancy from the migration and refugee crisis in Europe in Autumn 2015. While some leaders repudiate migrants from points east by calling for a “Christian” Europe, others welcome them as a Christian gesture. Such differences are not new to postsocialism. Religion, out-migration, borders, nationality have been flash points repeatedly. The conference will examine these and other forms of difference-making within and across contemporary postsocialist contexts. Economic globalization and the integration of eastern Europe into the European Union have provided the context for postsocialist transformation. Yet, such projects of integration have encouraged new articulations of difference and reframed old ones: Minorities, diasporas, east-west relations, techno-environmental differences and border-disputes. Neo-nationalist groups rail against in-migrants and minorities at the same time as nation-branding projects posit national distinctiveness as a lure for foreign investment and tourism. Narratives of “culture wars” vilifying differences of sexual orientation and life-style have erupted, opposing conservative religious and political groups to the purportedly cosmopolitan values of “the West.” New xenophobias and homophobias compete with discourses of tolerance, each staking claims to what constitutes belonging and civilization. Deep discontent over waves of neoliberalization, austerity, corruption and kleptocracies have reconfigured economic polarization as political difference, with Left and Right both taking on new valences within an increasingly agitated political spectrum.
This event is free and open to the public. Persons with disabilities who may need assistance should contact CEERES in advance of the program at 773-702-0866.
Please register for the conference here.
Conference Sponsors:
Soyuz: The Research Network for Postsocialist Cultural Studies
Center for International Studies
Center East European and Russian/Eurasian Studies
Lichtstern Fund/Department of Anthropology
Franke Institute for the Humanities
Banner Photograph: “Vienna Police Vs Refugees” by Josh Zakary licensed under CC BY 2.0