Barbara Laubenthal and John Hoberman, Department of Germanic Studies, The University of Texas at Austin

Time: 16.-17.04.2020
Venue: Department of Germanic Studies, UT Austin
Poroposals by: 21.12.2019

In recent years a growing number of research from the humanities and social sciences has become interested in the human body. Despite different perspectives and research interests, this research shares the assumption that the human body is much more than a biological object. It focuses on the social, political and cultural dimensions of the human body. The interest of the various disciplines in the body ranges from analyzing it as an aesthetic site, viewing it as a cultural object, seeing it a place of power and resistance, or defining the body as a site that reflects the social constructions of differences. Overall, a broad and exciting research field has emerged.

The workshops aims at contributing to this research field by discussing themes, theoretical approaches and empirical questions that emerge when the relation between the human body and immigration is put into focus. Geographically it focuses on Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Scandinavia, and the Netherlands, although we also welcome relevant contributions on other European countries. Thematically we are interested in contributions on the following topics:

• Violence, death and the migrant body (for example the politicization of immigrant corpses; the death of migrants as a result of immigration control policies but also corporeal strategies of resistance against restrictive immigration policies; uses of the body as a tool of protest)
• Sports and immigration (for example sportive nationalism and the immigrant sports star; right-wing resistance to the racial/ethnic integration of the national team) Read more and source … (Web)