*apologies for cross-posting *
This might be of interest for some list members.
Best,
Alice
Call for short papers for the "*Sub-theme 58: Organizational Practices of
Social Movements: The Power of Organizing from Below" *of the upcoming 32nd
EGOS Colloquium in Naples, Italy, July 7-9, 2016.
Convenors: Maria Ceci Misoczky (maria.ceci@??? <%20maria.ceci@???>);
Steffen Böhm (steffen@??? <%20steffen@???>); Guilherme
Dornelas Camara (guilherme.dornelas@???
<%20guilherme.dornelas@???>)
The study of social movements in the field of Organization Studies (OS) has
been largely influenced by theories constructed to analyze business
organizations and their interactions with formal and informal social
movement organizations. In this way, OS has remained relatively blind to
the processes of organizing and the knowledge produced in the
organizational practices from below.
These organizational practices from below are usually hidden from the view
of hegemonic structuralist management and organization knowledge: popular
struggles, anti-corporative movements, occupy events, self-organized
workers cooperatives, community groups, indigenous people
resistances/struggles, peasant organizations, to name but a few (Misoczky &
Moraes, 2011). There is also a North-South dimension that is important to
consider: as OS is still dominated by Western/Northern perspectives,
organizational practices from the South/East tend to be ignored or
marginalized.
The intention of this stream is to fill this gap and, in accordance with
Dunayevskaya (1982), to make the movement from practice to theory. For her,
the practice from below is itself a form of theory. In the same way, Rauber
(2004) defends the need of articulating two dimensions of critical
reflexive thought: the knowledge that is theoretically elaborated and the
knowledge that emerges from below and remains, most of the time, restrained
to the practices and spaces of struggle.
In previous streams organized for CMS and LAEMOS, we focused on the
critique of hegemonic and exploitative organizational practices and over 60
presenters put forward a critique of dominant power regimes. With this EGOS
sub-theme, we are specifically interested in the political organization of
grassroots struggles and resistances against these hegemonic power regimes.
In our view, it is vitally important for OS to see and engage with these
organizational practices, as otherwise our field would contribute to the
reproduction of existing power regimes, rather than analyzing and
disseminating those practices of hope that challenge dominant frames of
organizational analysis.
We encourage submissions that address the power of organizing from below.
We particularly invite – but do by no means restrict submissions to –
manuscripts on one or several of the following topics:
- The analysis of social movements and popular struggles, exploring the
theoretical issues that are embedded in their practices
- Theoretical dialogues with the knowledge produced by activists in
their organizational processes
- The organizational significance of ephemeral movements and/or events
- Analysis of the practices of alternative (that is, non-hegemonic)
organizations and their resistances/struggles in both South and North
- Critical discussion and reflection on what constitutes 'alternatives'
and what organizational practices from below can be seen as contributing to
the reproduction of existing regimes of power;
- The dialectics of organization in its multiple contradictions such as
spontaneity/organization, autonomy/demands to the state,
horizontality/hierarchies, leadership/leading by obeying, critical
strategic reasoning/refusal of strategic reasoning
- Organizational practices as experiments of prefigurative politics
- Meanings and limits of self-organization practices
- The organizational dimension in occupying events
- Methodologies for studying social struggles and their limits
*References*
- Dunayevskaya, R. (1982): *Marxism and Freedom: From 1976 until
Today.* Amherst,
NJ: Humanities Press.
- Misoczky, M.C., & Moraes, J. (2011): *Práticas organizacionais em
escolas de movimentos sociais.* Porto Alegre, RS: Dacasa.
- Rauber, I. (2004): "La transformación social en el siglo XXI: camino
de reformas o de revolución." *Pasado y Presente,* 21, 1–26.
*Deadline for submission of short papers:* *January 11, 2016, 23:59:59 CET.*
*Short papers* should focus on the main ideas of the paper, i.e. they
should explain the purpose of the paper, theoretical background, the
research gap that is addressed, the approach taken, the methods of analysis
(in empirical papers), main findings, and contributions. In addition, it is
useful to indicate clearly how the paper links with the sub-theme and the
overall theme of the Colloquium, although not all papers need to focus on
the overall theme. Creativity, innovativeness, theoretical grounding, and
critical thinking are typical characteristics of EGOS papers. Your short
paper *should comprise 3,000 words* (inc. references, all appendices and
other material).
If you intend to submit a short paper, please *first* take a look at
the Guidelines
and criteria for the submission of short papers at EGOS Colloquia
<
http://www.egosnet.org/jart/prj3/egos/data/uploads/General%20EGOS%20descriptions/EGOS-Colloquia_Submission-of-SHORT-PAPERS_2016.pdf>
.
More information:
http://www.egosnet.org/2016_naples/general_theme
--
Alice Mattoni
Assistant Professor
Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences
Scuola Normale Superiore
www.alicemattoni.com
