Racism and Anti-Racism through Education and Community Practice: An International Exchange

Call for Papers

Racism and Anti-Racism through Education and Community Practice: An International Exchange
26th—28th June 2013
Centre for Education for Racial Equality in Scotland, University of Edinburgh, UK

This international conference aims to put ‘race’ back on the agenda in education and community theory and practice. Over recent years, practitioners and academics interested in the operations of ‘race’, racism and anti-racism have had to negotiate various disabiling discourses in policy, politics and practice. From the backlash against 'failed' multiculturalism in Europe, to the marginalisation of ‘race’ in inclusive education to a shift in preference for discussing culture and ethnicity rather than racism, it seems that ‘race’ and ‘challenging racism’ has been silenced from broader discussions about educational inclusion and social justice.

This conference aims to bring together academics, policy makers and practitioners from around the globe to critically debate and share practice experiences about ‘race’, racism and anti-racism in different national contexts.

Conference streams

Stream 1: Teacher education and liberatory pedagogies
Are teacher education programmes ‘fit for purpose’ for an increasingly super diverse pupil population? What is the pedagogic position on ‘race’ related matters? This stream seeks contributions from those engaged in research and/or delivery in teacher education programmes who have sought to disinvest from any pedagogy of silence or containment on ‘race’. This stream is particularly interested in exploring how liberatory and critical pedagogic approaches have been used in mainstream curricula within teacher education programmes.

Stream 2: Anti-racist community activism
As mainstream politicians in Europe and the United States have shifted to the right on issues about ‘race’, multiculturalism and diversity, this appears to have legitimized and emboldened xenophobic and nativist far-right groups. This stream explores how local groups are organising for anti-racism and against racism. This stream seeks traditional academic papers and activist narratives about theorising and practicing anti-racism at the grassroots.

Stream 3: Recognising and dismantling everyday racism
Understanding and combating ‘everyday racism’ is not necessarily about directly confronting racists but naming and recognising the lived experiences of racial oppression and displacing the subtle cues of racism that are interwoven into routine and ordinary meanings and practices in our social world. This stream seeks contributions from educators and community practitioners who have sought to integrate the idea of everyday racism into their teaching and practice and develop strategies for creating anti-racist social and educational spaces.

Stream 4: Language, power and identity
The increasing number of children and young people in schools who inhabit multilingual worlds has given rise to the notion of multiple identities. These fluid and transformative
identities, which are socially and culturally constructed, problematise traditional constructs of 'race'. At the same time the terminology of 'race' and ‘racism’ informs our understandings of structural inequalities and academic underachievement in schools. This stream seeks papers that examine the different and overlapping discourses in education which surround learners with English as an additional language.

Stream 5: Constructing new ‘race’ theories
How helpful is foregrounding or privileging ‘race’ over other social identities and experiences? This stream seeks to explore the status of ‘race’ in relation to recent theoretical developments such as intersectionality and explore the tensions and dilemmas of considering ‘race’ in isolation or in concert with class, gender, disability, sexuality, ethnicity and religion.

Keynote Speakers
Wednesday, 26th June
Gary Younge, Columnist for The Guardian and The Nation

Thursday, 27th June
Professor David Gillborn, Institute of Education, University of London, UK

Friday, 28th June
Professor Philomena Essed, Antioch University, USA

Professor Geri Smyth, University of Strathclyde, UK

Abstract Submission
Abstracts of no more than 300 words should be emailed to CERESConference2013@ed.ac.uk by Monday 24th September 2012. When sending the abstract please state the title of proposed paper, author(s’) name(s), affiliation, full contact details and specify for which stream you would like your abstract considered. You will be informed by Monday 5th November 2012 whether your paper has been selected for the conference.

Registration Fees
£225 for three-day conference delegate, includes evening drinks reception on 26th June, lunch and refreshments

£150 for day delegate, includes lunch and refreshments

Please note that delegates are responsible for organising their own accommodation.

For further information, including the full conference programme and hotel accommodation, please visit www.ceres.education.ed.ac.uk or contact the conference organisers at CERESConference2013@ed.ac.uk.