Conference

Languaging Diversity Conference (LD2025)

Marina Niceforo — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 07:03:24 +0000

Languaging Diversity Conference (LD2025) Marina Niceforo Tue, 07/15/2025 - 09:03

Category

Conference

Date

Wed, 12/03/2025 - Fri, 12/05/2025

Registration deadline

Sun, 10/12/2025 - 12:00

Call for papers ending on

Wed, 07/30/2025 - 12:00

Chieti and Pescara CH
Italy

Poster

We are pleased to share the 2nd Call for Papers for the 9th edition of the Languaging Diversity Conference (LD2025), which will take place on 3-5 December 2025 at the University of Chieti-Pescara, Italy (https://www.unich.it/progetti-ricerca/i-land-conference).

Please note that the deadline for abstract submission has been extended to 30 July 2025.

The theme of this year's conference is "Languaging Diversity and Identity in Digital Environments". LD2025 invites contributions that explore how language, literature and culture intersect in digital spaces, with a focus on identity formation, social belonging and exclusion online. The conference encourages both theoretical and empirical work from scholars in linguistics, literary studies, cultural studies, translation, audiovisual translation (AVT), and related disciplines.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
• Multilingualism and translanguaging in digital discourse
• Digital vernaculars and emerging linguistic practices
• Code-switching, slang, and online identity construction
• The impact of AVT on cultural representation in social media content
• Professional and non-professional AVT practices in online platforms
• Memes, GIFs, and the role of translation in digital culture
• Accessibility and inclusion in AVT for online audiences
• Literary representations of online identities
• Digital storytelling and multilingual narratives
• Fanfiction, social media poetry, and participatory literature
• Diversity and inclusion in digital media
• Language technology and techno-linguistic biases
• Translanguaging and identity formation in digital spaces
LD2025 welcomes both theoretical and empirical approaches, as well as interdisciplinary perspectives.

The conference welcomes individual presentations (20-minute talk + 10-minute Q&A) and panel proposals (4 to 8 participants). Abstracts (300-600 words, excluding references) should be submitted by 30 July 2025, following the instructions provided on the conference website (https://www.unich.it/progetti-ricerca/i-land-conference). Please note that the conference will be held exclusively in person.

Important dates:
- 15 July 2025 EXTENDED 30 July 2025: Abstract submission deadline
- 10 August 2025: Notification of acceptance
- 15 August 2025: Opening of early-bird registration
- 30 September 2025: Early-bird registration deadline
- 12 October 2025: Final registration deadline
- 3-5 December 2025: Conference dates

For full details and abstract submission, please visit the conference website https://www.unich.it/progetti-ricerca/i-land-conference

We look forward to seeing you at the conference in December!

Cfp Call for papers

2nd Call for Papers_Languaging Diversity 2025.pdf854.05 KB

Internet address

https://www.unich.it/progetti-ricerca/i-land-conference

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/ilandresearchcentre

CONGIST’26 - Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Crisis

iremissima — Sun, 01 Jun 2025 17:14:25 +0000

CONGIST’26 - Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Crisis Irem Atasoy Sun, 06/01/2025 - 19:14

Category

Conference

Date

Wed, 05/13/2026 - Fri, 05/15/2026

Registration deadline

Mon, 09/15/2025 - 12:00

Call for papers ending on

Mon, 09/15/2025 - 12:00

Istanbul/İstanbul
Turkey

Poster

CONGIST’26 - Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Crisis

Date: 13-15 May 2026

Venue: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Istanbul, Turkey

In the context of social sciences, crisis is broadly defined as a period of severe disruption or instability that challenges established structures, norms, or systems within societies. Crises can manifest in various forms—economic collapses, political upheavals, environmental disasters, technological shifts, wars, pandemics, climate or cultural conflicts. Historically, crises have always triggered societal change, which necessitate adaptation, reorganization, and innovation within communities. Throughout history, the impact of crises has been profound, shaping the trajectories of societies by prompting adaptation and transformation. Societies that fail to address crises effectively often face decline, while those that develop robust strategies can recover and evolve. Understanding crises within an interdisciplinary framework helps to reveal patterns, inform policies, and foster resilience in the face of contemporary and future challenges.

This international congress aims to explore the dynamics of crises from interdisciplinary perspectives. Potential themes for papers and panels include, but are not limited to:

Representations of Crises and Sustainability in Media, Cinema, and Art
The Crisis of Art Criticism
Aesthetic Reflections of the Crisis
Crisis in Performing Arts
Crisis, Sustainability, and Misinformation
Eco-Communication in Crises
War, Crisis, and Sustainability: The Impact of Conflict on Societal Continuity
Utopian and Dystopian Visions of Crisis and Sustainability
The Language of Crisis: Linguistic Perspectives
Eco-Linguistics and Sustainability
Discourse(s) of Crisis
Semiotics of Crisis
Multimodal Communication in Crisis Situations: Ecolinguistic and Ecosemiotic Perspectives
Ecocriticism, Ecofeminism, and the Climate Crisis: Literary Representations of Sustainability
Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Fiction: Crisis, Survival, and Sustainable Futures
Literary Depictions of Resource Scarcity and Environmental Collapse
The Evolution of Crisis-Related Vocabulary: Historical and Contemporary Linguistic Trends
Narratives of Crisis and Sustainability: Literary Responses to Environmental and Social Challenges
Language and Signs of Crisis

Congress Languages: English and Turkish

PUBLICATION OPPORTUNITIES

ABSTRACTS

Abstracts of the papers presented at the congress will be published in the book of abstracts with ISBN.

FULL TEXTS

Option 1: Selected papers presented at the congress will be considered for publication in peer-reviewed edited volumes of the Congist Book Series by Istanbul University Press. IU-Press is indexed in the Web of Science Book Citation Index (BKCI) and Directory of Open Access Books – (DOAB).

Option 2: Selected papers presented at the congress will be considered for publication in special issues of international peer-reviewed journals published by Istanbul University Press, which are indexed in the Web of Science Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) and Elsevier Scopus.

Submission of the Abstracts: Please submit your paper proposals (max. 1 DIN-A-Size, Times New Roman 12 point type, 2000 characters including spaces) online at https://eventedebiyat.istanbul.edu.tr/event/3/

IMPORTANT DATES

Abstract Submission Deadline: September 15, 2025

Congress Dates: May 13-15, 2026

Assoc. Prof. Irem ATASOY

Co-Chair of the Organizing Committee, CONGIST’26 - Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Crisis

Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters

congist@istanbul.edu.tr

Istanbul University
The University of Arizona

Contact person

Irem Atasoy

Contact person email address

irem.atasoy@istanbul.edu.tr

Internet address

https://congist.istanbul.edu.tr/en/_

26th Warwick International Conference in Applied Linguistics

waisumt — Sat, 29 Mar 2025 14:32:30 +0000

26th Warwick International Conference in Applied Linguistics Vincent Wai Sum Tse Sat, 03/29/2025 - 15:32

Category

Conference

Date

Tue, 06/17/2025 - Thu, 06/19/2025

Registration deadline

Tue, 06/10/2025 - 12:00

Call for papers ending on

Mon, 04/28/2025 - 12:00

Coventry
United Kingdom

The Call for Abstracts for the 26th Warwick International Conference in Applied Linguistics (WICAL) is now open.

This year’s Conference will be held in a hybrid mode, from 17th to 19th June 2025.

WICAL is the biggest student-led academic conference at University of Warwick, offering dialogic and inclusive spaces to foster research excellence across disciplines. Each year, WICAL hosts talks and practical workshops from renowned scholars and gives opportunities for undergraduates, postgraduates, and young scholars to showcase their research, receive valuable feedback, and network with peers and academics in the field. We encourage attendees to engage with academics from different disciplines, universities, and countries.

The theme of this year is Bridging Worlds. We provide interactive in-person as well as online spaces for all participants to reflect on how language fosters connection, marks distinction, and drives change in the following areas:

Discourse Analysis
Language Teaching and Learning
Intercultural Communication

We are confident in offering attendees:

Opportunities to receive feedback from leading scholars in their respective fields
Highly praised workshops to nurture and hone one’s research skills
A platform for true interdisciplinary dialogue that transcends the traditional boundaries of academic discourse

Submit your abstract today! Find out more at WICAL2025 or follow us on X and Facebook. We look forward to hearing about your exciting research projects.

Submission: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/al/research/conferences/wical/2025/submission_2025/
WICAL2025: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/al/research/conferences/wical/2025/

Best regards,

The WICAL 2025 Team

#WICAL2025

Dept. of Applied Linguistics

Institution

University of Warwick

Contact person

Yanyan Li

Contact person email address

Yanyan.Li@warwick.ac.uk

Internet address

https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/al/research/conferences/wical2025/

Twitter

https://x.com/warwickappling?s=11

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/warwickcal/

Critical studies of Power, Politics, and Governing

Tomas Mitander — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 14:31:32 +0000

Critical studies of Power, Politics, and Governing Tomas Mitander Mon, 03/24/2025 - 15:31

Category

Conference

Date

Thu, 08/21/2025 - Fri, 08/22/2025

Registration deadline

Sun, 06/08/2025 - 12:00

Karlstad
Sweden

The purpose of this symposium is to gather academics who share a sense of urgency and responsibility to study the practices and effects of contemporary manifestations of power, politics, and governing. The symposium is directed towards scholars broadly working with anti-foundationalist perspectives, such as – but not limited to – Discourse Theory, Governmentality Studies, Science and Technology Studies, and Assemblage Thinking.

This free-to-attend symposium is hosted by the PPG research group at Karlstad University. Together we seek to explore themes and questions related to knowledge interventions from anti-foundationalist perspectives. How do we contribute to relevant and impactful research in these times of turmoil? How do we develop and strengthen our conceptual and analytical repertoire? How do we protect and defend our normative and analytical foundations in academia?

The program includes a central keynote on this theme and three panels with invited speakers that will approach this topic from three broad empirical entry points: Space, Technology, and Marketization. Participants will also work in collaborative workshops to deepen the discussions further through collective work. In conjunction with the symposium, a PhD Course will be organized for a maximum of 10 participants.

When: 21-22 of August 2025, (23 of august if you also participate in the PhD course)

Where: Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden.

Cost: Both the symposium and the course are free of charge, including lunches, coffee and a dinner. Please note, however, that the number of places are limited.

Please follow the link for more information about both the symposium and the PhD course.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: WILLIAM WALTERS

William Walters is a Professor of Political Sociology, jointly appointed in the Departments of Political Science and Sociology & Anthropology at Carleton University, where he also served as the FPA Research Excellence Chair (2019–22). His academic background includes an undergraduate degree in chemistry from Imperial College London, followed by graduate studies in political science at City University of New York and York University, Toronto.

His research spans political sociology, political geography, citizenship studies, security and insecurity, and Foucault studies. Over the years, he has examined topics such as unemployment, supranational governance in Europe, migration, and, more recently, secrecy. A central theme in his work is the effort to denaturalize social experiences and categories, analyzing their intersections with various political dynamics.

Research Group on Power, Politics and Governing

Institution

Karlstad University

Contact person

Tomas Mitander

Contact person email address

tomas.mitander@kau.se

Telephone

0047547001980

Flyer

Flyer Symposium PPG.pdf127.89 KB

Internet address

https://sola.kau.se/ppg/critical-studies-of-power-politics-and-governing/

Call for Papers - Resisting the Backlash: Defending Intersectional, Decolonial, and Postcolonial Feminisms

camilaalves — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 11:18:41 +0000

Call for Papers - Resisting the Backlash: Defending Intersectional, Decolonial, and Postcolonial Feminisms Camila Nobrega Tue, 03/18/2025 - 12:18

Category

Conference

Date

Wed, 10/01/2025 - Thu, 10/02/2025

Registration deadline

Sun, 06/01/2025 - 12:00

Call for papers ending on

Mon, 03/31/2025 - 12:00

Dresden
Germany

Dear community from the Discourse Analysis.net,

This is an invitation as well to papers that delve into Discourse Analysis from Decolonial, Post-Colonial, Intersecctional and Queer perspectives.

The conference will be hosted at TU Dresden in October 2025. CFP deadline is on March 31st. Please find the detailed information below.

We are looking forward to your submission.

Kind regards (on behalf of the research team of the Push Backlash project at Tu Dresden).

Call for Papers - Resisting the Backlash: Defending Intersectional, Decolonial, and Postcolonial Feminisms

Event Dates: 01-02 October 2025 at TU Dresden, Germany

We invite submissions for an International Conference that will explore the growing backlash against gender, queer, intersectional, decolonial, and postcolonial studies. This event aims to critically examine the forces undermining these fields and to discuss strategies for countering these challenges in academic, activist, policy, journalistic, and public spheres. We are particularly interested in reflecting on ongoing resistance to anti-gender movements and engaging with strategies for reimagining democracy through the lenses of intersectional, decolonial, and postcolonial feminisms.

We welcome papers that address, but are not limited to, the following topics:

The nature and scope of the backlash against gender, queer, intersectional, decolonial, and postcolonial scholarship
The impact of this backlash on academic institutions, teaching, and public discourse
Intersectional responses to these challenges from marginalized communities and scholars
Concrete strategies for resistance and solidarity in the face of institutional and political pressures
The role of extractivism in the gender backlash scenario
Digital and non-digital forms of backlash
The role of international solidarity networks in reimagining democracy through gender lenses

Please submit an abstract (maximum 300 words) by 31 March 2025 to project.pushbacklash@tu-dresden.de. Successful applicants will be notified by 30 April 2025, and full papers will be due by 31 July 2025.

We look forward to your contributions to this important discussion.

Hosted by: The Chair in Political Theory and History of Ideas at the Technical University of Dresden, in the context of the EU-funded project Push*Back*Lash: Anti-Gender Backlash and Democratic Pushback (https://pushbacklash.eu/)

In cooperation with: The Equal Opportunities Office of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/der-bereich/chancengleichheit?set_language=en)

Chair in Political Theory and History of Ideas at the Technical University of Dresden, in the context of the EU-funded project Push*Back*Lash: Anti-Gender Backlash and Democratic Pushback (https://pushbacklash.eu/)

Institution

Chair in Political Theory and History of Ideas at the Technical University of Dresden

Contact person email address

project.pushbacklash@tu-dresden.de

Network

https://pushbacklash.eu/

Cfp Call for papers

CFP _Pushbacklash Conference TU Dresden.pdf81.24 KB

Internet address

https://pushbacklash.eu/

Extended reality and technology-enhanced language learning and communication

Ellen Patat — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 15:25:42 +0000

Extended reality and technology-enhanced language learning and communication Ellen Patat Thu, 02/13/2025 - 16:25

Category

Conference

Date

Wed, 07/16/2025 - Thu, 07/17/2025

Registration deadline

Fri, 06/06/2025 - 12:00

Call for papers ending on

Mon, 04/07/2025 - 12:00

Piazza Rosate 2
Bergamo
Italy

We are pleased to announce the Call for Papers for the Conference on Extended reality and technology-enhanced language learning and communication to be held July 16-17, 2025 at the University of Bergamo, Italy. The conference marks the end of the PRIN research project1 “Enhancing ESP Competence in Educational and Professional Contexts via Augmented Reality” (www.esp-xr.eu) and has been organized in collaboration with CERLIS (Centro di Ricerca sui Linguaggi Specialistici) and CLAVIER (Corpus and LAnguage Variation In English Research).

Institution

University of Bergamo

Contact person

Patrizia Anesa

Contact person email address

patrizia.anesa@unibg.it

Cfp Call for papers

PRIN-xr-cfp-2025.pdf146.17 KB

(FR)ACTUALITIES FRAGMENTS IN THE PRESENT TIME: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY REFLECTION ON LINGUISTICS, LITERATURE, IDENTITY, AND NARRATIVES OF MODERNITY

s.causa — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:29:44 +0000

(FR)ACTUALITIES FRAGMENTS IN THE PRESENT TIME: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY REFLECTION ON LINGUISTICS, LITERATURE, IDENTITY, AND NARRATIVES OF MODERNITY Simone Causa Wed, 02/12/2025 - 19:29

Category

Conference

Date

Mon, 12/01/2025 - Wed, 12/03/2025

Call for papers ending on

Tue, 04/15/2025 - 12:00

Sala Conferenze, Palazzo Corigliano, Piazza San Domenico Maggiore 12
80134 Naples NA
Italy

UNIVERSITY OF NAPLES L’ORIENTALE 

PhD PROGRAMME IN LITERARY, LINGUISTIC AND COMPARATIVE STUDIES

GRADUATE CONFERENCE 2025 

Naples, December 1st–3rd, 2025

(FR)ACTUALITIES
FRAGMENTS IN THE PRESENT TIME: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY REFLECTION ON LINGUISTICS, LITERATURE, IDENTITY, AND NARRATIVES OF MODERNITY

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

The dynamic relationship between modern times and fragmentation offers a way to explore connections between individuals and communities, specificity and universality, in today’s complex reality. The relationship between the contemporary and fragmentation can be observed from two perspectives: the fragment intended as a self-sufficient entity or as a part of a larger, more complex reality.

The first perspective aligns with the etymological dimension of the word ‘fragment’, encapsulating the notion of rupture, which characterizes both its genesis and its state of autonomy and/or isolation. As such, the fragment emerges from the collapse of the reality it reflects, emulating its debris (Blanchot 1980).

The second perspective suggests a constant dialectical relationship between fragments and their whole. Despite its partial nature, the fragment finds its meaning in relation to the context while maintaining a balance between independence and relationality. This duality reflects the human condition, where the desire for totality coexists with the recognition of life’s inherent incompleteness (Derrida 2014).

In contemporary society, these perspectives find varied expressions across an array of macro themes. Capitalist and neoliberal systems influence identities, shaping both individuals and collectives (Harvey 2005). Contemporary dynamics of fragmentation include privatization, individualism, marginalization, and the creation of "wasted lives" (Bauman 2004).

While the interconnectivity fostered by Web 2.0 has intensified globalization and positioned individual identities within layered networks that span geographical, digital, and literary spaces, the divide between digital and analogue grows increasingly blurred, resulting in an "onlife" reality where the online and offline merge inseparably (Floridi 2015).

The postmodern fragmentation of identity mirrors these contradictory forces. As algorithms push for coherent identity representations, reducing subjects into cohesive, commodifiable entities, the self remains inescapably fragmented and shaped by context (Fisher 2022). In this "age of fragmentation" (Lifton 1999), new reflections are being produced on the hybrid relationship between the human and non-human, nature and culture, emphasizing the agency of matter—even in its smallest, or toxic, or viral forms (Latour 2014).

In literature, fragmentation—whether conceived as a trace of lost unity or as a configuration of autonomous parts forming a new whole—responds to the complexity of contemporary reality, caught between disintegration and a desire for renewed connections. Fragmentation is featured both in contemporary prose, through the rejection of conventional narrative forms, and poetry, whose fragmentary nature uniquely articulates the ruptures of the present. Literary expressions of the fragment allow for representations and interpretations of increasingly fragmented identities in a time of challenges to their integrity and ability to produce meaning (Deleuze and Guattari 2013). In addition to reflecting a shattered world through fragments, the literary realm also proposes new ways of inhabiting and understanding it, balancing rupture with the potential for reconstruction. This implicit fragmentation may often become a deliberate structural choice.

The dismissal of unity – be it temporal, spatial, or narrative – can suggest a worldview that is both chaotic and unstable, signaling a break from hegemonic discourses or even offering readers a method to embrace the uncertainty of reality (Caracciolo 2022). Such dynamics are particularly evident – either internally or externally – in the spatial, temporal or cultural dislocation of texts through intralingual, interlingual, intrasemiotic, or intersemiotic translation practices (Dam, Brøgger, and Zethsen 2019).

As far as contemporary practices are concerned, fragments also interact with concepts of text and intertextuality, where each literary work exists in dialogue with others, enriched by traces and citations (Kristeva 2017, Genette 2014). In literature, texts, conceptualized as textus (Barthes 2002), represent a dense network of references—fragments that derive meaning relationally and pluralistically. Similarly, in linguistics, the fragment serves as a mosaic piece, elucidating complex links between texts and contexts. Many reflections on intertextuality, often regarded as a key criterion for defining textuality (de Beaugrande e Dressler 1981), have their roots in philology. This discipline, through its study of sources, has explored texts as repositories of collective memory.

The interaction of texts extends to multimodal communication, combining words, images, sounds, and digital-native resources (Jewitt 2014, Esposito and KhosraviNik 2023). Phenomena such as ‘remediation’ and intermediality weave traditional and digital media together (Bolter and Grusin 1999).

Morevoer, just like texts, words are produced by the continuous tensions that exist between lexical unity and the necessary fragmentation of their constituents, namely the discrete, productive combinatorial units that form minimal pairs of phonological segments and syntactic-semantic content (Jackendoff 2003, Haspelmath 2020). Word fragments combine to form new linguistic entities, such as neologisms (Pruvost and Sablayrolles 2019). Fragmentation is also intrinsic to linguistic repertoires, which are shaped by bilingualism, language varieties, and social identities (Eckert 1989, Burnett 2023, Appel and Muysken 2006).

The Department of Literary, Linguistic, and Comparative Studies at the University of Naples “L’Orientale” is happy to present the XIII Graduate Conference and invites contributions that explore how the postmodern subject—torn between individual identity and the necessity of forging relationships with the multifaceted sociocultural realities of the contemporary era navigates (or drifts on) the fragments of various dimensions of the present. Interdisciplinary approaches are encouraged within, but not limited to, the following thematic areas:

fragment as form/practice/strategy: contemporary narrative, poetry, and essays, diaristic, memorial, and epistolary literature, aphoristic writing, translation practices;

contemporary reworkings of the fragment: AI driven tools and automation, combinatory literature, hypertextual and digital literature, multimodality, intermediality;

fragmentation and identity: postcolonial literature, migration literature gender literature, postmodern literature, metamodern literature language variation and varieties, linguistic contact, multilingualism;

environmentalism and fragmentation: ecocriticism, ecopoetry, speculative fiction, the human–non-human relationship, ecolinguistics;

fragment as a unit of meaning: philology, iconotextuality, intertextuality, lexical creativity, lexicology, phonological, morphosyntactic, and semantic fragments.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Submission should include:

Author(s) name(s), affiliation(s), and contact information

Title of the presentation

Abstract using APA style for references (400 words, excluding references)

A short essential bibliography (max. 10 titles)

Short bio-note (100 words)

Proposals should be submitted in PDF format to gradconf2025.unior@gmail.com by April 15, 2025. The file name should follow this format: Surname_Name_gc25.pdf. Presentations should last no longer than 20 minutes.
Acceptance notifications will be sent by May 15, 2025. Selected papers will be considered for publication. Presentations may be delivered in Italian or English.

IMPORTANT DATES

Abstract submission deadline: April 15, 2025

Notification of acceptance: May 15, 2025

Graduate conference: December 1–3, 2025

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Jolanda Balzano, Simone Causa, Rita Cesaro, Pasquale Concilio, Carmela Esposito, Gesjana Halili, Chiara Iovene, Maria Grazia Massimo, Cristina Resmini, Matilde Soliani, Zongyuan Wang, Gaia Zaccaro

Institution

University of Naples "L'Orientale"

Contact person email address

gradconf2025.unior@gmail.com

Cfp Call for papers

CFP GC2025 def.pdf386.79 KB

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/gclorientale

Call for contributions to DNC6 panel - "Rethinking (de)politicisation: going beyond a moralistic research agenda"

ThomasJacobs — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 17:26:11 +0000

Call for contributions to DNC6 panel - "Rethinking (de)politicisation: going beyond a moralistic research agenda" Thomas Jacobs Wed, 02/12/2025 - 18:26

Category

Conference

Date

Mon, 07/07/2025 - Thu, 07/10/2025

Registration deadline

Wed, 04/30/2025 - 12:00

Call for papers ending on

Fri, 02/28/2025 - 12:00

Brussels
Belgium

This call for papers solicits contributions to a panel entitled 'Rethinking (de)politicisation: going beyond a moralistic research agenda', which will take place at DNC6 in Brussels from the 7th until the 10th of July. If you are interested in contributing to this panel, please submit your abstract directly on the DNC6 website and contact the panel organisers.

Rethinking (de)politicisation: going beyond a moralistic research agenda

The concepts of politicisation and depoliticisation are employed in different fashions across diverse literatures (e.g. Comby, 2015; Pepermans & Maeseele, 2017; Němcová, 2024; Weitkamp et al., 2024), making their definition complex and contested. Across this wide variety of theoretical approaches, a common denominator is the moralization of (de)politicisation - it is often argued that (de)politicisation is inherently a good or a bad thing for society. Progressive thinkers such as Chantal Mouffe (2018) may for instance see politicisation as intrinsically positive as it promotes social change, while conservative politicians such as John Major and Nick Clegg (2020) have construed the stabilising force of depoliticisation as something fundamentally positive. This paper critiques this moralistic tendency in the scientific literature, arguing that it essentializes (de)politicisation and overestimates the importance of moralization as a discursive strategy – disregarding other strategies such as rationalisation, authorisation, normalisation and so on (Van Leeuwen, 2007; Kryzanowski, 2022). The extant literature often reduces (de)politicisation to a single moralized effect, overlooking its complexity and underestimating the diverse consequences to which it may give rise.

Instead of a moral perspective, this panel advocates for a strategic understanding of (de)politicisation (Jacobs 2022). This approach conceptualizes (de)politicisation as describing the political effects and outcomes, both intended and unintended, of discursive strategies . The goal of such an approach is to map these diverse consequences and understand the interactions of the discursive strategies that gave rise to them. By considering (de)politicisation as strategic tools, we can analyse their effects and interactions in all their complexity without being limited by a focus on moral judgments.

To illustrate the value of this strategic perspective, we examine two empirical cases: the imaginaries (Taylor, 2004; Browne & Diehl, 2019) of climate change among youth activists and the public health measures put in place during the COVID-19 crisis. These cases demonstrate that all (de)politicisation has complex political consequences, highlighting the need for a nuanced, strategic analysis that complements and thus moves beyond moral evaluations. Ultimately, this panel seeks to refine(de)politicisation as analytical tools, demonstrating their potential to provide fresh insights into political change from a discourse-analytic point of view.

This panel currently comprises a theoretical contribution as well as the two empirical case studies outlined above. It invites both theoretical contributions focusing on the analytical limits of a moralistic approach and the advantages of a strategic approach to (de)politicisation, as well as empirical examples exploring these themes. A wide variety of discourse-analytic traditions, including but not limited to CDA, pragmatics, Discourse Theory, SKAD, and Discursive Psychology, are welcomed.

Thomas Jacobs, Kelly Vossen, Lydie Denis

Institution

UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles

Contact person

Thomas Jacobs

Contact person email address

thomas.jacobs@uclouvain.be

Colloque - Discours de réaction : répertoires nationaux et transnationaux

Jan Zienkowski — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 16:48:22 +0000

Colloque - Discours de réaction : répertoires nationaux et transnationaux Jan Zienkowski Wed, 02/05/2025 - 17:57

Category

Conference

Date

Mon, 09/08/2025 - Tue, 09/09/2025

Call for papers ending on

Mon, 04/28/2025 - 12:00

Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
1050 Brussels
Belgium

Conference: Discourse of reaction: national and transnational repertoires

Université libre de Bruxelles, September 8-9, 2025

The rise of conservative, radical and far-right discourse in the Western world is increasingly drawing the attention of researchers in the humanities and social sciences. According to Albert Hirschman’s pioneering work (1991), “reactionary rhetoric” has historically unfolded in three major waves: reaction against human rights, reaction against universal suffrage, and, finally, reaction against the welfare state. Today, however, reactionary rhetoric seems to be targeting social rights movements—feminist, environmentalist, anti-racist movements, or, more broadly, movements perceived, rightly or wrongly, as progressive. These observations suggest that the study of reactionary discourse needs to be revised and updated.

Most contemporary studies of reactionary movements have focused on right-wing or ethno-nationalist organisations, for example “the populist right” (Traverso 2019), “the reactionary right”, “national populist movements” (Camus & Lebourg 2017), “far-right 2.0” (Forti 2021), “radical right-wing populist”, “far-right” parties (Mudde 2019; Mudde & Kaltwasser 2013), “right-wing populisms” (Mouffe 2018), and “reactionary populism” (Fraser 2017). This research focuses primarily on the European and the American contexts, but more recently also Latin America (Goldstein 2022, Stefanoni 2022, Bolcatto & Soroujon 2020, Zanotti & Roberts 2021, Morresi, Saferstein & Vicente 2022, Cassimiro & Lynch 2022, Semán 2023, Sanahuja & Stefanoni 2023, Demuru 2024).

However, we observe that for some time now, reactionary discursive formations have spread beyond the far-right, nationalistic rhetoric, and have done so in the form of “discursive nodes” (Krieg-Planque 2010) i.e., tropes availablewithin social discourse. Speakers “pick and choose” individual elements without necessarily adhering to a full reactionary repertoire, thereby generating hybrid discourses. Furthermore, the generalisation of these tropes, detached as they are from their natural environment, are evidence of their acceptability.

The second observation concerns the circulation of this discursive formation across multiple linguistic regions, focusing on transfers between Europe, North America, and Latin America—regions that share common political traditions, yet different democratic cultures, and development markers. This multilingual circulation does not occur as a stable discursive repertoire but rather as ideologemes: underlying units of meaning within statements that belong to the same thematic field (Angenot 1977). For instance, the lexemes wokisme/woke in French and progresismo/zurdo in Spanish are not linguistic equivalents but share the same semantic components in discourse. They refer to the same political imaginary and fulfil the same social function—appropriating concepts from other ideological sectors, delegitimising political opponents, or constructing polarisation in social debates. As these concepts travel between cultural regions, they reflect a normalised anti-progressive imaginary embedded in both classic and innovative forms of reactionary discourse. While there is extensive research on the transnational circulation of political concepts, this conference aims to document the specific moment in social discourse (Angenot 1995) when reactionary discursive formations spread and even become hegemonic across multiple cultural areas. This process highlights the existence of highly flexible political imaginaries capable of adapting to diverse contexts.

This call for communications is situated within two bodies of literature: the study of reactionary rhetoric, initiated by Albert Hirschman (1991; Sternhell 2006; Durand & Syndaco 2015; Shorten 2022; Traverso 2017; Forti 2021; Stefanoni 2022), and the study of the circulation of ideas and concepts (Koselleck 1982, Passard 2024, Skinner 1969).

The conference’s primary goal is to examine the contemporary circulation of reactionary discursive formations (Foucault 1969:141) between Europe and Latin America. The specific objectives are as follows:

Establish a repertoire of arguments, lexicons, and phraseologies within this discursive formation, whether in national or transnational contexts, focusing on the circulation of specific lexemes (wokisme, cancel culture, batalla cultural, casta).
Identify paradigms such as the lexical field of totalitarianism (feminazi, ayatollahs de l’écologie, dictature nazitaire, dictadura de la corrección política, terrorismo feminista, ecoterrorismo, feminismo totalitario), hypocrisy and duplicity (gauche caviar, communists, gauchiste, progres), or the conspiratorial imaginary attacking cosmopolitanism, multiculturalism, and globalization (grand remplacement, agenda 2030).
Explore interdiscursive relations with other social discourses: leftist discourses, traditional right-wing discourses, human rights rhetoric, scientific or anti-scientific discourses.
Investigate the social spaces where transfers and circulations occur between different regions (party congresses, media, social networks, publishing houses) and the trajectories of the actors involved.
Understand the conditions which enable the circulation of these discourses and reactionary imaginaries (the crisis of representative democracy, the role of influencers in radio and social media, media ownership).
Map the enunciators who carry this discursive formation in terms of their ideological diversity and hybridity (far-right, conservative or liberal right, libertarians, republican universalists).

The conference seeks to examine reactionary discursive formations in both political and everyday discourse, at national and transnational levels, drawing from multiple disciplines: discourse analysis, information and communication sciences, political science, sociology, and the history of ideas. We welcome submission from both national and comparative perspectives, using monolingual or multilingual corpora. Papers can be written in French, English or Spanish.

Submission of proposals

We welcome abstracts of up to 500 words, with bibliographical references at the end. Abstracts can be sent to discoursreac@gmail.com

Deadline: April 28, 2025

Laura Calabrese (ULB
Frédéric Louault (ULB)
Sol Montero (UNSAM, Argentine)
Laurye Joncret (ULB)
Micaela Baldoni (Connect)

Institution

Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB

Contact person

Laura Calabrese

Contact person email address

discoursreac@gmail.com

Online Conference “The Language of Psychotherapy: An Interdisciplinary Perspective”

LarsDaenzer — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 08:38:25 +0000

Online Conference “The Language of Psychotherapy: An Interdisciplinary Perspective” Lars Dänzer Tue, 02/04/2025 - 09:38

Category

Conference

Date

Thu, 05/08/2025 - Fri, 05/09/2025

Call for papers ending on

Fri, 02/28/2025 - 12:00

The research project "The Therapeutic Game" (PI Stefan Rinner) funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation and based at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Duisburg-Essen is organising an interdisciplinary two-day online conference on questions regarding language and its use in psychotherapeutic settings, to be held via Zoom on May 8 and 9 2025. Our goal is to bring together researchers interested in this topic from different fields, including philosophy, linguistics, psychology, psychiatry, communication studies, and sociology.

The conference programme is now available here: https://the-therapeutic-game.webnode.page/conference/

To register please write an email with the subject “registration” to language.of.psychotherapy@gmail.com – you will receive an automated email with all required information, inlcuding the zoom login

Research Project “The Therapeutic Game”

Institution

University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany

Contact person

Stefan Rinner

Contact person email address

stefan.rinner@uni-due.de

Internet address

https://the-therapeutic-game.webnode.page/conference/