“Crossing Boundaries in a Post-Ethnic Era – Interdisciplinary Approaches and Negotiations” MESEA Conference

Saarland University will host the 9th biennial MESEA conference (The Society for Multi-Ethnic Studies: Europe and the Americas) from May 29 to June 1, 2014. The topic of this year’s conference is: “Crossing Boundaries in a Post-Ethnic Era – Interdisciplinary Approaches and Negotiations.” Moving into the second decade of the twenty-first century, interdisciplinary border studies are still in need of new theoretical approaches that not only move beyond the “borderless” discourses of the post-Cold War era, but that also respond to the urgent need that was articulated in the late 1990s for a conceptualization of borders/boundaries as the sum of social, cultural, political, and economic processes. Following the 9/11 attack in the U.S., the reality of increased border securitization as part of the “war on terror” has undermined the neo-liberal rhetoric of the “borderless world.” At the same time, partly as a reaction to globalization and partly as a response to emerging regionalism and ethno‐regionalist movements, a number of states have set in motion a process of re‐scaling in which they have devolved part of their power in governance to supra‐state and sub‐state regions (cf. Paasi 2009). As a result of the above, the complex roles of borders and boundaries have become more relevant than ever, necessitating a reconceptualization that sees them as processes, discourses, practices, even symbols, through which power functions. This year’s special focus on border studies contributes to new discussions and networking over disciplines.

Keynote Speakers:

Anssi Paasi (University of Oulu, Finland)

José David Saldívar (Stanford University)

Mita Banerjee (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz)

Cherríe Moraga (Stanford U)

Celia H. Rodríguez (U of California, Berkeley)

Organized by

North American Literatures and Cultures at Saarland University

For questions, please contact Prof. Dr. Astrid M. Fellner at amerikanistik@mx.uni-saarland.de

This conference and other events at North American Literatures and Cultures