On 19-20 November, 2009, Politics at Newcastle University hosted the second annual World Politics and Popular Culture conference. The event was an overwhelming success by all accounts. There were more than 14 panels, 60 delegates, 40 paper presenters, and two keynote addresses. Participants came from far and wide: North America and the Middle East as well as from across the UK and continental Europe. More importantly, it was great to see people from other disciplines within Newcastle University (e.g., English, Media Studies, Sociology, and Geography) lending their support and participating.
Given the diversity on hand, there was a remarkable intellectual energy throughout the event. There was a great mix of world-leading and emerging experts whose research combined theoretical sophistication, methodological innovation, and empirical novelty. Therefore, the quality of the papers presented and the levels of audience engagement--in the form of fair but challenging questions--was tremendous.
Highlights of the two days for me included:
- chairing a session called 'Bodies at Rest and at Play' which examined cultures of rest and relaxation. Outstanding papers wre delivered by Debbie Lisle (on the biopolitics of leisure), Elisa Wynne-Hughes (travel guide discourses and the construction of danger), and Zuzana Kepplova (the politics of the clubbing body).
- the keynote address by Prof. Michael J. Shapiro entitled 'Geophilosophy, Aesthetics and the City'. I'm not going to do his intricate argument justice here but his paper--soon to be a published as a part of a larger book project--demonstrated how artifacts of popular culture such as Charles Dickens' novels or films like 'Devil in a Blue Dress' are better able to reveal the power dynamics underpinning the political life of urban centres than much of the social science literature that has been written on the subject. Listening to such a tightly constructed argument which cogently drew upon a remarkable breadth of contemporary social and literary theory--man there is so much that I need to read!--was both an intellectually inspiring and professionally humbling experience.
- attending a panel as an audience member with two of the leading scholars in the area of politics and popular music--Marianne Franklin and John Street. Any panel that is able to bring together discussions of John Cage, Chuck D, Rock Against Racism, and the cultural economy of sampling, is an intellectually vibrant time as far as I am concerned!
- hearing Beth Davies-Stofka challenging but clinical dismantling of the argument that today's comic heroes like Superman, Batman, or Spider are our mythological gods--similar to say the role that Zeus, Athena, or Hercules played for the Greeks. What was most interesting about the paper--and what makes me believe that it ought to be required reading for anyone who fancies themselves a political theorist of any type--was the message that we can still find meaning and engage in ethical praxis despite the void created by the collective deaths of various logos--god, science, human reason--within modernity.
- chairing a final session on political cartooning where David Mutimer, Chris Aguis, and Ofer Berestein--from a range of perspectives--offered innovative and interesting analyses of the role played by cartooning in contemporary political life. At the same time, they also offering insights into how cartooning may, in part, constitute a form of political theory that contributes to the construction of common sense. As the chair, I was also really impressed with the vitality that the audience brought to the discussion session after a long two days. This says volumes about the quality of the papers.
P.S. David Mutimer has offered to host next year's conference at York University in Toronto, Canada. Check out these pages for more details as they become available...
Image credit: david spigolon
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