Helsingborg, Sweden, 30-31 May 2023
Incarceration and immobility can have a profound impact on individuals, families, and communities. For those who are incarcerated, the experience can be traumatic and isolating, leading to mental health issues, social stigma, and a decreased likelihood of successful reintegration into society. Similarly, those who are immobilized due to restrictive immigration policies or exploitative labour practices may experience social isolation, loss of income and job security, and a decreased sense of agency and self-determination.
Rather than a strict focus on physical borders as legal institutions, this workshop offers a unique vantage point from which to analyse current transformations in society. The importance of analysing such transformations concerns common perceptions of the “bordering” perspective, which is embedded in what James Scott (2015) calls "the everyday construction of borders" through geo-political changes, media representations, political discourses and institutional practices.
The Nordic countries have often been praised for their progressive social policies and justice systems. However, despite these advancements, issues related to incarceration, detention, and exploitation still persist in the region. This workshop aims to provide a platform for researchers to discuss and critically examine various forms of incarceration and immobility in the Nordic countries.
Programme: Reimagining Incarceration and Immobility in Nordic Countries.
5-7 June 2023, Oslo
The latest reports from IPCC have made the world aware of the gravity of a global ecological crisis. Hence, we are also made aware of a cultural, political, and civilizational crisis reaching behind and beyond questions of ecology. The crisis is global, and yet it, in our specific context, it uncovers a deep ambivalence in the Nordic relation to nature, characterized by destruction and appreciation, gift and guilt. Focusing on the philosophical and religious sources of the crisis – and resources for understanding it – this workshop intends to gather philosophers of religion from all the Nordic countries discussing the topic of religion and nature. The participants are invited to identify and analyze our complex relation to nature in the Nordic context, based on its religious roots and contemporary philosophical analyses. Contact: Marius Timmann Mjaaland, m.t.mjaaland@teologi.uio.no,
8-9 June 2023, Oslo
The Nordic welfare states are known to provide exceptional social protection for their citizens. However, a growing body of research argues that the generous Nordic model has been quietly transforming under the growing fiscal pressures. Therefore, this workshop will explore the social policies currently implemented around the Nordic countries, and comparatively analyze them against the social protection implemented in the countries beyond the Nordic cluster. The purpose is two-fold: First, the workshop will aim to find out whether the Nordic welfare programs are still exceptionally generous and inclusive. Second, the presented research will tackle whether the Nordic welfare programs are still exceptionally successful in improving the quality of life among their citizens – with respect to their political and social attitudes, redistribution preferences, and behavioral patterns. The findings will foster our understanding of the determinants increasing positive impact of welfare states, and thus will constitute a relevant knowledge base when designing future programs. Contact: Miroslav Nemčok, miroslav.nemcok@stv.uio.no.
See Call for papers: Exploring the Impact of Social Policies on People’s Lives, DL 5 March 2023.
20-21 June 2023, The National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen
In the recent historiography of the Nordic welfare model, scholars have particularly focused on the laws, institutions, and political culture connected to social policy, creating a certain theoretical ephemerality around discussions of a Nordic model. With this workshop, planned as a collaboration between ReNEW and the Aarhus University-based project “Nordic model(s) in the global circulation of ideas, 1970-2020,” we aim to explore the multitude of ways in which materiality and the “modelization” of the Nordic region have been mutually constitutive. In exploring different channels through which materiality and the Nordic model have been interconnected and mutually defining, we emphasise perspectives on circulations as a means to study multi-scalar phenomena and thereby how Nordic models and materiality have been connected globally, internationally, and locally. We extend our perspective between the interwar period, with its formative decades for both notions of Nordic materiality and Nordic models, and today. Contact: Byron Rom-Jensen, byron.rom-jensen@helsinki.fi and Mikkel Høghøj, mikkel.hoghoj@natmus.dk.
See Call for papers: Materiality and the Nordic Model workshop, DL 28 February 2023.
1-3 November 2023, Venice
Workshop on occultism and cultural transfers between North and South. The workshop aims at developing methodology for studying the mutual entanglements between esoteric and aesthetic practices, based on a series of Nordic case studies. Deadline for abstract submission is 15 April 2023. Call for papers: “Occultural Transfers between North and South”.
Autumn 2023, Reykjavik
The workshop will be held in conjuncture with an international conference with the same name: Visions of Queer Pasts and Futures, that is planned for fall 2023. Both events have an emphasis on the past, the future and the links that connect them. We will discuss LGBTQI+ history as well as present/future topics but with an emphasis on a dialogue between our knowledge of the past and our visions of the future guided by a need to respond to the recent backlash. Contact: Elín Björk Jóhannsdóttir, elinbjork@hi.is.
Follow the link to Past events