Reissued CfP and Poster Call: Labor and Capital in U.S. History 🗓

Reissued CfP and Poster Call: Labor and Capital in U.S. History 🗓

Dear colleagues,

as you can imagine, planning for the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Historians in the German Association of American Studies (DGfA) has been difficult because of the ongoing pandemic. To provide the best possible experience under the circumstances, we have decided to move the conference “Labor and Capital in U.S. History” to a “digital plus” format. This means that all panels will take place online, with an option for those wanting to come to Mainz to attend in-person if the pandemic situation improves.

Accordingly, we are also reissuing the call for papers with these changed conditions in mind.

The DGfA conference will take place February 11–12, 2022, virtually via Zoom and Gather and, hopefully, with an in-person option at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany. We are accepting applications for individual papers as well as panels, and we are opening the application for virtual poster presentations for doctoral students whose research topics do not fit the scope of the conference.

The new deadline for paper proposals and poster applications is November 30, 2021.

Please find the reissued call for papers as well as the application for doctoral poster presentations below:

 

Reissued Call for Papers: Labor and Immigration in U.S. History

Annual Meeting of the Historians in the German Association of American Studies (DGfA), February 11–12, 2022, Mainz and online

The transnational turn has introduced significant new perspectives on the history of labor and capitalism in the United States. While the state remains an important object of analysis, decentering the nation in labor history provides additional lenses that focus on circulations, interactions, and connections below or beyond the nation-state. According to Ian Tyrell, they focus attention on exchanges across national boundaries, the impact of asymmetrical power exerted by one nation, and networks of relations not contained by nation-states. In questioning a coherent, all-encompassing national narrative, the voices and visions of people and groups who have been marginalized in the context of a nationalist myopia are reclaimed. The experiences of non-citizens and migrants, labor sojourners and “birds of passage,” inhabitants of border regions, workers of international corporations, and new digital and remote workers help provide a more complete and more complex picture of what both labor and capital have meant in various historical contexts. Negotiations of labor rights, property rights, the rights of capital or corporate personship from the emergent nation-state to globalization accounts for different appraisals of labor heroes or radicals, benevolent tycoons or robber barons. Historians such as Kiran Klaus Patel, for example, root the history of the New Deal in a global context, connecting the history of labor and capital to that of U.S. hegemony in the twentieth century. Others, such as Julie Greene, connect the immigrant experience with American empire. Likewise, Donna Gabaccia focuses on the migration world of Italian workers, and Mae Ngai traces the role of “impossible” illegal immigrant workers in the making of America.

This conference seeks to put into communication various strands of the recent historiography in labor history. To this end, we invite both individual papers and panel proposals on topics including:

  • the changing world of labor (industrialization, urbanization, post-industrialization, digitalization, etc.)
  • labor strife
  • labor and gender
  • labor, race, ethnicity, and migration
  • internationalization of labor markets
  • working class culture and solidarity
  • changing forms of employment (small-self-employed farmers to employees and factory workers, to the new gig-economy)
  • labor and space (from home-production and small workshops, to industrial spaces, the open plan office, and call centers, to post-industrial co-working spaces, creative office playrooms, and work from home setups)
  • labor in different geographical contexts
  • the contemporary role and perception of capital and capitalists during a given historical era

Please send short CVs and abstracts for individual papers of no longer than 500 words and in the case of a panel proposal an additional introduction of no longer than 300 words to the organizers until November 30, 2021 at this address: dgfahist2022@uni-mainz.de

We encourage applications from scholars at all career levels. We invite doctoral students whose research is not related to the conference topic to join our virtual poster presentation. Please refer to the corresponding call for more information.

The DGfA conference will take place February 11–12, 2022, virtually via Zoom and Gather and, hopefully, with an in-person option at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany. All presentations will take place online via Zoom. If the pandemic situation improves, we will offer you the opportunity to come to Mainz and live-stream your presentation from our conference venue. In this case, we will provide information on accommodations and other material to help you organize your stay in Mainz.

Up to date information on the conference, including this call for papers, can always be found at:
http://www.obama-institute.com/labor-and-capital-in-u-s-history/

We are looking forward to receiving your paper proposal.

Axel SchÀfer
Anja-Maria Bassimir
Torsten Kathke

 

Call for Doctoral Poster Presentations via Gather

The Annual Meeting of the Historians in the German Association of American Studies (DGfA) has long provided a forum for the presentation and discussion of ongoing PhD projects. While the pandemic complicates the organization, we want to continue that tradition, albeit adapted to the online environment. Accordingly, for the DGfA conference Labor and Capital in U.S. History from February 11–12, 2022, we are organizing a virtual poster presentation via Gather which will allow PhD students to exhibit their projects and discuss them with conference participants in individual virtual rooms.

Gather is a video-calling space that allows for virtual meetings and interactions. We will use this tool for a designated 2-hour time-slot during the conference as our forum for the poster presentations. Conference participants can wander around the virtual environment, look at the posters, and join PhD students in their individual virtual rooms for discussion.

We invite PhD students from the fields of American Studies and North-American History, especially those matriculated at a German University, to present their research.

The Gather format allows for the upload of posters with the following measures as JEPG files: portrait or landscape orientation, A0 format, at least 1000px x 600px, no transparent backgrounds, no more than 3MB. We need to collect the posters for uploading and accordingly you need to send us your finished poster by January 16, 2022, to the following e-mail address dgfahist2022@uni-mainz.de.

Please apply by sending us your name, academic discipline, and the name of the institution you are primarily affiliated with together with the title and a short description of your project not exceeding 500 words. Send your application to the following address by November 30, 2021: dgfahist2022@uni-mainz.de with the Subject line “Poster Presentation.”

The conference will take place online via Zoom and Gather. If the pandemic situation improves, we will offer you the opportunity to come to Mainz and join us at our conference venue. In this case, we will provide information on accommodations and other material to help you organize your stay in Mainz.

Up to date information on the conference, including this call for papers, can always be found at:
http://www.obama-institute.com/labor-and-capital-in-u-s-history/

We are looking forward to receiving your poster application.

Axel SchÀfer
Anja-Maria Bassimir
Torsten Kathke

Job Posting – PhD Opportunity (4y, 65%): “Successful Aging” Project (SFB 1482) 🗓

Job Posting – PhD Opportunity (4y, 65%): “Successful Aging” Project (SFB 1482) 🗓

Apply now!

Prof. Dr. Mita Banerjee and her project team are looking for an American Studies PhD student to join their project “Alter(n) als Leistung: Successful Aging, Best Agers und die Logik der Superlative,” which is part of the recently established SFB 1482 Humandifferenzierung at Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz. The Collaborative Research Centre is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) for an initial period of four years. The PhD will be employed as wiss. Mitarbeiter*in (65%, 4 years, EG 13 TV-L, starting Aug 1, 2021 or as soon as possible).

You can find further information and more details here or on the image below.

We are looking forward to your application!

(An extension to the deadline might be possible upon request.)

CfP: Labor and Capital in U.S. History 🗓

CfP: Labor and Capital in U.S. History 🗓

Dear colleagues,

after this year’s annual meeting of the historians in the DGfA/GAAS had to move online, we hope that many of us will be able to come together next year for a more in-person event, though we are planning on virtual components for those who may still be kept from traveling.

The Annual Meeting of the Historians in the German Association for American Studies (DGfA) will take place February 11-13, 2022, at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany.

We are delighted to present you with a call for papers for this event:

Call for Papers: Labor and Immigration in U.S. History

The transnational turn has introduced significant new perspectives on the history of labor and capitalism in the United States. While the state remains an important object of analysis, decentering the nation in labor history provides additional lenses that focus on circulations, interactions, and connections below or beyond the nation-state. According to Ian Tyrell, they focus attention on exchanges across national boundaries, the impact of asymmetrical power exerted by one nation, and networks of relations not contained by nation-states. In questioning a coherent, all-encompassing national narrative, the voices and visions of people and groups who have been marginalized in the context of a nationalist myopia are reclaimed. The experiences of non-citizens and migrants, labor sojourners and “birds of passage,” inhabitants of border regions, workers of international corporations, and new digital and remote workers help provide a more complete and more complex picture of what both labor and capital have meant in various historical contexts. Negotiations of labor rights, property rights, the rights of capital or corporate personship from the emergent nation-state to globalization accounts for different appraisals of labor heroes or radicals, benevolent tycoons or robber barons. Historians such as Kiran Klaus Patel, for example, root the history of the New Deal in a global context, connecting the history of labor and capital to that of U.S. hegemony in the twentieth century. Others, such as Julie Greene, connect the immigrant experience with American empire. Likewise, Donna Gabaccia focuses on the migration world of Italian workers, and Mae Ngai traces the role of “impossible” illegal immigrant workers in the making of America.

This conference seeks to put into communication various strands of the recent historiography in labor history. To this end, we invite both individual papers and panel proposals on topics including:

Please send short CVs and abstracts for individual papers of no longer than 500 words and in the case of a panel proposal an additional introduction of no longer than 300 words to the organizers until July 23, 2021 to this address: dgfahist2022@uni-mainz.de

  • the changing world of labor (industrialization, urbanization, post-industrialization, digitalization, etc.)
  • labor strife
  • labor and gender
  • labor, race, ethnicity, and migration
  • internationalization of labor markets
  • working class culture and solidarity
  • changing forms of employment (small-self-employed farmers to employees and factory workers, to the new gig-economy)
  • labor and space (from home-production and small workshops, to industrial spaces, the open plan office, and call centers, to post-industrial coworking spaces, creative office playrooms, and work from home setups)
  • labor in different geographical contexts
  • the contemporary role and perception of capital and capitalists during a given historical era

Due to continuing uncertainties regarding travel and in-person meetings because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this conference will take place in a hybrid format at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and online. When applying, please indicate whether you plan on attending in person or joining us virtually. For those attending in person, we will provide information on accommodation, but please make sure to organize your own stay in Mainz.

Up to date information on the conference, including this call for papers, can always be found at:
http://www.obama-institute.com/laborandcapital/

We hope to welcome many of you in Mainz next year!

Axel SchÀfer
Anja-Maria Bassimir
Torsten Kathke

July 5 – Fourth of July Lectures 2021 🗓

July 5 – Fourth of July Lectures 2021 🗓

We would like to invite everyone to the Obama Institute’s annual Fourth of July Lecture on July 5 (4 p.m.). Members of the OI Executive Board will start by briefly introducing the latest news in Research at the OI, including the recently established SFB 1482 “Humandifferenzierung”, which was approved for its first four years of funding by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) just a few weeks ago.

Then, we will welcome Professor Glenn T. Eskew from Georgia State University for a talk on â€œThe Ongoing Ideological Struggle ‘To Redeem the Soul of America’ and the World” before Dr. habil. RenĂ© Dietrich will give his Öffentliche Antrittsvorlesung on â€œViet Thanh Nguyen’s Fiction and Being Committed in/to American Studies” in order to formally complete his Habilitation and receive his Venia Legendi.

Please see below or here for more details on the talks and our schedule.

Access

July 5, 4 – 8 p.m.
You can join the event on MS Teams at any time for any or all talks by following the link on the poster or here: https://tinyurl.com/xrx8c9y2

An installation of the MS Teams application is recommended but not necessary. MS Teams will also let you access the meeting in a browser through its web client. Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge work best. Apple’s Safari is not fully supported!

RSVP to c.plicht@uni-mainz.de is welcome but not necessary. If you register, you will receive an email through MS Teams with the link and Teams calendar event prior to the event.

Program

4.00 – 4.30 p.m.
Welcome and Introduction
Latest OI Research News
OI Executive Board Members

4.30 – 5.45 p.m.
Fourth of July Guest Lecture with Q&A
“The Ongoing Ideological Struggle ‘To Redeem the Soul of America’ and the World”
Professor Glenn T. Eskew
Georgia State University, USA

5.45 – 6.00 p.m. BREAK

6.00 – 8.00 p.m.
Öffentliche Antrittsvorlesung
“Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Fiction and Being Committed in/to American Studies”
Dr. habil. René Dietrich
JGU Obama Institute

Talks

“The Ongoing Ideological Struggle ‘To Redeem the Soul of America’ and the World” – Professor Glenn T. Eskew
On January 6, 2021, the nation and world watched in horror as reactionaries attacked the United States Capitol in an effort to stop the certification of duly elected Joe Biden as the 45th President in the most extreme example of an ongoing conflict over the nation’s future. The violent clash of interests on display in Washington that day finds its roots extending fifty years into the past when postwar America’s ideological consensus began to crack. While fundamental changes in political economy, society, and culture have marked the decades since then, the United States has yet to recoalesce around a renewed ideology, although efforts have been made to do so in a landscape of competing memories. Increasingly cast as a geopolitical fight between autocracy and democracy, advocates of an inclusive American system harken back to the founding ideals of the nation in a bid to articulate a vision forward for global peace and prosperity.

“Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Fiction and Being Committed in/to American Studies” – Dr. habil. RenĂ© Dietrich
In a novel following the path of a Vietnamese Refugee veering between local drug gangs and leftist circles in Paris of the early 1980s, America might seem far from one’s mind. And yet, with the novel featuring a character naming himself “Le Cao Boi” (pronounced Cowboy), engaging the observation that American imperialism exists in alignment with European colonization, and asking how U.S. racism is used to excuse French racism inherited as part of its colonial legacy, America never seems far off the novel’s focus either. Thus, I want to show how The Committed, by Vietnamese-American Pulitzer price-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen can best be approached through an American Studies perspective that is itself committed to questions of the transnational, (anti-)imperial, and decolonial. Doing so, I am also exploring what it means to me to be committed to these principles of critical inquiry in my own approach to American Studies.

 
OI Projects Receive Funding as Part of New Collaborative Research Center “Human Differentiation” (SFB 1482; DFG) 🗓

OI Projects Receive Funding as Part of New Collaborative Research Center “Human Differentiation” (SFB 1482; DFG) 🗓

DFG (German Research Foundation) approves €10m in funding for a new Collaborative Research Center on “Human Differentiation” (SFB 1482)

The Obama Institute proudly confirms its participation in the new Collaborative Reseach Center “Human Differentiation” (SFB 1482), which has recently been approved for funding by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The Center will be established in July 2021 with an initial funding period of four years and potential renewals for up to twelve years.

The Center brings together a multitude of different research areas from the Social and Cultural Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz (JGU) in order to explore categories of human differentiation. It will also build and establish a theoretical framework for the analysis of processes of categorization. 

Prof. Dr. Mita Banerjee, Prof. Dr. Axel SchÀfer, and Prof. Dr. Oliver Scheiding of the Obama Institute will each be leading a project group within the CRC:

  • “Successful Aging: Best Agers at the Intersection between Differentiating Age and Achievement” (TP A04 Banerjee)
  • “Curated Bodies: Aesthetic Human Categorization and Bodily Differentiation in Magazines” (TP A06 Scheiding)
  • “Migration and Welfare States in the USA: Global and National Dynamics in Bureaucratic Human Differentiation” (TP B06 SchĂ€fer)

For more details, please see the JGU and DFG press releases:

Happy Holidays! 🗓

Happy Holidays! 🗓

On behalf of the faculty and staff at the Obama Institute for Transnational American Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, we thank you – our supporters, colleagues, students, and friends – for another successful year filled with meaningful and inspiring projects, alas, pursued under Corona conditions.

We look forward to collaborating with you, hopefully in person, in 2021 and wish you and your loved ones:
Happy Holidays and all the best for the New Year!

The Executive Board of the Obama Institute

(Univ.-Prof. Dr. Mita Banerjee, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Jutta Ernst, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Alfred Hornung, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Axel Schäfer, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Oliver Scheiding)

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