How To Apply

Seminar in Experimental Critical Theory IX / The Johannesburg Workshop in Theory and Criticism

Session 2014
Archives of the Non-Racial: A Mobile Workshop
29 June - 11 July 2014

>> SESSION 2014 APPLICATION FORM: http://jwtc.fastapps.uchri.org <<

You are invited to apply for a place in the 2014 Joint Session of Seminar in Experimental Critical Theory IX / The Johannesburg Workshop in Theory and Criticism. We will be working around the theme 'Archives of the Non-Racial'. The 2014 Session will take place across South Africa, starting in Johannesburg and ending in Cape Town (South Africa) from June 29 through July 11, 2014.

The Seminar in Experimental Critical Theory was founded by the University of California Humanities Research Institute in 2004 as a laboratory for experimenting with key contemporary themes in critical theory, in collaboration with global interlocutors. The JWTC was founded in 2008 as an independent platform for experimenting with theory in the global South. Since 2012, it has been relocated within the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER). For both groups, the goal is to open up questions that are fundamental to contemporary aesthetic, philosophical, political, cultural, literary, ethnographic and ethical inquiry - questions that potentially point to new paths for critical theory at the interface of local, regional and global circuits.

Our audience is those critical intellectuals locating their work beyond the model of area studies; are willing to challenge naturalized interpretive conventions, and are eager to bring about a renewed dialogue among the disciplines with a view to transforming the landscape of critical theory and its impacts.

The Theme

Since the 15th century race has been a central element in the making of the modern world. It has marked masters from slaves, the exploiting from the exploited, the belonging from the non-belonging, the qualified from the supposedly unqualified.

Historical struggles against racism, in response, have contributed to a deepening and universalization of some of the key normative pillars of modernity, most notably freedom, democracy, and equality. Commitments to defeat racism have largely been underpinned by some version of the "human" and the "common", inventing and consolidating a language and conceptual strategy for reimagining political life. Yet the recent emergence of "posthumanism" as a mode of proceeding for feminist and anti-racist politics, has queried the humanist orientation of this work. Upon what ideas, what grounds do we draw in defining the work against racism?

By the 19th century, the "non-racial" emerged as an intellectual, political, and ethical category, assuming a variety of interpretations. Indexed to different intellectual, social, and political contexts, at times the non-racial has stood for the idea of "a shared human nature". At others, it has gestured toward the idea of "abolition". Sometimes it has meant the erasure of "difference" and its substitution by "sameness" alongside the commitment to a set of universal moral principles. During the struggle against Apartheid, in particular, it clearly became a motivating force in global politics.

Abolition, non-racialism, colorblindness, racelessness, postraciality, antiracism, anti-Apartheid, Black Consciousness, afropessimism: the range of investments is signaled by the fact that the "nonracial" itself is ambiguous – it oscillates between ignoring race (and so the structures of domination in its name) and conceiving socialities outside the frame of the racial. Discourses of post-raciality have circulated widely in the attempt to signal racism's past, at once reordering racial expression and racist articulation for the current moment. Also, in places such as Brazil and South Africa renewed debates on reparations, empowerment and historical accountability have sought to undo the legacies of racisms.

In continuing the experimental tradition of research and intervention in the humanities and social theory for which both the Johannesburg Workshop in Theory and Criticism and UCHRI's Seminar in Experimental Critical Theory are well known, the Archives of the Non-Racial Workshop will assess the possibilities and limits of the "nonracial" in terms of the politics of the modern world and its core values: democracy, freedom, dignity, equality, the human, universality, justice.

To assess what they tell us about the project of human emancipation in our times, we will examine current struggles/alliances/coalitions/solidarities/forms of mobilization/registers of intervention, drawing relations and comparisons between various times and places.

The Workshop will also engage South African histories and landscapes of the centuries-long struggles against racism, from the Freedom Charter, Treason and Rivonia Trials to Constitution Hill, from Black Consciousness and labor struggles to political resistance, anti-apartheid to post-apartheid. In each site, and where possible at all in dialogue with local communities, we will craft critical dialogues with other traditions of racial configuration, non-racialism, and antiracism elsewhere.

The Programme

The 2014 programme will span two intensive weeks of lectures, seminars, public events, exhibitions and performances. The idea behind the planning of this mobile Workshop is to travel to significant critical sites in the history of South Africa's notorious racial project in order to open the question of the "non-racial" both in South Africa and in its manifestation in other parts of the world. Workshop participants will travel by bus from Johannesburg to Swaziland, Durban, Mandela's grave at Qunu, Steve Biko's Ginsberg, and conclude in Cape Town. At each site, the Workshop will convene conversations that explore the histories and legacies of racisms in these particular places, posing these histories in relation to broader conversations about the post-, non-, and anti-racisms across relational global contexts. Lectures, panel discussions and performances will draw on research from the African continent, China, Australia, the Middle East, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Euro-America, as well as on some of the oceans that connect them.

Speakers and Performers

The 2014 Session will feature a range of local and international speakers and performers. These include: Ackbar Abbas, Ruha Benjamin, Keith Breckenridge, Mwelela Cele, Sharad Chari, Angela Davis, Gina Dent, Philomena Essed, David Theo Goldberg, Siba Grovogui, Ghassan Hage, Salah Hassan, Isabel Hofmeyr, Premesh Lalu, Liu Sola, Achille Mbembe, Dilip Menon, Neo Muyanga, Sarah Nuttall, Deborah Thomas, Francoise Verges.

Who can apply?

We encourage applications from faculty, postdocs and senior post-graduate students in the critical studies of race across the humanities, social sciences, urban studies, arts and performing arts, law, media, and technology, and the urban.

We also encourage applications beyond the academy in cases where applicants have a strong interest and capacity for social theory.

Deadlines

The deadline for applications is Friday, March 21, 2014, 5pm PST. Admissions to The Workshop will be announced by April 14, 2014.

Locations

Johannesburg, South Africa » Mbabane, Swaziland » Durban, South Africa » Ginsberg, King Williams Town, South Africa » Cape Town, South Africa.

Duration

Sunday, June 29 – Friday, July 11, 2014

Eligibility

Professors and advanced graduate students in the humanities, social sciences, and critical legal and science studies, are invited to apply. Public intellectuals, artists and writers with a strong commitment to theory are also invited to apply.

All applicants should be able to communicate in English.

Openings

There are openings for approximately 36 participants. Competition is keen, and applicants will be asked to motivate their application.

Curriculum

The intellectual programme will consist of a series of long lectures, roundtable discussions, debates, participant interactions, and public events.

Tuition

Tuition fees have been broken down into sliding scale categories in order to ensure a financial scheme that accommodates global resource inequities.

No profit is made on this event. All fees have been calculated to cover those Workshop costs not covered by sponsor and grant support. The tuition this year will be higher than previous years because of the mobile workshop.

Tuition Fees 2014

Cat 1 - US $2500
Cat 2 - US $2000
Cat 3 - US $1800
Cat 4 - US $500
Cat 5 - ZAR 6000 – ZAR 8000

Category 1

US $2500 for university professors from the North (a maximum of 5 positions available)

Tuition for Category 1 includes accommodation, airport transfer in South Africa, daily group transport in South Africa during the Workshop, breakfast, lunch and most dinners, and entrance fees for evening cultural events. It does NOT include any airfare or other travel to or from Johannesburg for the start or at the end of the Workshop. It is assumed that professors from the North have access to funding resources within their home institutions. We are happy to assist with letters of invitation, which suit particular institutional funding requirements.

Category 2

US $2000 for advanced graduate students based at universities in the North
(a maximum of 10 positions available)

Tuition for Category 2 includes shared accommodation, airport transfer in South Africa, daily group transport in South Africa during the Workshop, breakfast, lunch and some dinners, and entrance fees for evening and other cultural events. It does NOT include any airfare or other travel to or from Johannesburg for the start or at the end of the Workshop. It is assumed that graduate students from the North have access to funding resources within their home institutions. We are happy to assist with letters of invitation, which suit particular institutional funding requirements.

Category 3

US $1800 (+/- R18000) for professors and advanced graduate students based in the South (non-subsidized)
(Since this category does not depend on subsidy, numbers will be decided on the basis of total number of applications)

Tuition for Category 3 includes shared accommodation, airport transfer in South Africa, daily group transport in South Africa during the Workshop, breakfast, lunch and some dinners and entrance fees for evening and other cultural events. It does NOT include airfare to or from Johannesburg for the start of or at the end of the Workshop. It is assumed that applicants have access to funding resources within their home institutions.

Category 4

US $500 (approx R5000 – R7000) for professors and advanced graduate students based in the South (subsidized) (approximately 6 positions available)

Tuition includes shared accommodation, airport transfer in South Africa, daily group transport in South Africa during the Workshop, breakfast, lunch and some dinners and entrance fees for evening cultural events. It does NOT include airfare to or from Johannesburg for the start of or at the end of the Workshop. It is assumed that applicants have little or no access to funding resources within their home institutions.

Category 5

Category 5 R 6000 - R8000 (depending on income) for professors (R 8000), lecturers (R7000) and advanced graduate students (R 6000) from South Africa (subsidized) (approximately 12 positions available)

Tuition for Category 5 includes lunch, most dinners and entrance fees for evening cultural events. It also includes shared accommodation with the group except when the group is staying over in the South African city where you live. For example, a participant from Cape Town's accommodation will be covered for all the parts of the worshop that take place outside of Cape Town. Where the participant from South Africa lives in a place in which the workshop will not take place, full accommodation will be covered. It does NOT include airfare to or from Johannesburg for the start of or at the end of the Workshop.

If you fall into categories 4 or 5, please include in your letter of application a motivation for your inclusion in these financial categories (including current employment position, funding situation of your home institution and, if necessary, income).

Tuition Deposit

To hold a place in the Workshop, prospective participants must submit the following non-refundable deposit before April 27, 2014. The remainder of tuition is due on May 15, 2014.

Category 1&2: US $1000
Category 3: US $750
Category 4: US $250
Category 5: R1000

Food and Accommodation

All participants will be accommodated in comfortable B&Bs or small hotels across the country. Tuition Category 2, 4 and 5 will be in shared accommodation. Category 1 and 3 will not be shared. If you are in category 2, 4 or 5 and do not want to share accommodation, please specify this and we will be able to give you the option of single accommodation at a higher tuition cost.

From Johannesburg participants will be transported by coach to the various cities on the itinerary where accommodation and meals will be catered.

Tuition fees cover accommodation costs from the night of the Saturday, June 28 up to and including the night of Friday, July 10. Any extra nights must be paid for separately by the participant. We would be happy to assist with arranging bookings for additional stay.

For those wishing to return to Johannesburg at the close of the workshop, a no-fee bus will depart from Cape Town at 2pm on Saturday, July 12, arriving in Johannesburg mid-morning, Sunday, July 13. Participants may also book their return flights directly out of Cape Town International airport if they do not want to be on the bus back to Johannesburg. Return flights departing out of Johannesburg must be booked for departure on Sunday July 13, 2014 from 1pm onwards.

Application Instructions

Applicants are requested to visit the application page at http://jwtc.fastapps.uchri.org, where electronic application forms are available.

Applicants will be asked for the following documentation:

Acceptances and Deposits

Applications should be sent to the Workshop no later than Friday, March 21, 2014. Selection of participants will be made by a nominated selection panel.

***All applicants will be informed via email of the outcome of their applications by April 14, 2014. Tuition deposits for successful candidates are due April 27, 2014. The remainder of the tuition is due on May 15.***

Conveners

The Conveners of the 2014 Session are: Kelly Gillespie (Department of Anthropology, Wits University), David Theo Goldberg (University of California Humanities Research Institute), Julia Hornberger (Center for Migration Studies, Wits University), Zen Marie (School of Arts, Wits University), Achille Mbembe (Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research) and Leigh-Ann Naidoo (School of Education, Wits University).

For any program questions or web application support, please email sect@hri.uci.edu.

>> Apply by Friday, March 21, 2014, 5pm PST at http://jwtc.fastapps.uchri.org <<