Subject:CallforPapers:Coproductioninheritage:towardsnewimaginaries,ACHS2016,Montreal

Withapologiesforcrossposting

CallforPapersforthesessionCoproductioninheritage:towardsnewimaginariestobeheldatthe
AssociationforCriticalHeritageStudies,ThirdBiennialConferenceinMontreal,6th10thJune2016

BethanyRex,ICCHS,UniversityofNewcastle,
DrNualaMorse,ICS,UniversityofWesternSydney
DrKatherineLloyd,HerriotWattUniversity

Involvingcommunities,visitorsorthepublicisfrequentlypresentedasoneofthemajortasksof
museumsandheritagesitesincurrentglobalmovementstowardsnewcollaborativeparadigms(Golding
andModest,2013WatsonandWaterton,2011).Coproductionisahighlycurrentissue,anda
proposedemancipatorysolutiontotheauthorizedheritagediscourse,whichseeminglyhasreacheda
criticaljuncture.Scholarshiphasechoedcallsfromcommunitiesformoredirectinvolvementinthe
presentationandmanagementofheritageandmaterialculture.Howeverthereisalsoastrongcritique
withintheliteratureandasenseofdissatisfactionfromprofessionalsaroundthegapbetweenthe
wellmeaningrhetoricandpracticalrealitiesitseffectshavemoreoftenbeentokenisticthan
transformative.Thisimportantcritiquehasbroughttotheforetheissuesofpowerandinequalityin
coproduction,oftendrawingontheimageryoftheladderorspectrumofparticipation(Arnstein,1969
Simon,2010).Ithasalsotendedtooptimisticallyreemploythesesamecriticalmodestoreimagine
coproductionpractice.

Thissessioninvitesnewperspectivesandnewapproachestocoproductionthatgobeyondthese
strictlycriticalmodes.Thesessionaimstopushthedebatebeyondthecurrentfocusofcoproduction
debateswhichviewcoproductionassomethingthattakesplaceatvariouslevelstherecognitionof
coproductionasinevitablymessyandasmeaningverydifferentthingstopolicymakers,practitioners
andalmostnothingtothepublic.Weencouragepaperstogetupclosetotherecognisedissuesof
power,hegemonyanddomination,butalsobeyond,inapostcriticalvein.Thismightincludenew
languages,metaphorsandimaginariestoaddresstheroles,relationsandstakesinvolvedinthe
coproductionofheritage,aswellasapproachestakenfromavarietyofdisciplinarytraditions.We
thereforeinvitecontributionsdrawingfromdiversetheoreticalperspectivessuchasactornetworktheory
(Latour,2005Bennett,2007),assemblage(DeleuzeandGuatarri,1987Macdonald,2009)and
nonrepresentationaltheoryandaffect(Thrift,2010Waterton2014).

Weinvitetheoreticaland/orempiricalcontributionsthatexploretheprocessesandpracticeof
coproductionalongdifferenttermstogeneratearicherunderstandingofthepoliticsofcoproduction
anditsprogressivepossibilitiesforchange.Weparticularlyinvitecontributionsfocusingon
professionalsexperienceofcoproductionandtheirshiftingunderstandingofexpertise,knowledge
practicesandprofessionalidentities.Withtheseissuesinmind,weinvitepapersalong(butnotlimited
to)thefollowingthemes:

howalternativeframingsofcoproductionchangeunderstandingsofheritage
themergingoflocalknowledge/professionalexpertise
howknowledgeandknowledgepracticesareconstructedinempiricalexamplesof
coproduction
howprofessionalvalues/subjectivitiesarebeingchallengedoralteredinresponsetothe
imperativetocoproduce
howemotionandfeelingsofbelongingencouragecoproductionand/orcomanagementto
flourish.

Theformatofthesessionwillbe20minutepaperpresentationsfollowedby10minutesofquestions
fromtheaudience.

Ifyouwouldliketocontributetothissession,pleasesubmitanabstract(600words)andabriefresume
(300words)throughtheconferencewebsiteassoonaspossiblebutnolaterthanthe1November2015
(https://achs2016.uqam.ca/secure/submitAbstract.php).Apeerreviewpanelwillmakethefinalselection

ofpapers.Thepeerreviewcommitteeiscomposedofthesessionorganisersandrepresentativesfrom
theACHS.

ForquestionsonthesubmissionprocessoranyothermatterspleasecontactBethanyRex,International
CentreforCulturalandHeritageStudies,Newcastle(UK)(
b.rex@ncl.ac.uk
)

Keydates:1November2015(deadlineforabstracts),31August2015(registrationopens),1April2016
(registrationdeadlineforpresenters).

Kindregards,

Theorganisers,

BethanyRex,InternationalCentreforCultureandHeritageStudies,UniversityofNewcastle
DrNualaMorse,InstituteforCultureandSociety,UniversityofWesternSydney
DrKatherineLloyd,HeriotWattUniversity.