Call for Papers
Crossings: A Counter-Disciplinary Journal

Dwelling Places

Heidegger informs us that we must "think for the sake of dwelling," but what
exactly does it mean to dwell in the contemporary world? Since the Second
World War the concepts of "dwelling" and "place" have come to occupy a
unique position in global politics. Yet despite the overwhelming dominance
of global capitalism, the concept of borders refuses to succumb to a global
agenda. Crossings seeks articles dealing with the concept (s) of dwelling
and dwelling places as they have functioned since the end of World War II.
We are especially interested in articles discussing the relationship of
dwelling places to notions of history and subjectivity; states of emergency;
homelessness; cities; desire; sexuality; the construction of new spaces,
such as the World Wide Web; as well as more abstract dwelling places like
musical compositions, textuality, the plastic arts, and cinema. As global
politics moves increasingly toward the creation of a permanent security
state, the question arises of what it means to dwell in the world. Moreover,
with the apparent stalling of the Middle East "peace process" and Ariel
Sharon’s implementation of a fence to physically divide Israelis and
Palestinians, the struggle over Kashmir, and the emergence of a rhetoric of
the "homeland" in the United States, the issue of "rights" in relation to
dwelling becomes increasingly problematic. Indeed, the radical intimacy
between dwelling and human existence (as a zone of indistinction between
living and existing) only serves to highlight what is at stake (politically,
philosophically, and existentially) in this problem. In other words, to
contemplate what it might mean to dwell in the world may be to contemplate
(and confront) the fate of existence itself in the post-war era. This is the
political terrain of a new form of biopolitics, whose center is nowhere and
whose periphery is everywhere. Articles might address the notion of dwelling
and dwelling places as either contributing to—or deconstructing—traditional
notions of how we live in a world that is evolving from a disciplinary
society to a society of control—that is, a world that is increasingly
governed by a permanent state of emergency.

Possible topics:

States of Emergency

Diaspora

Homelessness

Civil War

Situationism

Borders

World Trade Organization

9/11

Empire

Space (Place), Dwelling, and Self (individuation)

Postcolonialism

New York City

United Nations

Concentration Camps

Terror and Terrorists

The "Axis of Evil"

Installation Art

Religious sites

NAFTA

First and Third World status

Sexualities

Biopolitics

Musical Compositions

Civil Rights

Exposure

Textuality

Send all manuscripts and inquiries by April 15 to:
Crossings
Department of English
Binghamton University
Binghamton, New York 13902-6000
or, via email to Monica O'Brien at "monicob_at_hotmail.com"

http://crossings.binghamton.edu

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Received on Fri Feb 21 2003 - 15:30:39 EST