Radical Cultures and Local Identities
An International Symposium
at the
University of Lincoln
21 - 22 September 2007
The regional dimensions of radical culture underpins its history. From the Luddite protests of the West Riding to the coal workers of the Ruhr valley and from rent strikes in Glasgow to protesting Parisian students, the local study has informed understandings of the varied nature of radicalism over at least two centuries. Workplace conflicts have played a key role in such studies with detailed micro-histories of the anatomy of particular strikes which were often confined to a single region or factory. In the later twentieth century a shift away from conflicts centred on production to those addressing issues of control over an immediate environment has also been studied on a local or regional basis. Yet, within this extensive literature the 'localness' of radicalism is rarely interrogated, but is accepted as a given.
This symposium seeks to investigate the links between radical cultures and local identities, questioning why so many radical activities are situated in a local rather than a national context. Through a number of themes it will consider the intersection of radical politics and local contexts considering what role local allegiances, bases and networks play in radical formation. Finally, it will consider whether at a point when much radical activity is centred around opposition to globalisation, the local is taking on new importance or whether it has historically been an essential ingredient of radical politics.
Keynote speakers include
Professor Vivian Bickford-Smith (Capetown)
Professor Mary Chamberlain (Oxford Brookes)
Professor Dick Geary (Nottingham)
Professor John Walton (Central Lancs)
Professor Chris Williams (Swansea)
Please send abstracts for further contributions to:
Professor Krista Cowman
Department of Humanities
University of Lincoln
Lincoln LN6 7TS
[mailto]kcowman@lincoln.ac.uk[/mailto]
by 31 July 2007.
Booking forms & further details are available online at [url]http://www.lincoln.ac.uk/conferences[/url]