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International Conference: “Infrastructures of Racism and the Contours of Black Vitality and Resistance.”

University of Torino (Italy), 23-25 March 2023

This conference intends to explore the continuing and systemic infrastructures of racism, in light of the discriminatory nature of spatial politics and techniques of population management organized along racial lines in the United States. Our entry point into such discussion will be the analysis of material systems—infrastructures— as a tangible trace of the institutional impact on the lives of racialized people in the U.S., from the plantation project, to various iterations and stages of establishments and organizations such as asylums, prisons, welfare and educational systems. Contextually, we want to emphasize conceptualizations of abolitionist futures, alternative arrangements and modes of existence that build on well-established praxes rooted in Black vitality, joy, and worldmaking.

This events wants to extend its reach beyond academia, and engage with local associations, bodies, and communities that are faced daily with the issues at hand. In this spirit, the conference will also include a public-facing workshop centered on anti-racist practices, in collaboration with local cultural associations, activist/public intellectuals, and high-school students.

Confirmed keynote speakers:

Elizabeth Maddock Dillon (Northeastern University, USA)

Kevin E. Quashie (Brown University, USA)

Ivy Wilson (Northwestern University, USA)

We invite original papers from various disciplines including, but not limited to, literature, history, philosophy, social and political sciences, law, environmental humanities. We envision a series of roundtables with 4 or 5 participants with individual presentations of 10-15 minutes, in order to encourage conversations and exchanges.

Send 300-word abstracts, along with brief biographical statements, to Sonia Di Loreto (sonia.diloreto@unito.it) and Cristina Di Maio (cristina.dimaio@unito.itby January 10, 2023Acceptance will be notified by January 25, 2023. Submissions from early-career scholars are most welcome.