idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Spatial imaginaries of crisis and danger are inextricable from the politics of territory. In the nineteenth century, the fear of unruly living quarters led to the implementation of urban infrastructures such as sewers and public lighting. In the twentieth century, when the notion of “spaces of fear” emerged in Western public planning, some embraced this category as a way to “design out crime” while others saw it as a vehicle of spatial essentialism and the concealment of power relations. These isolated examples highlight how territorializations of danger play into public debates, raising the question of whose fears and anxieties are acknowledged, and whose are ignored.
While the nature of actual threats differs dramatically based on position and perspective, factors of uncertainty proliferate for all. Out in the world, with dangers often trumped-up for the political purposes, fear of the other feeds on differences. At the same time, many of the most persistent anxieties arise in the home, among ourselves. Ecologies of fear manifest on different scales, from elevators and underpasses to cities and entire regions. Given the facts of climate crisis and specters of economic collapse, as well as deepening political divides, such ecologies increasingly encompass the planet as a whole.
Inviting perspectives from the humanities and social sciences, this conference seeks to explore how spaces and anxieties become entangled, and how these entanglements are represented and addressed. By focusing on historical as well as contemporary dynamics of various dangerous spaces – real, imagined, projected – we aim to zero in on how it is that ecologies of fear emerge, and where it is that we are afraid.
The conference will take place in a hybrid format, allowing for digital participation via Zoom as well as physical presence in the open-air conference venue in the courtyard of the KWI (Goethestr. 31, Essen), where hygienic protocols and social distancing measures will be carefully implemented.
The on-site events at the conference include a CineScience event on Fear and (In)visibility by Matthias Gründig (Folkwang University), a visit to the exhibition “The Fall” by Tobias Zielony at Museum Folkwang, as well as guided walks through Essen-Altendorf, a local neighborhood stigmatized as crime-ridden and dangerous.
SPEAKERS
Sage Anderson (KWI Essen)
Emily Bereskin (Brandenburg University of Technology)
Gemma Blok (Open University, Heerlen, NL)
Marian Burchardt (Leipzig University)
Jens Gurr (University of Duisburg-Essen)
Julia Hoydis (University of Graz)
Lena Mattheis (University of Duisburg-Essen)
Boris Michel (MLU Halle-Wittenberg)
Nina Schuster (TU Dortmund)
Moritz Rinn (University of Duisburg-Essen)
Maria Sulimna (University of Duisburg-Essen)
Boris Vormann (Bard College Berlin)
Frederieke Westerheide (MLU Halle-Wittenberg)
Jan Winkler (FAU Erlangen–Nuremberg)
ORGANISERS
An event by the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities (KWI) Essen in cooperation with the HERA research project Governing the Narcotic City
CONTACT
Dr. Sage Anderson (sage.anderson@kwi-nrw.de)
Dr. Stefan Höhne (stefan.hoehne@kwi-nrw.de)
Information on participating / attending:
Date:
09/02/2021 - 09/04/2021
Event venue:
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut Essen (KWI)
Gartensaal
Goethestr. 31
45128 Essen
Nordrhein-Westfalen
Germany
Target group:
Scientists and scholars
Email address:
Relevance:
international
Subject areas:
Cultural sciences, History / archaeology, Media and communication sciences, Politics, Social studies
Types of events:
Conference / symposium / (annual) conference
Entry:
08/05/2021
Sender/author:
Miriam Wienhold
Department:
Pressestelle
Event is free:
no
Language of the text:
German
URL of this event: http://idw-online.de/en/event69371
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