CFP: C.L.R. James's Beyond a Boundary: 50th anniversary conference

The Institute of Commonwealth Studies holds all of the published works of CLR James and an archive collection of papers and correspondence ICS 140 CLR James Papers. We are very pleased to forward this call for papers:

CFP: C.L.R. James's Beyond a Boundary: 50th anniversary conference


University of Glasgow.
Friday 10th and Saturday 11th May, 2013.

With confirmed keynote speakers so far including Mike Brearley (former England Test captain) and Wai Chee Dimock (Yale University)

Regularly cited as one of the great sports books of the twentieth century, C.L.R. James’ Beyond a Boundary (1963) is, by his own famous definition, about far more than cricket. Part-autobiography, part-historical study and part-political-call-to-arms written against the backdrop of the decolonisation struggles, James’ reflections on sport in the Caribbean reach out into a critical account of racism and imperialism, into wider questions of aesthetics and popular culture, and into the struggle for revolutionary social change which was the enduring concern of his life. Crucially, James insisted that such questions were not simply of concern to academics or to experts, but were also a central part of what drew ordinary men and women to sport.

Much loved, and widely read, James’ study has also been the subject of searching criticism: he has been accused, among other things, of a failure of critical judgement in relation to cricket’s role in the moral framework of empire, of a lack of attentiveness to gendered inequalities, and of a naïve faith in the spontaneity of popular political resistance.

This conference is convened on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the publication of Beyond a Boundary, with the intention of both celebrating and questioning, drawing out the book’s intellectual legacies and indentifying the issues it leaves unanswered. We would welcome original papers dealing with any aspects of Beyond a Boundary. These might include:

- critical engagement with or reinterpretation of James’ arguments;
- studies of the production and reception of the book itself;
- interpretations, via James, of contemporary sport;
- reflections on the transnational responses to James’ text;
- discussion of Beyond a Boundary within James’ wider corpus;
- papers reporting on the use of James’ insights and methods in social research, in teaching, in journalism or in political activism.

Abstracts of no more than 250 words should be sent to Andy Smith: mailto:andrew.smith.2@glasgow.ac.uk

In keeping with James’ own practice, we would ask potential speakers to avoid unnecessary technical jargon, and to prepare papers intended for a general audience.

Abstracts should be submitted by the end of October 2012.

Already confirmed keynote speakers for the conference are Mike Brearley (former England Test captain and previously President of the British Psychoanalytic Society), and Wai Chee Dimock (Department of English, Yale).

Further keynotes to be announced; to be added to the conference mailing list, please e-mail the address given above.



Conference organisers: Dr. Dave Featherstone (Human Geography, Glasgow); Dr. Chris Gair (English Literature, Glasgow); Dr. Christian Høgsbjerg (History, Leeds Metropolitan); Dr. Andy Smith (Sociology, Glasgow).

Sport mega events - the 2010 FIFA World Cup

With the Rugby World Cup currently being held in New Zealand, and the Olympics and Paralympics coming to London in 2012 the latest issue of Development Southern Africa, (Vol. 28, No. 3, 01 Sep 2011) should make for interesting reading, with a special focus on the 2010 FIFA WOrld Cup and its legacies.


The new issue contains the following articles:

EDITORIAL

"Sport mega-events and their legacies: The 2010 FIFA World Cup" Scarlett Cornelissen, Urmilla Bob & Kamilla Swart

ARTICLES

"Towards redefining the concept of legacy in relation to sport mega-events: Insights from the 2010 FIFA World Cup" Scarlett Cornelissen, Urmilla Bob & Kamilla Swart

"Tourist displacement in two South African sport mega-events" Johan Fourie, Krige Siebrits & Karly Spronk

"South Africa under FIFA's reign: The World Cup's contribution to urban development" Christoph Haferburg

"The 2010 FIFA World Cup high-frequency data economics: Effects on international tourism and awareness for South Africa" Stan du Plessis & Wolfgang Maennig

"A method for calculating the crowding-out effect in sport mega-event impact studies: The 2010 FIFA World Cup" Holger Preuss

"Rural community perceptions of the 2010 FIFA World Cup: The Makhowe community in KwaZulu-Natal" Urmilla Bob & Mbali Majola

"Pan-Africanism and the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa" Sabelo J Ndlovu-Gatsheni

"A sport and sociocultural legacy beyond 2010: A case study of the Football Foundation of South Africa" Kamilla Swart, Urmilla Bob, Brendon Knott & Mushfieqah Salie

New Zealand, South Africa, Rugby and apartheid: 30 years since the 1981 tour

The controversial 1981 Springbok tour, which divided NZ, began 30 years today. The South African Rugby tour was the focus of intense debate and protest throughout New Zealand and sport and politics became intensely mixed. The tour also acted as a catalyst for an examination of racism within New Zealand, with indigenous Maori people highlighting the connections between apartheid in South Africa and racism in New Zealand.

The Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library holds a selection of material relating to the anti-apartheid movement in New Zealand, including publications from the National Anti-Apartheid Committee, the Apartheid Information Centre, The Wellington Trades Council and Halt All Racist Tours (HART), as well as books looking back at that time such as Trevor Richard's Dancing on our bones : New Zealand, South Africa, rugby and racism and Malcom Templeton's Human rights and sporting contacts : New Zealand attitudes to race relations in South Africa 1921-94.

A photo gallery from the 1981 tour is available from the NZ Herald website.

SCOLMA Conference: Sport in Africa: History, Politics and the Archive

Sport in Africa: History, Politics and the Archive
SCOLMA (the UK Libraries and Archives Group on Africa) Annual Conference

The National Archives, Kew, London, Wednesday 29th June 2011

Programme

9.30 Registration and coffee

10.00 Welcome

10.10 Keynote Address
Professor Tony Mangan, formerly of the University of Strathclyde
‘A COLLAGE OF COMMENTARIES ON A CULTURAL IMPERIAL COMPULSION’
     ‘ ... this is the game for gentlemen
     Till on our race the sun shall set.
     The greatest glory of our land
     Whose crimson covers half the maps
     Is in the field where the wickets stand
     And the game is played by DECENT CHAPS’
 
     "The Short Cut" Donald Hughes

11.00 Dean Allen, University of Stellenbosch
‘South African Sports History and the Archive’

11.40 Susann Baller, University of Basel
‘The politics of match reports, minutes and archives in national neighbourhood football championships in Senegal’

12.20 Holly Collison, Brunel University
‘Reconciliation, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction: the role of sport in post war Liberia’
And
Michelle Sikes, University of Oxford
‘The Only Sport in [Eldoret] Town: Lessons from the Fastest Women in Kenya’

1.15 Lunch and SCOLMA AGM
A display of photographs of elite women’s football in Africa will be shown by Wisemove Productions during the lunch break.

2.15 Michelle Guittar and David Easterbrook, Melville J. Herskovits
Library of African Studies, Northwestern University
‘Materials relating to sport in Africa in the collections of the Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies, Northwestern University: an overview’

3.00 Pascal Charitas, Université Paris Sud 11
‘Colonial and post-colonial sport and the Olympic movement in English-speaking Africa after the Second World War (1945-1965): review, reflection and perspectives’

3.40 Karl Magee, University of Stirling
‘Boycotts and bailouts: the archives of the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland’

4.20 Jonty Winch, University of Stellenbosch
‘Cricket and War in early Rhodesia, 1890-7’

5.00 Conclusion

5.15 Drinks

SCOLMA would like to thank The National Archives for providing the venue.
Please note that this programme is subject to change.

To register for the conference, please contact Lucy McCann at lucy.mccann@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

SCOLMA website: http://www2.lse.ac.uk/library/scolma/

CFP: SCOLMA Conference, SPORT IN AFRICA: HISTORY, POLITICS AND THE ARCHIVE

The Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library is a member of SCOLMA the UK Libraries and Archives Group on Africa. SCOLMA's conference this year look at sports, opening up the opportunity to consider topics such as sporting links with and boycotts of apartheid South Africa, the recent World Cup, development of specific sports in African countries, the relationship of sport and gender, sport and development, sport and society, and sport and imperialism.
CALL FOR PAPERS: SPORT IN AFRICA: HISTORY, POLITICS AND THE ARCHIVE

Proposals are sought for a one day conference to be organised by SCOLMA, the UK Libraries and Archives Group on Africa.

Date: Wednesday 29 June 2011
Venue: The National Archives, Kew, London

We are interested in proposals from librarians, archivists and academic researchers on any aspect of the history and politics of sport in Africa, from any period, particularly those that focus on sources, whether printed, manuscript or audio-visual, including memorabilia.

Please send proposals (max. 200 words) to:
Lucy McCann
Secretary, SCOLMA,
Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies at Rhodes House
Lucy.mccann@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

Deadline for proposals: 1 March 2011