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P46


has 1 film 1
Looking forward, counterfactually: Visions of the might yet be/maybe not of marginalised people and their states 
Convenors:
Anthony Howarth (University of Oxford)
Freya Hope (University of Oxford)
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Discussant:
Kath Weston (University of Edinburgh and University of Virginia)
Format:
Panel
Sessions:
Thursday 9 June, -
Time zone: Europe/London

Short Abstract:

The marginalised are often denied a place in the futurist visions of late-liberal political economies. Extending a nascent ‘counterfactual ethnography’ we explore the might yet be/maybe not visions the marginalised employ and defy in order to survive, as well as how these are broken and re-routed.

Long Abstract:

Groups traditionally studied by anthropologists such as indigenous and mobile peoples, and others marginalised by states, are often denied a place in the futurist visions of late-liberal political economies. Although it is evident from their endurance that the temporal exclusion of these groups is counterfactual they still face attacks from state and society, as well as cultural erasure. Extending a nascent ‘counterfactual ethnography’ (Weston 2021), this panel invites papers that explore the might yet be/maybe not visions and conceptulations marginalised people employ and defy in order to survive, as well as the ways broader political-economic environments foreclose, re-route, or shatter these visions. Our aim is, then, to examine the indeterminant space of speculation where hopes, desires, and dreams are shaped amidst everyday life struggles, as a window onto what we call the (no)future elsewhether; the practice of bringing the counterfactual forward into the world.

Questions may include but are not limited to: What speculative visions of the future/no-future might these groups hold and how are these produced? In what ways do such visions open up spaces of imaginative action between the real and the make-believe? How do imaginaries and denials; the might yet to be/or the maybe not, shape paths to the future for the marginalised and their states/host societies alike? In what ways are traditions future-focused and counterfactualised? How does the broader political-economic environment foreclose, re-route, or shatter the visions of the marginalised? In what ways do speculation and counterfactualising shape cosmological choices and what are their consequences?

Accepted papers:

Session 1 Thursday 9 June, 2022, -
Panel Video visible to paid-up delegates