Call for Papers: "Orienting Istanbul: Cultural Capital of Europe?" University of California Berkeley. September 26-27, 2008. Deadline for abstracts : 20 Mai 2008.

Cities and culture have become key to imagining communities in a globalizing word. Istanbul is one of many world cities that turn to culture for a place on the map. Istanbul is part of a unique debate on European integration entwined with the memory of earlier Orientalist representations. “Orienting Istanbul: Cultural Capital of Europe?” suggests that the city may provide a lens onto both the predicaments of contending world cities, and the construction of a European identity that is inclusive to Muslims.

This conference seeks to reconsider interpretations of the city by providing a context for inter-disciplinary dialogue. A program of academic presentations will be combined with a program of films and media installations. The academic panels will be organized in three themes: Architectures of Exclusion, Cultures of Spectacle, and Spaces of Nostalgia. Of particular interest are those papers that engage critically with theories of the city, modernization, globalization, spectacle, citizenship, community formation, and public sphere, as well as those that compare transformations in Istanbul to other European and Middle Eastern cities.

Istanbul is one of Europe’s oldest and largest cities, and today, one of its most fashionable travel spots. Popular narratives celebrate the city’s cultural vibrancy. Artistic works refer to the potential it offers for crossing the bridge between Asia and Europe, between Islam and the West. Interestingly, the bridge metaphor is also one worn out by local politicians to express the geopolitical significance of Istanbul and Turkey.

Istanbul has acted, to use another popular metaphor, as Turkey’s gateway to Europe in a U.S. lead post-WW II period. This role has been paralleled by massive urban growth from a city of one million inhabitants in the first half of the twentieth century to one of thirteen million by the turn of the twenty-first, and a physical expansion nearly ten times in size. The desire to tame the city’s expansion and to turn Istanbul into a competitive city has justified several phases of urban renewal as well as stirring an ongoing public debate on urban form and culture.

In the 2000s, with E.U. membership on the horizon, the city is showcased once again to exhibit Turkey’s modernity.  As the public debate in Europe heats up on whether Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country, has a place in it or not, Istanbul is selected as one of the 2010 European Capitals of Culture. The New Europe seems ready to acknowledge Istanbul as part of its heritage, but is highly ambivalent on its future relationship with a Muslim-majority Turkey. One strong reaction to European bias in Turkey is the rise of Euro-scepticism. Turkey’s claims to European-ness via Istanbul have implications for both national self-fashioning, and urban public culture.

We are inviting 500-word abstract submissions that will fall under one of the following themes:

Architectures of Exclusion

This theme focuses on the role of architecture in social exclusion and displacement, and on processes by which urban space is rendered hierarchical. What are the different ways market reforms infringe urban public life? How is consent for urban planning projects manufactured? How do desires for becoming a world city and the project of Europe as a civilizing process interact?

Cultures of Spectacle

This theme focuses on various efforts to put Istanbul on the maps of international art and culture events and their audiences. To what effect do mega-events influence how people imagine and identify with the city? What kinds of conflicts arise between local and international actors? How do cultural products, cinema and arts, engage creatively with processes of migration and globalization? Which works travel internationally and which are popular with domestic audiences?

Spaces of Nostalgia

This theme focuses on the spaces and practices of nostalgia. Architectural reconstructions, exhibitions of history, museumized environments, and literary accounts of old Istanbul become important venues for consuming a cosmopolitan Istanbul. What are specific ways different institutions, groups, and individuals participate in the culture of nostalgia? What are the modes and models of citizenship produced in spaces of nostalgia?

Please, send your submissions to: ipek at berkeley dot edu & dgokturk at berkeley dot edu & levsoy at khas dot edu dot tr

by May 20, 2008. And please, check this site for updates.

Schedule

Submission of abstracts           May 20, 2008

Notification of acceptance       June 15, 2008

Submission of papers              August 30, 2008

Conference presentations       September 26-27, 2008

Process

-Please, send an abstract of up to 500 words, institutional affiliation, and short curriculum vitae to both of the coordinators by email.

-Abstracts can be submitted by May 20.

-Authors of selected abstracts will be notified by the Coordinators by June 15.

-Participants will be expected to submit their full papers by August 30. Recommended paper length is 8000 words.

-Each presentation should take 20 minutes.

-After the conference, selected participants will be encouraged to develop their projects with the possibility to contribute to a future publication.

-The travel and accommodation costs of successful applicants can be, at least partially, covered by the organizers.

Coordinators Contact

Deniz Gokturk, Department of German, University of California Berkeley

Ipek Tureli, Department of Architecture, University of California, Berkeley

Levent Soysal, Department of Radio, Television, and Cinema, Kadir Has University

Co-Sponsors

Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of California, Berkeley

Townsend Center for Humanities, University of California, Berkeley

Institute of European Studies, University of California, Berkeley

Department of German, University of California, Berkeley

Department of Architecture, University of California, Berkeley