North-Net Agenda 5 May, 2006

The Northern Network of Critical Global Scholars (North-Net)

International Politics Research Group, University of Newcastle
Newcastle Institute for the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities (NIASSH)

Inaugural Meeting

5 May, 2006
Mertz Court L302
University of Newcastle

Agenda

11:00-11:30 Introduction and Welcome
Barry Gills (Politics, University of Newcastle)
Kyle Grayson (Politics, University of Newcastle)

11:30-1:00 Session I: Critical Scholarship, Critical Pedagogy, and the (Counter) Production of Global Knowledge

Traditionally the academy has been integral in the production of knowledge of the ‘global’ which has both reflected and made possible particular sets of hierarchical power relations. What roles can critical scholarship play in countering dominant narratives in academia and in popular discourse? What then might it mean to teach the ‘global’ critically? What are the prospects of 'engagement' in academic research, including with social movements or popular organizations and NGOs, indigenous peoples, and other 'subjects' or 'units' - of analysis? Have new challenges and opportunities presented themselves in the current historical context, both inside and outside the university? How can we encourage and help undergraduates and postgraduates who are interested in pursuing critical projects? Will current and proposed RAE procedures circumscribe the space for critical research?

Chair and Presenters:

Matt Davies (Politics, University of Newcastle)

Bernadette Buckley (Art Gallery and Museum Studies, University of Newcastle)
Jocelyn Mawdsley (Politics, University of Newcastle)
David Mutimer (Centre for International Cooperation and Security, University of Bradford)

1:00-2:00 Lunch

2:00-3:30 Session II: Critical Narratives of Imperialism and Empire

Narratives of imperialism and empire have a lengthy genealogy in critical scholarship. To what extent have these critical narratives proliferated in the post-9/11 world? What can they add to our understandings of the ‘global’? Have they changed the ways in which we perceive our own disciplines and the (imaginary) boundaries among them? What can they offer in terms of broader projects of socio-political transformation, or are strategies of direct resistance ill-advised in the current global environment?

Chair and Presenters

Barry Gills (Politics, University of Newcastle)

Hartmut Behr (Politics, University of Newcastle)
Mick Drake (Criminology and Sociological Studies, University of Hull)
Vass Fouskas (Politics, Stirling)