C A L L F O R P A P E R S : The Nongovernmental Impulse Symposium
Call for Papers and Work in Progress
Deadline: March 12, 2012
Symposium dates: Thursday, April 19 – Friday, April 20, 2012
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Nonprofit and Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are called upon as solutions to an ever-widening array of social problems, including world poverty, economic development, sexual health “crises,” environmental degradation, and even criminal activities such as human trafficking. These organizations produce often-consequential rhetorics and pursue decisive actions in promoting social justice and otherwise rectifying social inequalities. Yet a growing
body of literature points to the ways in which nonprofits and NGOs serve as ostensible surrogates for serving—and funding—social welfare for neoliberal states and intergovernmental organizations, facilitating neoliberal aims of economic liberalization and privatization of public resources, even while propagating seemingly universal principles of self-empowerment and participation. The “Nongovernmental Impulse” Symposium aims to consider the nature of nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations and their relations to states and a global civil society, the positioning of civil society and its institutions in promoting a more democratic world, and the interface of civil society with the academy as a topic of scholarship and collaboration.
“The Nongovernmental Impulse” Symposium organizing committee seeks individual presentations of current or completed research that analyzes domestic and international NGO work. We invite scholars and practitioners to present individual papers, work in progress, developing research, hands-on workshops, and multimedia sessions. This symposium is part of Graduate College Focal Point faculty and student collaborative working group. Please see http://
thenongovernmentalimpulse.weebly.com/ for more information our group.
Abstracts should be 250 words and include a title, the author’s name, affiliation, and contact information. Please submit your abstract as an attachment to [email protected] by Monday, March 12, 2012. Inquiries can be sent to the same email address.
Topics may include, but are not limited to:
- Nonprofit and Nongovernmental Organizations
- State governance
- Privatization of public resources
- Foundations and funding
- Governance of care
- Self-empowerment
- Neoliberalism and the welfare state
- Global civil societies
- Transnational identities and movement
- Globalization
- Democratic subjects
- Youth populations
- Gender, race, sexuality
- Third World/Women of Color feminism
- New technologies and communication