The Activist History Review invites proposals for its annual conference on June 16, 2018, organized around the theme of power.
Whether through “fake news,” “alternative facts,” or outright lies, evidence-based disciplines are under attack in the public sphere. Donald Trump’s frequent falsehoods about the climate, healthcare, immigrants, African Americans, the U.S. military,
NATO, Russia, and a host of other misleading statements have become a staple of American news. No matter how brazen Trump’s lies have been, polling suggests that the president’s supporters don’t mind, with only 3% regretting their vote in November.
The first annual conference of TAHR encourages submissions on the theme of power. Trump’s appeal lies not in his ideological coherence or understanding of the issues, but as a conduit of power for various conservative
constituencies who, until recently, pundits predicted might be demographically condemned to obscurity. Subsequent polling, the rhetoric of the 2016 campaign itself, and the election’s outcome suggest that many who voted for Trump in November were concerned
with being permanently disempowered. If we are to understand a system of power premised on the promise and threat to “make America great again,” we must investigate the relationship to power conjured by those who utter it.
We invite panel, poster, roundtable, and individual proposals exploring power and its applications—broadly conceived—from academics and activists alike. Power might be expressed in systems of coercion associated with the state, but is also evident
in relationships of production and consumption that touch our daily lives. Power is also applied rhetorically through ideological systems associated with politics, race, gender, sexuality, markets, and religion. Finally, power may be realized ecologically
through our relationship to and interaction with pollution, climate change, and foodways. However we conceive of power, our willingness to resist its abuse will define our generation.
The conference will be held Saturday, June 16, 2018 at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Please email proposals of no more than 300 words for panels and individual papers to Andreas Meyris (
[log in to unmask]) by Wednesday,
April 18th, along with a brief bio and current contact information.