We are pleased to announce our 2018 INoGS Conference will be at Marseille University in Marseille, France July 4th – 7th, 2018. Please see additional information below or by visiting the conference website!

International Network of Genocide Scholars (INoGS)

6th Global Conference on Genocide

CALL FOR PAPERS

Medical Faculty of Aix-Marseille University (France), 4-7 July 2018

Genocide and Mass Violence: diagnosis, treatment, and recovery? Humanities, social and medical sciences facing extreme violence

Context

The International Network of Genocide Scholars (INoGS) was founded in January 2005 in Berlin to provide genocide studies with a non-partisan forum through which to present research and analysis on any aspect of genocide as well as other forms of collective violence. Because genocide is a highly contested legal, historical, sociological and political concept, INoGS has, since its founding, maintained support of research-led analysis rather than politically-defined agendas.

The series of Global Conferences organized by INoGS since 2009 in Sheffield, Brighton, San Francisco, Cape Town and Jerusalem, have witnessed intensified scholarly engagement with a range of issues of fundamental importance to the field of genocide studies, including theoretical and methodological approaches to the subject, the legal and ethical bases upon which to approach episodes of extreme violence, as well as the need to develop more effective means of stopping and preventing mass violence globally.

Conference aims

For more than 70 years, following the seminal analysis developed by legal scholar Raphael Lemkin, academics, practitioners, and researchers from a variety of disciplines have addressed the issue of genocide and mass violence using a wide range of empirical and theoretical approaches to explore case studies throughout history. Interdisciplinary research across the humanities, legal and social sciences, as well as comparative approaches, have thus characterized genocide studies.

However, even if extreme violence is relevant to various medical fields such as psychology, psychiatry and forensic anthropology, dialogue with the humanities and social sciences has been slow to develop. The 6th Global Conference of INoGS, to be held at the Medical Faculty of Aix-Marseille University (France) on 4-7 July 2018, therefore seeks to open new avenues for research on extreme violence while stimulating interdisciplinary exchanges between the humanities, social, and medical sciences. The early detection and prevention of mass violence represents a global challenge for each and every one of these fields of knowledge.

This conference will thus seek to discuss various examples of past and contemporary mass crimes, delve into the causes as well as the short and long- term effects of genocidal processes, and foster dialogue between stakeholders who rarely exchange views.

Conference topics

The organizers invite proposals for papers, panels and roundtables on any aspect of genocide and mass crime. We are especially keen to receive proposals from Latin America, Asia and Africa. Scholars working on topics such as sexual violence, forced disappearances, torture, mass trauma, forced separation of children from their families, conflict resolution, and mediation initiatives are particularly encouraged to submit abstracts. Presentations on recent experiences of mass violence, such as those in Syria, Darfur, Iraq, Mexico, Colombia, and Myanmar are expressly welcome. We encourage the submission of papers and panels on issues regarding violence contamination and containment processes. Another theme of particular interest is that of humanitarian intervention and the ethical challenges it poses.

Other topics of interest include, but are not restricted to:

Symptoms and diagnoses

• Individual cases or comparative analyses of genocide and mass violence
• Colonialism and mass crime
• Prevention of collective violence
• Gendered violence, abduction and forced transfer of children from their families
• Mass trauma: voices of victims
• Roles of perpetrators, bystanders and victims
• Forensic architecture, satellite imagery and tools for detecting mass murder
• 
Mass death and migration
• Refugee camps

Treatment


• International law, criminal tribunals, and the International Criminal Court
• Humanitarian and military intervention
• Transitional justice
• Mass exhumation and identification of victims
• DNA banks

Recovery


• The repercussions of mass violence in both the short and long term
• The politics of apology, reconciliation and restitution
• Genocide denial, justifications and silences
• Memorialization and commemoration of atrocities
• Genocide, mass violence and the internet
• Representations of genocide in literature, film, art, music and other media
• Academic and educational practice within the field of genocide studies

Submission procedure

Participation is not restricted to INoGS members. We welcome interdisciplinary and theoretically-informed approaches as well as trans-disciplinary dialogue. Submissions from scholars, postgraduate students, as well as practitioners and researchers working in government, the NGO sector and other institutions are invited.

From mid October 2017, prospective participants will be able to upload proposals in the form of abstracts of no more than 250 words via the conference website at http://inogsconference2018.com. A biographical sketch of no more than 100 words will also be required. Panel and roundtable submissions need, in addition, to explain the rationale behind the suggestion. Queries relating to this process can be sent to admin@inogsconference2018.com. Applicants can expect to learn the outcome of their proposals within four weeks of submission. After their proposals have been accepted participants will need to register online at http://inogsconference2018.com/ which contains further information about the conference, fees, accommodation options, travel advice, and other relevant matters. Participants registering before 15th February will receive a 10% discount for early registration.

The closing date for paper, panel and round table submissions is 15th March 2018.

Funding Opportunities

INoGS is pleased to announce that funding is available to subsidize the attendance of scholars and PhD students from the Global South and from countries experiencing major financial difficulties. The number of grants available is limited.

Prospective presenters from the Global South and from countries experiencing major financial difficulties are thus invited to apply for support to attend the conference under the conference website’s “SCHOLARSHIPS” tab, after their paper or panel proposal has been accepted. The closing date for applications is 28th February 2018 and awards will be announced before the end of March 2018. Please refer to the conference website for details.

Queries relating to the conference may be sent either to Elisabeth Anstett at e.anstett@corpsesofmassviolence.eu or to info@inogsconference2018.com

Conference Steering Committee

Dr. Elisabeth Anstett, CNRS, Chair of the Committee
Mme Laetitia Delouis, CNRS-AMU, Coordinator of the Committee Mr Valery Ravix, AMU, IT manager

Conference Scientific Committee

Prof. Pascal Adalian, forensic anthropologist, AMU (France)
Dr. Pamela Colombo, sociologist, EHESS (France)
Prof. Jean-Marc Dreyfus, historian, the University of Manchester (UK)
Dr. Francisco Ferrandiz, social anthropologist, CSIC (Spain)
Prof. Caroline Fournet, legal scholar, University of Groningen (Netherlands)
Prof. Sévane Garibian, legal scholar, University of Geneva (Switzerland)
Dr. Gabriel Gatti, sociologist, University of Basque Country (Spain)
Dr. Anne Guillou, social anthropologist, CNRS (France)
Prof. Mario Ranaletti, historian, Universidad Nacional Tres de Febrero (Argentina) Prof. Nicky Rousseau, historian, University of Western Cape (RSA)
Dr. Michel Signoli, archaeologist, CNRS (France)