"Identifications. Performing Counter Discrimination” is an international, interdisciplinary conference organised by Ca’ Foscari University of Venice’s Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage. The conference takes place on the 20th of November 2024, in Venice, at Ca' Dolfin (1st floor, Aula Magna Silvio Trentin). The conference has the aim to explore processes of identification capable of contesting discrimination, xenophobia, and cultural racism, by offering insights from various performance practices. The registration is free for everyone wishing to attend the conference.
For the past two decades, far-right political parties have been steadily ascending in political power globally. Europe, home to some of the world’s oldest democracies, is a particularly interesting case. It includes numerous examples from across the continent, from the United Kingdom Independence Party, the French National Rally, and Alternative for Germany, to the Swedish Democrats, the Finns Party, and the Hungarian Fidesz, as well as Brothers of Italy, the Dutch Freedom Party, the Flemish Interest, and Enough in Portugal. A recent analysis for the European Council on Foreign Relations forecasted that in the 2024 European Parliament elections, the far-right will most likely top the polls across many EU states (Cunningham, Hix & Denisson 2024). Indeed, this prediction became reality after the EU elections held from 6-9 June, 2024.
The ascent of the far-right is intricately linked to key developments in recent global and European history, as it has leveraged the increasing embrace of multiculturalism, advancements in gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights, and the rise of social media, to advance nationalist agendas centred on identity politics, the preservation of traditional values, and reaching and radicalizing a broader audience. Some of the pivotal events, such as the EU's enlargement (2004, 2007), the debt crisis (2009-18), increased migration dynamics (2015-), and challenges in health (2019-23), protection and energy (2022-), further propelled the rise of far-right. Acknowledging the decline in national, economic, cultural, health, protective and energy security, far-right parties frequently attribute these challenges to both internal and external immigrants. By mobilizing stigmata of otherness such as colour, name, language, or religious practice, they cultivate the sense of identification among the people around discourses (languages, practices, and institutions) centred on a singular, monocultural concept of nativist identity. These types of group identification manifest through different symbolic and affective ties that legitimise discrimination, xenophobia, and cultural racism as self-preservative, defensive mechanisms. Consequently, all discontent with the security situation becomes embodied in dis/identification with the other.
In psychoanalysis, identification is understood to involve both symbolic and affective ties with another person or group, as individuals internalize symbolic structures and form emotional attachments (Lacan 1966, Klein 1957, Freud 1921). And, while group identification may promote life-affirming desires for connection, social justice, and equality, among its members, it can also evoke conscious and unconscious feelings of jealousy, hostility, or envy through the exaggeration of differences with neighbouring communities with (dis)similar cultures (De Zavala and Lantos 2020, Keval 2016, Freud 1930). Psychoanalytic political theory also acknowledges the enduring nature of the dual process of group identification along the we/they divide, highlighting the profound influence of both symbolic and emotional connections in shaping group identification and the inherent conflict within society (Stavrakakis 2020, 2005). The primary aim of democracy, therefore, is to prevent conflicts marked by a 'us versus them' interactions to take form of antagonism and enmity to one of constructive disagreement where different factions are viewed as agonistics and adversaries (Mouffe 2005).
Taking a cue from psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic political theory, this conference seeks to examine how far-right practices of identification, which mobilize people around a nativist, monocultural identity, can be contested by fostering a plural and intercultural sense of identification. Through this exploration, the conference aims to address discrimination, xenophobia, and cultural racism, which stem from the exaggeration of cultural differences in multicultural societies and the cultivation of antagonistic sentiments.
This examination delves into the role of various embodying practices in contributing to this transformative process. Performance studies designates all human inter/actions under the term of ‘performance’ understood as an embodying practice (Schechner 2002/1966). Embodiment arises at the nexus of bodily actions (Goffman 1956) and speech acts (Austin 1962) through attributive meaning-making operations (Butler 1997) and affective investments (Ahmed 2014, Laclau 2005). Accordingly, group identification stands for an indissociable embodiment of signifying and affective dimensions (Petrović Lotina & Aiolfi 2023), that manifest through various performances choreographed around antagonistic or agonistic political dynamics.
Drawing thus inspiration from a range of choreopolitical performances, including everyday interactions (such as social encounters, education programs, institutional practices), civic engagements (like protests, speeches, and policy initiatives), and artistic expressions (including theatre, dance, music, and artivism), the conference seeks to offer a perspective on the processes of meaning-making, discourse, and emotional connections, recognising conflictual dynamics at the hearth of society while fostering group identifications through diversity, internationalism, xenophilia, and inclusion.
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Abstract and bios - panel 1 | 212 KB |
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Abstract and bios - panel 2 | 216 KB |
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Bio - keynote speaker | 30 KB |
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Abstract and bios - panel 3 | 220 KB |
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Bios - roundtable | 204 KB |
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Call for papers "Identifications. Performing Counter Discrimination"
Abstract submission (300 words abstract and 150 words bio): by 25th May 2024. Notification of selection: by 14th June. The conference will be followed by a special issue of an edited journal. |
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Taking into consideration that far-right politics is a global phenomenon, we invite contributions from different geographical regions and continents to discuss progressive practices of identification. The themes could include, but are not limited to issues relating performance, identification, and:
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