[Reader-list] Call for Papers :: Contested Commons/Trespassing Publics

[Jeebesh Bagchi]

*Call for Papers *

*Contested Commons/Trespassing Publics :: *
A Conference on Inequalities, Conflicts and Intellectual Property

6th - 8th January 2005 in New Delhi, India.

The past  few years have seen conflicts over the regulation of 
information; knowledge and cultural materials increase in intensity and 
scope. This conflict has widened to include new geographical spaces, 
particularly China, India, South Africa and Brazil. Moreover, a range of 
new problems, including the expansion of intellectual property 
protection to almost all spheres of our social life, has intensified the 
nature of the conflict. It is important to recognize that the nature of 
the conflict gets configured differently as we move from the United 
States and Europe to social landscapes marked by sharp inequalities in 
Asia, Latin America and Africa.

In the light of these transformations, we would like to revisit earlier 
discussions on creativity, innovation, authorship, and the making of 
property. Is it possible to draw comparative registers between earlier 
histories of violence and dispossession that accompanied the making of 
property, and the current turbulence around intellectual property on 
world scale?

In this conference, we would like to push comparative discussions 
between earlier and contemporary moments of dispossession and 
criminalisation, between the open source movement and discussions on 
traditional knowledge and biodiversity. We would also like to build a 
dialogue between different moments in media history: print, film, music 
and the new media, so as to prise open questions around culture, 
circulation and property.

This conference aspires to interrogate the philosophical persuasions, 
cultural dynamics, political economy and legal grids that constitute the 
contemporary consensus. This cross-disciplinary conference will bring 
together people from different areas of study: law, history, sociology, 
literature, anthropology, development and cultural studies, film and 
media studies.

The conference is organised by Sarai (www.sarai.net), a programme of the 
Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi, and the Alternative 
Law Forum (ALF), Bangalore. Sarai's research programme focuses on urban 
culture and the media, while ALF is a collective of critical legal 
researchers and practitioners based in Bangalore. Sarai and ALF have 
been collaborating on research and practice in the domain of 'Knowledge 
and Culture Commons' over the last two years.

Abstracts of three hundred words (300) are invited. The abstracts may 
address anyone of the above themes.

We will support travel and board of all selected participants resident 
in the South.

Last date for submission of abstracts is the 15th of September 2004

Please mail your abstracts to <ipabstract at sarai.net>

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Conference Editors:
 >From Sarai/CSDS: Jeebesh Bagchi, Ravi Sundaram
 >From ALF: Lawrence Liang, Sudhir Krishnaswamy
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Sarai
Center for Study of Developing Studies (CSDS)
29, Rajpur Road
Delhi 110054, India
Ph: 91 11 23960040
Fax: 91 11 23943450
Email: <ipl at sarai.net>

Alternative Law Forum (ALF)
122/4 Infantry Road,
Bangalore 560 001, Karnataka
Phone: 91 80 22865757
Email: <alforum at vsnl.net>
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