EVENT DETAILS

WHO CARES?: Workshop on the Economies, Technologies, and Ethics of Aid

The Institute for International, Global and Regional Studies (IIGaRS) invites proposals for papers or panels on the theme of "Who Cares? The Economies, Technologies and Ethics of Aid," to take place at UCI in early October.

What has been called “the Great Aid Debate,” regarding whether non-governmental assistance to populations in need around the world results in improvements in social welfare or worsening economic conditions has played out in numerous scholarly works, best-selling, popular books and ever-increasing numbers of news articles over the past several years. Yet the popular discussion tends to remain fairly superficial, focusing on aid efficiency and measurable economic results rather than the historical, socio-cultural and political tensions and contradictions in aid provision, and the scholarly discussion has not sufficiently bridged the gap between socio-cultural critiques and the understanding of emerging technologies and economies of aid.

In keeping with the purpose of IIGaRS -- to foster collaborations across campus and produce new knowledge on critical issues that cross borders -- papers and panels in this workshop should probe aspects of the economies, technologies and ethics of aid, drawing on faculty and graduate students across campus (Social Sciences, Humanities, Arts, Public Health, Physics and Chemistry, Engineering, ICS, Social Ecology, Law, etc.), along with a targeted selection of invited guests from outside of UCI.

Papers and panels might address, for example, how technologies (past and present) have shaped and are shaping the aid landscape, from medical technologies to agricultural and engineering innovations, the increasing use of social media, twitter, blogs, and websites by NGOs vis-a-vis donor practices (religious, corporate, state, international organization) of the past, the changing legal architecture of aid, critical environmental threats that are changing the aid landscape (climate change, water shortages, farming practices, air pollution), new technologies used to assess and monitor them (including drones), and the ethics of aid practices of the past and present. Panels can also be developed using innovative formats, including new media and the arts. We envision the production of an edited volume with selections from workshop presentations.

Paper or panel proposals are welcome and due by Wednesday, July 1, to Gloria Simpson at simpsong@uci.edu. Please feel free to nominate additional experts outside of UCI as well. A committee will select and notify presenters shortly thereafter.

Individual presentation/paper proposals should include your name, department, contact information, presentation title and a (maximum) 150-word abstract. Paper/individual presentation proposals can be on any aspect of the economies, technologies, or ethics of aid.

Panel proposals should include panel title and purpose, (maximum) 150 word panel or roundtable abstract, and list of participants with names, contact information and a sentence or two detailing the topic of each presentation/paper. Panel proposals should, whenever possible, include presenters from at least two (or more) disciplines, to provide cross-cutting perspectives on issues of aid (i.e., a panel on drone technology in aid work could include both engineers and faculty/students from the social sciences and humanities -- please let us know if you would like suggestions or have questions).

Co-sponsors thus far include the Forum for the Academy and the Public, the Literary Journalism Program, the Center on Ethics and Morality, the Newkirk Center for Science and Society, the Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy, and Humanities Commons. We invite all interested centers, institutes, and departments to co-sponsor this event.

We look forward to your submissions, and thank you in advance.


Cecelia Lynch
Professor, Department of Political Science
Director, Institute for International, Global and Regional Studies
(http://www.iigars.socsci.uci.edu/)
Co-Editor, CIHA blog (Critical Investigations into Humanitarianism in Africa)
(http://www.cihablog.com)