LPAZ FORUM
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
ONE ATLANTIC MANY PERSPECTIVES – VALUING
DIVERSITY IN THE AGE OF COMPETITION
SEPTEMBER 5TH – 7TH, 2024 | SANTA MARIA, AZORES, PORTUGAL
The Atlantic Ocean’s importance for global affairs has varied across different ages. Modern times have been marked by European maritime expansion via the Atlantic, by slavery and colonization, as well as the globalization of western forms of economic, social, and political organisation. Nevertheless, in the early decades of the 21st century, the ascendance of other ocean regions in global affairs has raised questions about whether this would be the “Pacific century”, leading to the growing marginalisation of Atlantic politics in international fora.
Despite this context, China’s and Russia’s economic, political and military activities in the South Atlantic have contributed to raise European and North American interests in Africa and Latin America, after decades of neglect. The Covid-19 pandemics and the war in Ukraine have also contributed to raise the profile of the Atlantic as a critical lane for global trade and energy, and as an area of geopolitical competition, when Space industry and Climate Change underlines a borderless world, while the processes for the Extension of Continental Platforms promotes possession.
Equally important, the voices of the Global South have sought ways to shape narratives about the Atlantic, its memory, its global significance, and the priorities of action for Atlantic communities. The vast richness of connections across the Atlantic has made cooperation a necessity, valuing the role of Atlantic archipelagos, of coastal communities for climate resilience and food security, and of infrastructure development along the Atlantic for the participation of African and Latin American nations in the global economy, among many other examples.
All these phenomena resonate within literary cultural fields, particularly in the field of the “Literary Atlantic”, which is dedicated to the study of a corpus that is both geographically circumscribed, yet remarkably diverse, occasionally enabling a rich continental circulation. Supported by critical approaches, themes such as transnationality, crossing, exchange, and transfer, intrinsic to the Atlantic Ocean, challenge writers, artists, and researchers of many different disciplines alike.
The fifth edition of the LPAZ Forum will gather in Santa Maria Island – Azores, Portugal, on September 5th – 7th, 2024, under the theme “One Atlantic many perspectives – valuing diversity in the age of competition”. The three-day is organised by the LPAZ Association, in collaboration with the Center for International Studies of Iscte-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (CEI-Iscte), the Center for Humanistic Studies of the University of the Azores (CEHu), the Atlantic Centre, the Transatlantic Studies Association, the Portuguese Association of French Studies (APEF), the Margarida Losa Institute for Comparative Literature, and CHAM – Center for the Humanities, with the support of the Regional Government of the Azores, Vila do Porto’s Municipality, and FLAD – Luso-American Development Foundation.
This call for papers seeks contributions that address the many perspectives on the Atlantic, including, but not limited to, island states and regions, global south voices, coastal communities, and regional and international governance structures. Diversity of perspectives is also sought in terms of the areas of study which will be covered, including History, Political Science, International Relations, Literature, Sociology, Economics and Technology.
Conference Topics
1. The Azores and Atlantic geopolitics;
2. Atlantic Kinetics: transport, communications and connectivity [in memory of Alan Dobson];
3. Atlantic diasporas;
4. Environment and climate change;
5. History of Science in the Atlantic;
6. Island Studies, Island Literature, and representations of the Atlantic;
7. Atlantic Politics, State, Autonomy and Integration;
8. Geocritical and geopoetic approaches on the Literary Atlantic;
9. The Atlantic in literature, the media and other arts.
Individual paper proposals should be sent by email as one document attachment to forumlpaz@gmail.com and include:
• 300-word abstract for the paper;
• 100-word author biography.
Deadline: 31st March 2024.