CFP: [American] American Studies Beyond the Center-Periphery Model (M/MLA)

Recent work on global circulatory systems has placed a center-periphery
model of global socioeconomic flows under a lot of scrutiny, frequently
asking whether or to what end this model remains relevant. This accepted
M/MLA panel seeks papers addressing what functions the center-periphery
model serves for an understanding of the circulation of texts, bodies,
ideas, especially in relation to the field of American studies.

Questions of interest include: What role does willful transposition or
misrecognition play in maintaining the stability of a discourse? Where are
moments when the center of the center-periphery model shifts, why, and who
(re)defines the center? What cycles of commodification circulate when
consumption becomes a form of production? Is there a choice between endless
consumption and the recycling of earlier themes? How does the integrity of
a nation-state hold up in an era of increasingly complex and transnational
flows of finance capital and does this obviate or sophisticate a
center-periphery model?

250 word abstracts and a brief CV to Nathan Leahy (n-leahy_at_northwestern
.edu) or Jason Malikow (j-malikow_at_northwestern .edu) by 15 April.

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Received on Thu Apr 03 2008 - 07:01:44 EST