CALL FOR PAPERS

5th Annual South African Qualitative Methods Conference:

NORMALITY & PSYCHOPATHOLOGY IN THE LATE 20TH CENTURY

Tentative dates: 6-7 September 1999.

Host Institution: University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.

Deadline for proposals: 15 May 1999.

Notification of Acceptance 30 May 1999.

Deadline for early registration 15 August 1999.

Modernity's 'problem of pathology' manifested itself in the era's preoccupation both with the reification of various practices and ideals or normality, and with a a relentless fascination concerning the identity and nature of the deviant, maladjusted, monstrous or 'otherly'. In fact, the 20th Century has seen both a carnivalesque proliferation in the forms, varieties and manifestations of abnormality and pathology, and concurrently, the rise of social and medical disciplines intent on the classification and domestication of such transgressive behaviours and identities. This conference will accordingly trace both the explosive growth in the varieties of pathology, and the disciplinary mechanisms which have helped to know, produce and control them. Original papers are invited that utilize a revisionist, deconstructionist or critical approach to understanding particular forms of psychopathology and abnormality. Although the predominant focus will be on re-thinking specific varieties of pathology via new theory and critical trends, papers are also welcomed that identify and explicate new historically and geographically specific forms of pathology. Furthermore, theoretical papers that query the philosophical under-pinnings of various forms of 'otherness', abnormality and deviance, and that critique the linguistic and material practices (across the dimensions of race, culture, gender, the body, etc.) that generate pathology, are likewise welcomed.

The conference will be the basis of a book of the same name, but of a more directed South African focus. Hence strong, original and accessible papers with critical import to both a student and a more senior academic audience stand a good chance of being included. For more information, or to submit paper abstracts or presentation proposals (of not more than 200 words) send e-mail to [email protected] Postal enquiries may be addressed to Derek Hook, Box 54, WITS, 2050. Similarly, the criteria for inclusion in the final book (regards structure, lay-out, format, content and style of submissions) can be obtained from Derek Hook.

Please note that mutli-disciplinary work and variable presentation formats are encouraged.