Stop the Arms Fair: Conference at the Gates
A Workshop on Militarism, Resistance and Academic Praxis
Where: ExCeL Centre, East London, E16 1XL
When: Thursday 10th September 2015
This September arms dealers from around the world will congregate in London’s ExCeL Centre for the DSEI arms fair. As one of the world’s largest arms fairs, DSEI brings together over 1,500 arms companies and military delegations from over 100 countries.
On display will be everything from crowd control equipment to machine guns, tanks, drones and even battleships. It’s a crucial event in the business of the international arms trade, and the deals done here play a major role in reinforcing Western militarism, fueling conflict, repressing dissent and strengthening authoritarian regimes across the world.
The Stop the Arms Fair coalition have called a week of action at the venue to disrupt the setup of the arms fair. On Thursday 10th September, the protests will focus on the relationship between militarism and education. As part of this day, there will be an open air academic workshop at the gates of the ExCeL Centre.
The aim is to build networks of solidarity in opposition to the arms trade, to explore forms of academic practice that don’t stop at the university walls, and to directly disrupt the setup of the arms fair. Blurring lines between theory and practice, academics from a range of disciplines will gather at this event to explore issues and ideas relating to contemporary militarism and global politics.
Call for Papers
Papers, presentations and performances are welcome on any theme. However, we particularly encourage contributions that focus on aspects of conflict, security, militarism and warfare, and those which engage the politics of protest and resistance. Possible topics include:
- The political economy of the arms trade
- The militarisation of police and security forces
- Contemporary imperialism and colonialism
- The gendered politics of conflict and militarism
- The neoliberalisation of war
- Militarism in everyday life
- Prospects for resistance during the second Tory government
- The Egyptian Revolution: five years on
- Resisting new strategies of repression
- Peace movements and anti-militarism
Presentations should be between 10 and 15 minutes. Please send a title and a short bio to chris_rossdale(at)hotmail*com by the 10th July 2015. Alternatively, let us know if you would like to keep in touch about the event.
