[Dancecult-l] Uncertain Vibes: Panel Session at Crossroads, Kingston Jamaica

[g.stjohn at warpmail.net]

Please find my call for abstracts in the following session at the 2008
Crossroads in Cultural Studies conference in Kingston Jamaica (July
3-7).

Session:
Uncertain Vibes: Tension, Contrast and Change in Electronic Dance Music
Cultures

>From house to techno, dubstep to psytrance, electronic dance music
cultures (EDMC) are contexts for popular ekstasis and the carnivalesque
flourishing in social dance movements possessing unprecedented
popularity. With inheritance from Jamaican dancehall and sound system
traditions, New York disco and house Dionysia, Detroit techno and
Afrofuturism, UK rave and the ‘chemical generation’, Goa trance and
psychedelia, etc, EDMCs are sites humming with diverse social,
stylistic, and technical influences. At the same time, EDMCs are highly
contested, with adversaries committed to repressive policies and
regulatory practices, or political mobilizations and adaptive moves to
maintain the vibe. As a result of this traffic and buzz (including that
generated by police helicopters), EDM genres are hives of contrast,
tension, and indeterminacy. Are aesthetic contrasts and social
contradictions resolved in the mix? What are the outcomes of tension
between adversaries? Are new dance musics and youth cultures emerging
from these dramas? If so, what do they look and sound like? Papers will
address these and related themes.

The official deadline for abstracts (150 words max) is Nov 30 2007.
Please post proposals to me (Graham St John) at
g.stjohn at uq.edu.au before Nov 30.

The conference details at: http://www.crossroads2008.org/

Thanks

Graham St John