'Making' and 'doing' the Material World: Anthropology of Techniques revisited
A UCL Anthropology Workshop
19th-20th January
2008
A workshop sponsored by the Journal of Material Culture.
The 'making' of the material world has been a long standing concern of
the French Anthropology of Techniques (Leroi-Gourhan, Haudricourt,
Lemonnier) who views technology as a universal and distinctive category of
material activity. Technology 'is an ongoing and unfinished process through
which people, society' and things 'weave … the meaningful conditions of everyday
life' (Dobres 2000:4). This workshop aims to discuss the uses, contributions and
weaknesses of the French school of Anthropology of Techniques and to
explore alternatives and recent theoretical developments. Under a
cross-disciplinary perspective, it will consider the dimension of 'doing' the
everyday material world (de Certeau 1984) through the daily use of technology.
It will explore technology and techniques such as techniques of the body (Mauss
1936/1979), technical gestures (Leroi-Gourhan 1945/1993) and techniques of the
self (Foucault 1978) in relation to embodied practice, language and cognition.
We invite scholars working within anthropology, archaeology and sociology to
explore technology as a category in its own right from empirically grounded
perspective.
This workshop hopes to create a sustained and
cross-disciplinary debate around technology as a distinctive category of
material activity. It is anticipated that the following questions and issues,
amongst others, will be considered:
a) The role of techniques (i.e.
technical gestures, techniques of the self, techniques of the body) in
constructing the material world,
b) The role of the material environment in
the construction of cognitive, embodied knowledge and representations,
c)
The constitution of the subject through the production of objects (technologies
of power, process of subjectivation and governmentalities),
d) The object
'coming-into-being' (Ingold 2000) through materiality and process of
objectification,
e) The role of the senses, emotions, pain/pleasure, fear in
apprehending and constructing the material world.
Speakers
Joshua Bell (Sainsbury Research
Unit, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia)
Ludovic
Coupaye (Musée du quai Branly, Paris/University of East Anglia)
Tim Dant
(Lancaster University)
Susanne Kuechler (UCL)
Lars Fosberg (Bergen
University, Norway)
Olivier Gosselain (ULB, Belgium)
Paul Lane (University
of York)
Jerome Lewis (UCL)
Trevor Marchand (SOAS)
Peter Oakley
(Bournmouth University)
Paul Richards (Technology & Agrarian Development,
Wageningen University, Holland)
Michael Rowlands and Dorian Fuller
(UCL)
Volker Sommer (UCL)
Chris Tilley (UCL)
Jean-Pierre Warnier
(EHESS, Paris)
The workshop is organized by Myriem Naji (UCL) and
Laurence Douny (UCL).
Website Links
University College London-Department of
Anthropology
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology/
Journal of
material culture
http://www.sagepub.co.uk/journalsProdDesc.nav?prodId=Journal200859
Workshop timetables
The event will commence
at 9.30 am on Saturday 19th January 2008 and it is estimated that it will end
Sunday 20th at 6pm. The Workshop buffet will be held on the evening of Saturday
19th January at 7.30 pm.
Costs
The Workshop
fee is £14 (£10 for student delegates). This includes refreshments
(tea/coffee/biscuits), lunch on both days and a delegate pack. It does not
include accommodation or transport or the workshop buffet. The fee charged to
delegates is to cover the basic running costs associated with the event. Only
prepaid bookings can be accepted; booking and payment should be received by the
6th of January.
Workshop buffet
A buffet
will be held at the Department of Anthropology. It will take place at 7.30pm on
Saturday 19th January. We can accommodate a range of dietary requirements, but
you must inform us of this on your booking form. Places for the buffet are
available by advance booking only. The charge for the buffet including wine is
£15 (for students and non students) and should be paid at the time of booking.
Deadline and payment
Places for the
workshop are limited; early registration is strongly encouraged.
Deadline for
booking places on the workshop, for the buffet and lunches is 6th January
2008.
All payment must be by cheque made payable to University
College London - UCL Anthropology Workshop and sent to
Myriem Naji-Department of Anthropology (UCL)
14 Taviton Street
London WC1H 0BW
(Form and payment by cheque)
For details
please contact:
Myriem Naji at myriemnaji@yahoo.co.uk
Accommodation
Delegates are responsible for
all charges associated with their accommodation. The area surrounding the
University has numerous bed and breakfasts and small hotels within walking
distance. The following list shows some accommodation providers.
http://www-mice.cs.ucl.ac.uk/multimedia/projects/icecar/hotel.html
Detailed information about UCL can be found on the website:
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology/
Maps
and Directions
The Workshop will take place at the UCL
Anthropology Department 14 Taviton street WC1H 0BW in the Lecture theatre,
ground floor (facing the reception). On map 2, the Anthropology Department is
indicated as E3 (just behind the Institute of Archeology).
A Campus map is
available online:
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/about-ucl/location/maps
The
nearest underground station is Euston, which is on the Northern line. The
Anthropology Department is within walking distance (5-10 minutes) of the
following underground and train stations : Euston, King's Cross, St Pancras,
Euston square, Warren Street, Goodge Street and Russell Square.
For an
underground map click here:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/1108.aspx
For
information on travelling into London from various Airports:
http://www.visitlondon.com/
or http://www.ukguide.org/
For transport within
London:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD
APPLICATION PACK
CLICK HERE TO
DOWNLOAD WORKSHOP ABSTRACTS
