CfP RGS-IBG 2018 ‘Being in the now’: Feminist geographies of non-teleological practices

RGS-IBG Annual International Conference, Cardiff University, 28-31 August 2018.
 
‘Being in the now’: Feminist geographies of non-teleological practices
 
This session is sponsored by the Gender and Feminist Geographies Research Group
 
Session Organisers: Clare Holdsworth, Keele University (c.m.holdsworth@keele.ac.uk) and Sarah Marie Hall, University of Manchester (s.m.hall@manchester.ac.uk)
 
Attention to the importance of taken-for-granted, everyday activities has been a key theme in the production of feminist geographical knowledge.  As Dyke argues it is necessary to pay ‘close attention to the spaces of everyday life to keep women visible in rapidly changing world conditions’ (2005, 234). This focus on the everyday is not though simply a matter of making women visible to acknowledge their contribution to families, communities and neighbourhoods, but also reveals the significance of women’s lives in the present time.  There is we suggest an important temporal, as well as spatial, aspect of everyday practices that can be examined through a non-teleological perspective.  The focus of attention of non-teleological reasoning is against the assumptions of ‘in order to rationality’ which prioritises the outcome of activities rather than their embodied experiences.  Evoking a non-teleological perspective foregrounds the significance of activities in the present time and the meanings ascribed to doings rather than endings. They are synergies here with the current popularity of mindfulness and emphasis on ‘being in the now’.
We invite papers to contribute to debates about how a focus on the significance of present temporalities can enrich feminist geographical knowledge.  Possible topics may include, but are not restricted to:
•             Living with austerity
•             Flow activities and positive psychology
•             Temporalities of activism
•             Feminist becomings
•             Mindfulness and motherhood
•             Feminist environmentalism and the everyday
•             Creativity and non-teleological reasoning
 
Please send abstracts of no more than 250 words to Clare Holdsworth (c.m.holdsworth@keele.ac.uk)  by 5pm  Friday 2nd February 2018. These should include title, author affiliation and email address.