2015 SEA Annual Meeting

Image adapted from Kat N.L.M. https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangegreenblue/9496687828

2015 SEA CONFERENCE

TECHNOLOGIES AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF ECONOMIES

Lexington, Kentucky

April 9^th – 11^th, 2015

Keynote Speaker: Professor Barbara Mills, University of Arizona

Program Chairs:
Hsain Ilahiane, PhD, and Marcie L. Venter, PhD, University of Kentucky

REGISTER HERE (more information below)

Preliminary program /Call for papers / Paper and poster submission guidelines; Meeting format / Conference Registration, Fees / Accommodations / Travel / Regional attractions / Contact Organizers 

PRELIMINARY PROGRAM

CALL FOR PAPERS

From early iron forging, to ceramic monetary systems, to recent currency “creations” such as bit-coin; from gathering and hunting food harvesting technologies, to farming communities seeking cell phone based climate forecasting, to booms and busts of silicon valley and the digital age, technology has been ever-present in human economic life, past and present.   Technology, whether prehistoric inventions such as the wheel, or 21st century wireless communication, intersects with social and economic life and transforms human experience.

In the ancient world technological innovations were linked to the intensification of agriculture to feed growing populations; they permitted the extension of trade routes; and they expedited the extraction and transformation of mineral resources. In many instances, technological transformations made the impossible possible, allowing for the effects of climate and geography to be mitigated for the purposes of food production. The Early Modern Atlantic World itself was the product of technological innovations spurred by economic competition between world empires. In the subsequent Industrial Age, the connections between technology and economic expansion intensified, contributing to a scale of socio-economic inequality not previously seen.

In more recent times, we see an explosion of interest in the use of new technologies to solve pressing and cross-cutting problems of social, economic and political development. Scholarly literature and popular media are replete with success stories:  workers and freelancers generating higher revenues thanks to the availability of mobile phones; migrants wiring needed cash home using mobile banking and financial formats; entrepreneurs engaging in direct exchange with customers using online platforms and electronic payments and currencies; farmers using internet-based market price bulletins and mobile phones to negotiate for higher prices for their agricultural products; e-health using wireless applications to promote health services in remote and underserved areas; e-government initiatives to curtail corruption and red tape procedures; and smart mobs employing social media (websites, YouTube, twitter, etc.) to mobilize and escalate protests in times of political and economic crises (Rheingold 2003).  These technologies are engendering new ways of doing business and innovative economic exchanges, changing practices of self-representation, diverse modalities of engaging the nation state and emergent “recursive publics” (Kelty 2008), and novel forms of collaboration, irrespective of space and time constraints (Latham and Sassen 2005).

However, these new technologies raise critical questions: are the uses of these technologies changing political, economic and social dynamics? Is the “information/knowledge society” an inclusive one that accommodates the needs and aspirations of the poor and the marginalized?

Without doubt social-cultural life, whether in the present digital age, or past mechanical eras,  is marked by a rapid speed of technical innovation, and societies eventually take advances for granted and create normative conditions for their use. As Horst and Miller (2012) recently argued “what we experience is not a technology per se but an immediately culturally inflected genre of usage.”  Consequently, the key for anthropology is to investigate these nascent technologies before they become “rapidly mundane” (ibid).   This is important because it enables us to understand how technologies are changing human lives and cultures around the world, but also vice-versa: how cultural meanings and practices can change technologies to ensure that they enhance people’s lives and values rather than constrain or limit them.

We seek papers that explore different historical and spatial “sites” where technologies, economies and social-cultural life intersect in powerful ways.  Potential themes for exploration include: the linkages between the historical development of technologies, economic systems, and social-cultural change; the role of technology in exchange and trade; livelihoods and technology; technology and political-economic change, information technology and economic development, ontological questions of economic life in the technological age, and methodological issues in the study of technologies and economies. The topic is inherently interdisciplinary, demanding diversity in temporal scale, analytical unit and theoretical orientation, and thus we welcome submissions from anthropologists, archaeologists, economists, geographers, sociologists, historians, and applied and practicing social scientists.

Citations:

Horst, H. and Miller, D. 2012.  Normativity and Materiality: A View from Digital Anthropology. Media International Australia (145) 103 – 111.

Kelty, C. 2008. Two Bits: The Cultural Significance of Free Software. Durham: Duke University Press.

Latham, R. and Sassen, S. (eds.) Digital Formations: IT and New Architectures in the Global Realm.  Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Rheingold, H.  2003.  Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution.  New York: Basic Books.

PAPER AND POSTER ABSTRACT SUBMISSION

DEADLINE: December 15, 2014

Abstracts of proposed papers and posters should be no more than 500 words. Abstracts are due no later than December 15th, 2014. Abstracts must include the following sections: problem statement and theoretical frame, methodology, results, and implications. At the top of your abstract, please indicate your willingness to present a poster if the organizers are unable to accommodate your paper in the plenary sessions. Poster sessions at SEA are taken very seriously, and most conference participants attend these sessions. In order to be considered for inclusion in the journal issue tied to this theme, please plan to have a complete, publishable-quality version of your paper ready at the time of the conference. Additional information for potential authors will follow.

Abstracts of proposed papers and posters should be no more than 500 words, and should be submitted here, after completing the conference pre-registration here. Abstracts are due no later than DECEMBER 15, 2013.

POSTER PRESENTATIONS The SEA “happy hour” poster session is an inclusive and well-attended event at each annual conference. Papers not accepted for oral presentation are automatically eligible for inclusion in the poster session. Scholars whose work may not fit the central theme of the meeting are encouraged to submit a poster. The SEA always welcomes posters on any topic in economic anthropology.  

POSTER DIMENSIONS
Each kiosk consists of 3 soft-sound panels, measuring 46″ W x 40″ H, and mounted on two legs per frame to form a triangular stand (6 legs per kiosk). Thus, individual posters should be no greater than 46″ wide and 40″ high.

MEETING FORMAT The SEA meetings provide a rare opportunity for a focused and coherent program of presentation, with time for critical discussion in a convivial intellectual setting. Papers are selected for a program that allows 15-20 minutes for presentation and 15-20 minutes for discussion in plenary sessions over two days. Papers and posters from the SEA annual will be considered for publication in a special issue of the society’s journal: Economic Anthropology. Submitting a paper for the plenary sessions represents a commitment that you wish to be considered for inclusion in the journal. We encourage archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, economists, and other scholars concerned with the meeting theme to submit abstracts.

SEA 2015 CONFERENCE REGISTRATION, FEES

Registration is $100 for members, $125 for nonmembers and $70 for students. Please note that refunds can be issued up to one month in advance of the meetings in the case that your abstract is not accepted.

To Register and submit abstracts, start here. You will get the submission link in the confirmation email once you register.

ACCOMODATIONS

SEA has reserved a block of rooms at the Hyatt Regency Lexington at a discount rate.  Rooms are $183/night for single,  double, or triple occupancy. Please make your on-line reservation before the cutoff date of March 15^th, 2015 to receive the special Group Discount rate.  For reservations click here. You may also call the toll free reservation line at 800-233-1234.

TRAVEL

The Bluegrass Lexington Airport (LEX) is 6 miles from the Hyatt Regency Lexington.  The hotel offers a complimentary airport shuttle.

Alternative airports: The Cincinnati airport (CVG) and the Louisville airport (SDF) are approximately 80 miles from the Lexington Downtown Hilton and (about 1 hr. and 30 mins drive). An advantage of SDF is that the Southwest Airlines flies there.

For those who plan to drive, the hotel location is:

Hyatt Regency Lexington

401 West High Street

Lexington, Kentucky, 40507.

VENUE & REGIONAL ATTRACTIONS.

All the conference events will be held at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY. Click on this link http://maps.uky.edu/campusmap/ for the campus map of the University of Kentucky.

Lexington and the Bluegrass Region are home to world class Thoroughbred horses, the Bourbon industry, Toyota Corporation, Wildcats basketball, and the stunning natural scenery of the Bluegrass. You may consider renting a car to take advantage of what the city and the region have to offer. Here is a select set of websites on things to do and places to visit: The City of Lexington: http://www.visitlex.com/things-to-do/ ; Kentucky Bourbon Trail: http://kybourbontrail.com/; The Kentucky Horse Park: http://kyhorsepark.com/; Keeneland Thoroughbred Racing: http://www.keeneland.com/; and Natural Bridge State Resort Park: http://parks.ky.gov/parks/resortparks/Natural-Bridge/default.aspx

PROGRAM CHAIRS: CONTACT INFORMATION

Hsain Ilahiane, Department of Anthropology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, hsain.ilahiane[at]uky[dot]edu, phone: 859-257-6920.

Marcie L. Venter, Department of Anthropology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506,
marcie.venter[at]uky[dot]edu, phone: 859-257-2710.