Seminar om de dødes rolle – politisk og på anden vis

Time: Friday, 17 December at 09.00 – 12.00 hours

Venue: Danish Institute for International Studies, Main Auditorium, ground floor, Strandgade 71, Christianshavn, 1401 Kbn K

Background

Time: Friday, 17 December at 09.00 – 12.00 hours

Venue: Danish Institute for International Studies, Main Auditorium, ground floor, Strandgade 71, Christianshavn, 1401 Kbn K

Background

Within international studies, the dead would seem to make up an exotic but and yet, dead bodies have a significant but rarely recognized presence in national and international politics.

One thing is the exceptional cases of soldiers retuning in body bags, disaster victims being buried in mass graves, suicide bombers blowing themselves to pieces, and unaccounted for dead civilians in counterinsurgency campaigns.

But another thing is the significance of death in everyday lives, where state and international regulations of dead bodies provide a silent but indispensable precondition for senses of order.

Moreover, dead bodies and human remains often play important roles in the making and transformation of political communities, surfacing again and again through memorials, exhumations, repatriations, and reburials in times of political turmoil.

At this seminar, John Borneman will speak about the political significance of the bodies of dead leaders, while Antonius Robben will talk about the political role of exhumations (genopgravning) of disappeared victims of the dirty war in Argentina.

The seminar is organized as part of an international workshop “Shifting Power and Sovereignty” and a PhD course.

Speakers

* John Borneman, Professor, Princeton University
* Antonius Robben, Professor, Utrecht University
* Finn Stepputat, Senior Researcher, DIIS

PROGRAMME

09.15-09.35
Introduction: Why Governing the Dead? by Finn Stepputat, Senior Researcher, DIIS

09.35-10.15
Abandonment, Presence, and Victory in Relations with Dead Bodies by John Borneman, Professor, Princeton University

10.15-10.35
Q & A

10.35-10.55
Coffee Break

10.55-11.35
Governing and Mourning The Disappeared-Dead in Argentine by Antonius Robben, Professor, Utrecht University

11.35-12.00
Q & A

Chair: Finn Stepputat, Senior Researcher, DIIS

The seminar will be held in English.

Participation is free of charge, but registration is required. Please use our online registration form on http://www.diis.dk/sw102152.asp

And do so no later than Thursday, 16 December 2010 at 12.00 noon.

Please await confirmation by e-mail from DIIS for participation.

Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS), The Conference Section, Strandgade 56, 1401 Kbn K, tlf. 32 69 87 51, e-mail: [email protected] og web: www.diis.dk