Why is there as yet no reader or anthology of Arab leftist thought in English translation?
This workshop will bring together an international group of scholars and translators from a wide range of disciplines to identify, discuss and translate a selection of documents that have played a pivotal role in the formation of socialist, anti-colonial and democratic thought in the Arab world. The ultimate outcome of this gathering will be the publication of the first English-language Arab left reader, in which translated documents will be accompanied by essays that locate them within a larger historical, political and translational context. The collection aims to bring Arab leftist traditions into conversation with other non-Western and international political texts now available in English, as well as to function as a pedagogical tool and a resource for those interested in political thought in the Arab world.
The workshop will be comprised of six panels on the following themes:
1) Political Mobilization & Muslim Societies
2) Turath: Heritage and Cultural Decolonization
3) Literary Aesthetics and Politics
4) Nation, State and Liberation
5) Feminism and Gender Equality
6) Political Economy.
Sponsored by the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities (CRASSH), the Faculty of Asian and Middle East Studies and Newnham College, at the University of Cambridge, the workshop will be held from Thursday, April 12 to Saturday, April 14, 2018, at the University of Cambridge.
Call for papers:
We invite proposals for texts on one of the above panel subjects (including party or anonymous tracts, collectively authored documents, etc) for inclusion in the reader. After the workshop, participants who will contribute to the reader should be prepared to translate the entirety of their proposed text, and offer a short summation of its location in broader Arab leftist thought and political practice.
Please submit the following by October 15, 2017:
- 400 word abstract with the following: description of the text and its author, including bibliographic information (date of production, length, publisher (if any), etc; and political location of text (i.e. when and why was it written, intended audience, distribution method), as well as the relevance of the text to the topic of your chosen panel (please state clearly on which panel you wish to present)
- 1-2 paragraphs of proposed text in original Arabic and English translation.
Please submit proposals by October 15th, 2017 to arableftreader@gmail.com
