Three-D Issue 21: Inaugural Event of the Social Movements Network

Ruth Sanz Sabido
Canterbury Christ Church
Stuart Price
De Montfort University

The inaugural event of the MeCCSA Social Movements Network Generations of Protest: Marxism Matters? takes place on the 20th and 21st of November 2013 at De Montfort University, Leicester. Supported by the

Media Discourse Group and the Social Movements Network, this conference follows on from the successful event run by Sunderland University’s Centre for Research in Media and Cultural Studies (CRMCS) in April last year.

The conference represents an attempt to move beyond descriptive analysis to explore concepts and practices, and asks what social movement and media scholarship can offer to activism and protest.

Keynote speakers include Dr Pollyanna Ruiz (LSE), Dr Kaitlynn Mendes (De Montfort), Professor Des Freedman (Goldsmiths), Professor John Downey (Loughborough), and Professor Peter Golding (Northumbria).

On the second day of the Conference, we have organised a set of presentations on Memory and Ideology in the Spanish Civil War, including contributions by Professor David Deacon (Loughborough), and by Lee Solomon, who will recount his memories of the life and work of the trade unionist and International Brigader Jack Jones. This section of the day will also feature screenings and posters.

Roundtables for the event are being organised by Dr Uri Gordon (Loughborough), and will cover contemporary political activism and post-abundance politics and industrial collapse.

In addition, we have received abstracts covering a wide range of topics. The conference includes papers on Occupy and the ‘Anarchist Turn’, the Stokes Crofts ‘Riots’, theories of Citizen Journalism and Active Citizenship, Social Movements, Activism and Democracy in Spain, the concept of the Soviet, urban social movements in Brasilian favelas, the Mediation of Protest, the Slutwalk phenomenon, and many other topics.

We look forward to welcoming all delegates and attendees to the University. As the occasion is partly funded by the Media Discourse Group and the Social Movements Network, we have tried to keep the cost of the two days as low as possible. The fee for the conference is as follows – One Day: £40 – Both Days: £70. There is also a special fee for Students – One Day: £20 – Both Days: £35.

These fees include access to all sessions, lunch, refreshments, and conference packs. To register, please go to https://smngenerationsofprotest.eventbrite.co.uk/ before 16th November. A full programme will be sent to the mailing lists shortly.

We are already planning events for 2014 and we would like to hear from anyone interested in contributing to the organisation of symposia or conferences. There will be a Network meeting during the conference and this will be an opportunity to share your ideas with the Committee. We want the Network to be as participatory as possible so we hope to develop dialogues with other bodies and research groups. You can subscribe to our mailing list by clicking on the link available at https://www.meccsa.org.uk/networks/social-movements-network/. If you would like to contact us, please email Ruth Sanz at ruth.sanz-sabido@canterbury.ac.uk.