Clandestine Transactions
Photo by Sowparnika Balaswaminathan, Concourse at Detroit International Airport
Transactions are a foundational aspect of socioeconomic relations in society, which can provide an index of the governing systems of value, power, and ethics, as well as their limits.
Rooted at the intersection of anthropology, Indigenous studies, museology and art history, legal studies, religions, media cultures, and international relations, our working group explores themes related to sovereignty, secrecy, illegality and crime, peripheral networks and alternative modalities of globalization.
With the material and the semiotic intertwined, smuggled commodities and other artifacts offer an imaginative and resistant framework to examine the processes of colonialism, capitalism and globalization.
The Clandestine Transactions Working Group is entering its third year. There are three main activities on our agenda.
- We will be sponsoring a virtual lecture series during the Fall term in association with the Centre for Sensory Studies. The theme of the five-part series is ‘Multisensory Museology’. Visit the Upcoming Events page of the Centre for Sensory Studies website for details.
- We applied for and received an Insight Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for a project entitled "Sensitive Material: A Preliminary Reconnaissance of the Spiritual, Sensorial and Legal Personhood of Indigenous Artifacts". The research team will be holding meetings throughout the year. To learn more please contact the Coordinator of the Clandestine Transactions Working Group (see below for contact details)
- We look forward to the fifth iteration of the Uncommon Senses conference series, which will take place in the Conference Centre (9th Floor, John Molson Building) from 7-11 May, 2024. It is entitled ‘Uncommon Senses V: Sensing the Social, the Environment and Across the Arts and Sciences’. The Call for Proposals will go out in early October. You can keep track of developments by periodically visiting the Upcoming Events page of the Centre for Sensory Studies website.
Co-directors
- David Howes (Sociology & Anthropology)
- Sowparnika Balaswaminathan (Religions & Cultures)
Coordinator
- Thomas Seibel, PhD Candidate, Religion
If you would like to join this working group, please contact Thomas at thomas.seibel@mail.concordia.ca.
Group Members
- Ishita Tiwary (Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema)
- Firat Bozcali (Sociology & Anthropology)
- Allan Lumba (History)