In the last decades we have witnessed an increased academic interest in questions related to trauma and memory, as well as the social, political and philosophical implications of the systematic massacres of the twentieth century. This research field has more recently started to established a dialogue with the problematic of space: The wide international reception of Pierre Nora’s notion of 'lieux de mémoire' –even though it’s difficult to extrapolate to extra-European contexts and tends to an essentialistic approach to national places- is itself testimony to a widespread interest in crossing these two analytical dimensions. At the same time, in the context of the so called “spatial turn”, geographers, space theorists, and architects are working more and more towards characterizing contemporary cartographies and topographies of exclusion, exception and State violence, while paying more attention to the spatial manifestations of trauma and memory. The task of creating bridges between both theoretical movements opens up a new highly relevant research field. The main goal of this conference is to offer a frame for the collective development of this thought, reflecting on the necessary links between the critical space theory and the comprehension of the exception regimes and their trauma and traces.

What kind of spatialities do authoritarian regimes generate and what are their effects on the daily experience of space? What consequences does the notion of camp, as nomos of the modern politics (Agamben), have on our conception and experience of space? What are the localizations and effects of the archipelagos of exception (Weizman) upon contemporary geographies and how can we account for them? How are the spaces related to terror and exception represented and imagined in the cultural productions during and after terror regimes? What traces do State crimes leave on space and how can the so called post-traumatic architecture or the forensic architecture adequately inform of them? What kind of spatial practices are produced around the sites related to disappearances or state terrorism? And what spaces of resistance, justice or hope (Harvey) arise among these new cartographies of violence?

The conference will gather together scholars from Argentina, the Basque Country, Colombia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Mexico, Israel, Poland, Spain, Turkey and the USA. It will be transmited live by videostreaming.

Information and Registration:
http://jusmenacu.net/en/simposioespacios.html

Scientific Committee:
Reyes Mate – Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Kirsten Mahlke - University of Konstanz/European Research Council
Francisco Ferrándiz - Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)

Concept and Coordination:
MA Pamela Colombo ( pamela.colombo@cchs.csic.es)
Dr. Estela Schindel ( estela.schindel@uni-konstanz.de)

Supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Acción Complementaria FFI2011-14371-E ) and the European Research Council (ERC), with the kind support of the Max Planck Research Prize/Geschichte+Gedächtnis (University of Konstanz)