The Charles Town International Maroon Conference welcomes papers and performances from scholars, artists, and activists interested in exploring this year’s theme, “Peace.” Approaching “peace” in broad theoretical and cultural terms, we invite papers that consider its possibilities, its paradoxes, and its predicaments in the context of indigenous histories and cultures. The complex history of the relationship of Jamaica’s Maroons to the state and people of Jamaica provides a compelling backdrop to such inquiry. We encourage work that addresses the prospects and challenges of achieving peace for indigenous communities around the globe.

 

Papers or creative performances might consider (among other topics): Maroon treaties and their legacies; indigenous approaches to negotiating and sustaining peace; the role of rights (human, nature, etc.) in adjudicating peace; wellness as a means of sustaining peace; practices of security and insecurity; violence against indigenous people and its restitution; the uses of restorative justice; and strategies for effective conflict resolution.

 

Presentations from all fields and genres are welcome, including, history, geography, anthropology, ethnomusicology, education, literature, film, the arts, sustainability studies, indigenous studies, and ecocriticism. Participants will work closely with each other and the Maroons of Charles Town to explore the relevance of indigenous knowledge to contemporary life and the future of our worlds.

 

The Charles Town International Maroon Conference takes place in the town’s Asafu Yard, sacred space of Maroon dancing and drumming, surrounded by Jamaica’s beautiful Blue and John Crow Mountains. Offering a unique combination of scholarly panels and cultural events, the conference brings Maroons and Indigenous Peoples together with scholars and locals to examine the ways their legacies have endured, creolized, and resonated in the Caribbean, Africa, Canada, Australia, South America, Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

 

Please send abstracts of 250-300 words or inquiries to [email protected] or [email protected].