CfP: Human Development And Its Outliers

Histories of designations such as "outlier," "exclusionary," and "marginal" reveal shifting boundaries that have traditionally divided communities into those that belong and those that do not. But these outlier categories-such as disability, old age, (im)migrant, and other Others-also gesture towards histories of inclusion, that is, underlying models and trajectories of human development that shape (and are shaped by) such categories. Over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, these models and the ideas of inclusion and exclusion that sustained them have fermented in the practices and discourses surrounding the nation-state project, particularly visible in the ways that welfare states have categorized, assessed, and provided (or not) for "vulnerable" groups. Trajectories of human development and its outliers have also been worked out in cultural productions, institutional settings, and in the ways that various international bodies, such as the U.N. and the W.H.O., have centered outlier categories in human rights discourse and practice. As such, models of human development and outlier categories have significantly contributed to how resources are allocated, how citizenship and concepts of belonging have been defined and displayed, and how national and international meaning-making has been carried out.

Part of the Dutch Government Startersbeurs-funded 'Human Development and Its Outliers' project at Leiden University, this workshop aims to bring together scholars working on outlier categories with those scholars interested in histories of inclusion and normativity to query how normative models of human development emerge and how these models acquire authority; the roles that these models play in shaping ideas about which kinds of people come to be considered (and seen) as "outliers"; and the kinds of scientific, aesthetic, material, political, or economic scaffoldings on which these models and categories rest. In bringing together histories of exclusion with those of inclusion, we hope to not only expose the complexities revealed through various case studies but also to consider what, if anything, relates outlier categories to each other and to broader normative understandings of human development.

We welcome various methodologies and theoretical approaches that can help to clarify how these models and categories were generated, how they gained traction and appeal, and how their implementation and use have subsequently shaped our intellectual and material landscapes. We are interested in institutional histories as well as contributions focused on how particular historical actors worked within certain communities or even across multiple communities to give shape to these models and categories. Finally, this workshop approaches models of human development and outlier categories in a broadly historical key, with a particular focus on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Themes may include but are not limited to:

• The relationship between outlier categories and models of human development;
• Studies of the life course and studies of aging;
• Disability studies;
• "Vulnerable" groups and the welfare state;
• Internationalism and human rights discourse and practice;
• The ways that the particularities of place and space intersect with outlier categories and/or models of human development;
• The role of certain actors in shaping understandings of models of human development or outlier categories;
• Textual, visual, and material representations of inclusion and exclusion;
• Underlying assumptions that connect (or disconnect) 'outlier' categories;
• Histories of normativity and standardization.

Workshop Format and Publication

We propose a workshop-style meeting in which attendees present works in progress that address these issues, broadly interpreted. We are especially interested in ongoing research projects and initial research findings, rather than completed manuscripts. We hope that the workshop will provide a platform for interdisciplinary and cross-methodological discussion, and that participants will be able to use the event to inform and push forward their own work in the context of the history of models of human development. In order to encourage discussion and connections between works, we will ask presenters to share paper drafts of approximately 2,000-3,000 words prior to the workshop.

In addition to the presentation of research findings, we invite attendees to participate in a general symposium designed to facilitate conversation surrounding the histories that connect (or disconnect) these various categories. This broader symposium will take place on the afternoon of the second day, after the presentation of all research papers. The aim of both elements is to establish the basis for an edited volume or special journal issue dedicated to the history of models of human development. We plan on discussing this further with workshop participants at the event itself and developing publication plans in due course thereafter.

Important Dates and Submission Guidelines