The year 2024 marks the 10^th anniversary of KISMIF and the 50^th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution in Portugal. In addition, remembering the recent loss of Howard S. Becker, the KISMIF Conference will dedicate one of its thematic lines to scientific contributions related to the work of Becker, with the intent of recognizing the transformative and innovative potential of his sociological research, thus highlighting the importance of the concept of art worlds – amongst others – which he developed and which – since 2014 – has served as the motto for the organisation of this far-reaching international conference. As such KISMIF 2024 will serve as a pivotal occasion of reunion and celebration.

Dates

From 20 August 2023 to 15 March 2024

Warm Up: 08 July 2024

KISMIF Summer School 2022: 09 July 2024

Argument

We are pleased to announce the seventh edition KISMIF International Conference ‘DIY Cultures, Democracy and Creative Participation’ (KISMIF 2024) which will take place in Porto, Portugal, between July 10 and 13 of 2024.

The submission of abstracts for this Conference is open to researchers, academics, activists and artists working in all areas of sociology, anthropology, history, cultural economics, cultural studies, geography, philosophy, urban planning, media and cognate disciplines such as design, illustration, popular music, film, visual and performing arts. This initiative follows the great success of the past six KISMIF Conferences (held in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021 and 2022) and brings together an international community of researchers, artists and activists focusing on alternative music-art scenes and do-it-yourself cultures.

The year 2024 marks the 10th anniversary of KISMIF and the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution in Portugal. In addition, remembering the recent loss of Howard S. Becker, the KISMIF Conference will dedicate one of its thematic lines to scientific contributions related to the work of Becker, with the intent of recognizing the transformative and innovative potential of his sociological research, thus highlighting the importance of the concept of art worlds – amongst others – which he developed and which – since 2014 – has served as the motto for the organisation of this far-reaching international conference. As such KISMIF 2024 will serve as a pivotal occasion of reunion and celebration. It will also serve as an important moment for formally launch the new SAGE journal DIY, Alternative Cultures and Society.                

The KISMIF Conference 2024 provides a unique forum in which participants can discuss and share information about alternative cultures and DIY practices from around the world. KISMIF focuses on cultural practices often opposed to more conventional, mass-produced and commodified forms of cultural production and mediation and the anti-hegemonic ideologies around aesthetic and lifestyle politics that are typically embedded in DIY culture. KISMIF is the first, and to date only Conference in the world that examines DIY culture theory and practice as an increasingly significant form of cultural practice in a global context. The conference has a multi-/transdisciplinary approach, accepting contributions from academics, artists and activists involved in all aspects of alternative scenes and DIY cultures, and based on various methodologies – quantitative, qualitative, and multi-methodological analyses. The aim is to discuss not only music, but also other artistic fields such as cinema and video, graffiti and street art, theatre and performing arts, literature and poetry, radio, programming and editing, graphic design, illustration, cartoons and comics.

Seeking to respond to the wish reiterated by researchers, artists and activists present at previous editions of the KISMIF Conference, the seventh KISMIF will focus on ‘DIY Cultures, Democracy and Creative Participation’. As noted above, the seventh edition of the KISMIF Conference will mark two decisive milestones: the first, the KISMIF Conference completes ten years of existence; the second, concerns the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the end of the dictatorship in Portugal. These two milestones also mark the thematic relationship with democracy and creative participation – two themes guiding the KISMIF Conference. In this way, the KISMIF Conference seeks to launch a question regarding the ways in which art, culture and creativity can be interpreted as a political act, thus facing the existence in contemporary times of multiple forms of intervention and resistance that, in turn, are associated with emerging modes of DIY.

Democracy today has been facing dilemmas that challenge its legitimacy, from voluntary and forced migration, to economic, social, political, and cultural crises, war, and environmental crises, among others. However, what the literature shows us is that the active involvement of citizens in the reflection, contestation, and resolution of these dilemmas is fundamental for the prosperity of a modern, formal democracy that is attentive to the needs of contemporary societies, as well as necessary for the rupture with the advance of authoritarian ideologies. Therefore, we argue that democracy and creative participation, in contemporary times, have the capacity to change experiences, situations and practices; in fact, it is enough to take as an example the manifestations – virtual and physical – that have emerged in relation to the advance of the extreme right in Europe (Italy, Spain, etc.), as well as in relation to the growing environmental crises (forest fires, heat waves, global warming, deforestation, etc.). At the same time, DIY cultures are also relevant, since they have been playing a role of contestation in international socio-history, as well as being seen – especially in the academic field – as a practice capable of intervening at the local, national and international level, on various aspects that intersect with the problem of democracy and creative participation, from economic development, social and spatial justice, environmental impacts and technologies. In fact, in order to encompass a complete and intertwined view of these three themes (DIY Cultures, Democracy and Creative Participation), there is a need for a (truly) interdisciplinary, technologically democratized approach, in which creative participation, democracy and DIY cultures take on a prominent role as tools for inserting academia into relevant contemporary debates, and stand out for being central tools for social change.

In 2024, KISMIF’s scientific programme will again be accompanied by a diverse offering of social and cultural contents, characterised by a series of artistic events with a special focus on the democracy, participation and citizenship. The aim is to provide a unique experience in terms of transglobal and inclusive DIY cultures and creative participation. Symbolically, the first day of the Conference marks the tenth anniversary of the creation of the KISMIF Conference (2014), as well as the 50th anniversary of the end of the dictatorship in Portugal and, as such, the Conference will have artistic and academic activities aimed at these two moments of celebration. The KISMIF 2024 Conference will be preceded by a Summer School entitled ‘Living on the Edge’ that will take place 9 July 2024 at the Teatro Municipal do Porto- Rivoli [Porto- Rivoli Municipal Theatre]. This Summer School will offer the opportunity to all interested parties, including Conference participants, to attend workshops given by experts in these fields, namely within themes such as creative participation.

Full Call for Papers: https://www.kismifconference.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/KISMIF-CONFERENCE-2024_CPF.pdf

The KISMIF Convenors welcome abstracts pertaining to the following topics, taking into account the KISMIF 2024 theme – DIY Cultures, Democracy and Creative Participation:

• New spheres/platforms/processes/locations of cultural, artistic, and musical production through the use of cutting-edge digital technologies
• Inter- and multidisciplinary approaches to socio-history, notably at the intersection of (bio)politics, new social movements, gender, and culture
• The role of social networks and the plataformization of culture and art(s) in the global political landscape
• Specific contexts of independent artistic-cultural creation (cinema, music, documentaries, and street interventions) in relation to emerging dynamics of production, consumption and dissemination contesting capitalism.
• The landscape of creative art, fashion, culture, and participation in post-dictatorial societies of the Global North and Global South
• Developments in social theory around art worlds, music fields, artistic fields and local/trans-local/virtual music scenes
• Art worlds and artistic careers: a contemporary approach to Howard Becker’s legacy
• Art and cultural production in times of the Anthropocene: the preponderance of (eco)feminism in contemporary societies
• Interdisciplinary environments, atmospheres, sounds and perceptions around music and DIY cultures: music in cities, musical cities, and post-musical cities
• Musical-artistic-cultural productions as a form of resistance and social resignification
• Typologies of tangible and intangible cultural heritage: global museification and artification processes
• Theoretical and methodological challenges/dilemmas in investigating artistic and cultural differences in relation to contemporary political challenges
• Sustainable spaces/venues and music-artistic consumption in a time of climate challenges
• Subcultures, post-subcultures, scenes, post-scenes, musical-artistic-cultural ecosystems from North to Global South
• The role/importance of social spaces/locations/territories in alternative music scenes and DIY cultures at local, trans-local and virtual levels
• Citizenship, youth, aesthetic-political artivism and new forms of social, cultural and spatial (re)production
• The archive and memory as a form of resignification of socio-history
• Re-evaluation of the social, cultural and economic values of music, arts and culture in contemporary democracies
• DIY Cultures, resistance, struggle and artistic-social contestation in relation to far-right political movements in Europe
• Cities, youth and contemporary countercultural resistance/resilience in social, musical and artistic practices
• The importance of the democratization of technology as a mode of individual and collective identity affirmation: the relationship with political, environmental and cultural activism
• City, aesthetics, and gentrification: resistance to gentrification and the role of the State
• Transitions towards sustainability in DIY youth scenes and new sustainable DIY (sub)cultures
• The role of feminism, critical design and digital work as political, revolutionary and interventive research strands
• Politics, intervention and artivism as central to the analysis of peripheral studies and artistic practices
• Cultures and arts of sustainability and their relationship with resilience processes aimed at preserving diversity (social systems, and digital technologies, among others)
• Gender, migration, diasporas, refugees, artistic/musical movements and cultural dimensions of inclusion and sustainability in contemporary times
• The sociological forms of contemporary migrations and their relationship with artistic spaces and cultures of resistance
• Undoing the gender(s): subjectivities, (cis)temic rupture and contemporary artistic-musical manifestations in relation to contemporary democracies
• Pedagogies and interventions based on artistic/musical DIY and socio-ethnic justice
• Totalitarianisms and the role of youth cultures and the arts in the constitution of (r)existences
• The differences between real participation and real emancipation in relation to contemporary mainstream and underground art
• The revolutionary role of fashion and music in contemporary resistance actions in relation to the emergence of totalitarian states
• New social movements, at local, regional and virtual level and emerging artivist processes
• Cultural heritage, strategies for artistic, musical, and cultural development, historical reparation and community development in the Global North and South
• Innovative practices, Western democracy and contemporary nation-building projects, as well as with historical processes of Western (de)colonization and modernization
• Digital arts, artistic co-creation and extended dynamics of musical-artistic and cultural participation involving stakeholders, social innovators and citizens
• Arts, inclusion, music, wellbeing, mental health, and quality of life
• Culturas DIY e participação criativa em relação ao conceito de crise (política, social, económica, cultural)
• Arts-based research, securitization and the relation to the blurring/accentuation of real and symbolic borders (voluntary migrations, forced migrations, refugees, population movements and dynamics)
• New aesthetic-political collaborative social movements and social justice
• Festivals, events and the festivalisation of culture and material, symbolic infrastructure
• Challenges and imagined futures in the design of policies for arts, culture and music
• Arts-based-research and cultural policies in the Global North and South actively interfacing with communities, local, regional, or national authorities and sectoral social partners

Types of contributions

The conference will feature:

• Keynote Lectures
• Paper Presentations
• Artistic Performance-Based Presentations
• Creative Workshops (Summer School)
• Concerts and DJ Sets
• Exhibitions
• Film and Documentary Screenings
• Book Launches

The language of the conference is English. Paper presentations must also be in English and all the materials submitted must be written in English.

Instructions for proposal submissions

• The KISMIF Conference 2024 welcomes the submission of proposals for paper presentations and artistic performance-based presentations.

All proposals must be written in English and submitted on the website of the KISMIF Conference: https://www.kismifconference.com/call-conference/abstract-submision

no later than 15 March 2024.

• Each author cannot submit more than one proposal as the first author.

Specific Instructions for paper proposal submissions:

Paper proposal abstracts should be approximately 250 words in length.

The information requested with abstract submissions includes:

• The name(s) of the author(s), their area of expertise (sociology, economy, etc.), their institutional affiliation (department, university, country), and e-mail(s).
• Title of the proposed presentation.
• Abstract with approximately 250 words.
• Keywords - between 3-5.

Specific Instructions for artistic performance-based proposal submissions:

In relation to the main thematic focus of the Conference - DIY Cultures, Democracy and Creative Participation - the Conference will also allocate time for creative participatory sharing, improvisation and exchanges around holistic DIY culture practices.

In this context, the KISMIF 2024 Conference invites all conference speakers and all visitors with a creative background (whether amateur, semi-professional or professional) to either perform/coordinate or participate in one of the daytime creative performances during the conference.

We ask potential participants to submit a proposal for a artistic performance-based. The performances can relate to any artistic field (music, dance, poetry, cinema, etc.). They should not exceed 15 minutes.

The information requested with proposal submissions includes:

• The name(s) of the performer(s), their area of expertise (sociology, economy, etc.) their institutional affiliation (department, university, country), and email(s).
• Title of the proposed performance.
• Type of performance (music, dance, etc.).
• A short description of the proposed performance with a maximum of 250 words and 3-5 keywords.
• Duration of the proposed performance.
• Description of the necessary equipment (please note that we are based in a Faculty of Arts and Humanities and as such our access to advanced equipment/technology is in some cases limited. So, remember to Keep it Simple, Make it Fast!).

Convenors

• Andy Bennett, Griffith University, Australia
• Paula Guerra, University of Porto, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Institute of Sociology, Griffith Center for Social and Cultural Research, Portugal

KISMIF organising committee

• Ana Alves da Silva, University of Porto, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Portugal
• Ana Oliveira, DINÂMIA'CET – Iscte, Centre for the Study of Socioeconomic Change and the Territory, Portugal
• André Quaresma, University of Coimbra, Portugal
• Andy Bennett, Griffith University, Australia
• António Gomes, University of Porto, Portugal
• Ben Green, Griffith University, Australia
• Carlos Pinto, University of Porto, CITCEM – Center for Transdisciplinary Research Culture, Space and Memory, Portugal
• Catarina da Silva, University of Porto, CITCEM – Center for Transdisciplinary Research Culture, Space and Memory, Portugal
• Catherine Strong, RMIT University Melbourne, Australia
• Devpriya Chakravarty, Griffith University, Australia
• Deniz Ilbi, University of Porto, CITCEM – Center for Transdisciplinary Research Culture, Space and Memory, Portugal
• Diego Soares Rebouças, University of Porto, Institute of Sociology, Portugal
• Emília Simão, Portucalense University, Portugal
• Esgar Acelerado, Artista Independente
• Frederico Dinis, University of Coimbra, Portugal
• Henrique Grimaldi Figueredo, Campinas Universoty, Brazil
• Inés Leal Rico, University of Alicante, Spain
• João Queirós, University of Porto, Institute of Sociology, Porto Higher School of Education, Portugal
• Matthew Worley, Reading University, UK
• Michael MacDonald, MacEwan University, Canada
• Paulo Rodrigues Júnior, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Brazil
• Paula Abreu, University of Coimbra, Faculdade de Economia, Centro de Estudos Sociais
• Paula Guerra, University of Porto, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Institute of Sociology, Griffith Center for Social and Cultural Research, Portugal
• Pedro Quintela, Quaternaire Portugal S. A., Portugal
• Robin Kuchar, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Germany
• Sidarta Landarini, Fedear University of Rio de Janeiro, University of Porto, Portugal, Brazil
• Sofia Sousa, University of Porto, Institute of Sociology, Portugal
• Susana Januário, University of Porto, Institute of Sociology, Porto Higher School of Education, Portugal
• Tânia Moreira, INOVA +, Portugal
• Tiago Pinto, University of Porto, Institute of Sociology, Portugal

KISMIF advisory committee

• Airi-Alina Allaste, Tallin University, EStonia
• Anthony Fung, Chinese University of Hong Kong, China
• Ben Green, Griffith University, Australia
• Carles Feixa, Pompeu Fabra University, Spain
• Catherine Strong, RMIT University Melbourne, Australia
• Dick Hebdige, UC Santa Barbara, USA
• George McKay, University of East Anglia, UK
• Giacomo Botta, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland
• João Queirós, University of Porto, Institute of Sociology, Porto Higher School of Education, Portugal
• José Machado Pais, University of Lisbon, Institute of Social Sciences, Portugal
• Matt Worley, Reading University, UK
• Michael MacDonald, MacEwan University, Canada
• Nick Crossley, University of Manchester, UK
• Paul Hodkinson, University of Surrey, UK
• Pauwke Berkers, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands
• Pedro Costa, DINÂMIA'CET – Iscte, Centre for the Study of Socioeconomic Change and the Territory, Portugal
• Peter Webb, Bristol University, UK
• Robin Kuchar, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Germany
• Ross Haenfler, Grinnell College, USA
• Samantha Bennett, Australkian National University, Australia
• Sara Cohen, University of Liverpool, UK
• Simone Pereira de Sá, Federal Fluminense University, Brazil
• Will Straw, McGill University, Canada

KISMIF Scientific committee

• Ana Oliveira, DINÂMIA'CET – Iscte, Centre for the Study of Socioeconomic Change and the Territory, Portugal
• Andy Bennett, Griffith University, Australia
• Anthony Fung, Chinese University of Hong Kong, China
• Asya Draganova, Birmingham School of Media, UK
• Augusto Santos Silva, University of Porto, Portugal
• Ben Green, Griffith University, Australia
• Carles Feixa, Pompeu Fabra University, Spain
• Catherine Strong, RMIT University Melbourne, Australia
• Dick Hebdige, UC Santa Barbara, USA
• Emília Simão, Portucalense University, Portugal
• Fátima Vieira, University of Porto, Portugal
• Frederico Dinis, University of Coimbra, Portugal
• George McKay, University of East Anglia, UK
• Heitor Alvelos, University of Porto, Faculty of Fine Arts, Portugal
• João Queirós, University of Porto, Institute of Sociology, Porto Higher School of Education, Portugal
• José Machado Pais, University of Lisbon, Institute of Social Sciences, Portugal
• Júlio Dolbeth, University of Porto, Faculty of Fine Arts, Portugal
•  Manuel Loff, University of Porto, Faculty of Atys and Humanities, Portugal
• Mary Fogarty, York University, Canada
• Matt Worley, Reading University, UK
• Michael MacDonald, MacEwan University, Canada
• Nick Crossley, University of Manchester, UK
• Paul Hodkinson, University of Surrey, UK
• Paula Abreu, University of Coimbra, Faculdade de Economia, Centro de Estudos Sociais
• Paula Guerra, University of Porto, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Institute of Sociology, Griffith Center for Social and Cultural Research, Portugal
• Nick Crossley, University of Manchester, UK
• Paul Hodkinson, University of Surrey, UK
• Pauwke Berkers, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands
• Pedro Costa, DINÂMIA'CET – Iscte, Centre for the Study of Socioeconomic Change and the Territory, Portugal
• Pedro Quintela, Quaternaire Portugal S. A., Portugal
• Peter Webb, Bristol University, UK
• Robin Kuchar, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Germany
• Ross Haenfler, Grinnell College, USA
• Samantha Bennett, Australkian National University, Australia
• Sara Cohen, University of Liverpool, UK
• Simone Luci Pereira, Paulista University, Brazil
• Susana Januário, University of Porto, Institute of Sociology, Porto Higher School of Education, Portugal
• Will Straw, McGill University, Canada