Two Crossroads Asia Panels at ABRN Conference in Hong Kong, Dec 8-10, 2014

The Asian Borderlands Research Network (ABRN) held its annual conference on 'Activated Borders: Re-openings, Ruptures and Relationships' in Hong Kong this year. The Crossroads Asia network was represented with two panels.

Connectivities, Disruptions and Emerging Spatialities in Border Dynamics at Asian Crossroads

Convenor and Chair: Antía Mato Bouzas, Zentrum Moderner Orient

Convenor and Discussant: Henryk Alff, Freie Universität Berlin

Presentations: Spatial and Social Fictions: Effects of Border Dynamics on Cross‐ Border Relations of Baloch Groups in Iran (Just Boedeker, Zentrum Moderner Orient); Conflicting “Lines of Control” and “Soft Borders” in Kashmir (Antía Mato Bouzas, Zentrum Moderner Orient); The Rhizomatic State: An Ethnographic Approach to the China‐Pakistan Border (Alessandro Rippa, University of Aberdeen); ‘Home’ and ‘Away’ —Identity or Infrastructure (Rune Steenberg, Freie Universität Berlin)

Transgressing Borderlands in Academia: (Im‐)Mobilities, Boundary‐Practices & Positionality for Rethinking Area Studies

Convenors: Anna‐Katharina Hornidge, University of Bonn & Katja Mielke, University of Bonn

Chair: Anna‐Katharina Hornidge, University of Bonn

Presentations: Crossroads Studies: Towards a Research Programme Crossing Conventional Area Studies‘ Boundaries (Katja Mielke, University of Bonn); Paved with Good Intentions: Resurrecting Area Studies in Western Europe (Manuela Boatcă, Freie Universität Berlin); Shifting Epistemoligies: From Center to Margin (Claudia Derichs; University of Marburg);  Presence, Return and Absence: Interpreting Mobility Transitions in Rural Asia (Jonathan Rigg, National University of Singapore); Gay and Lesbian Asia Across Borders: Emerging Regional Sexual Identities and Challenges to Euro‐American Queer Theory (Peter Jackson, Australian National University); Southeast Asian Area Studies. Concepts and Directions for an Emerging Academic Field (Christoph Antweiler, University of Bonn); Multiple Ontologies: Area Studies, 'Systematic Disciplines' and the Rediscovery of 'Space' (Anna‐Katharina Hornidge, University of Bonn)

For further details, please visit the ABRN homepage or download the abstracts.