Call for Contributions
CMW is a method of learning, reflection and research developed by Frigga Haug and the group Frauenformen in the 1980s at the intersection of feminist and Marxist theory, academic research and political practice. In CMW a group uses short written memory scenes of personal experiences of the group members for an extensive analysis, keeping in mind the entanglement and interdependency of constructions of individual memories with the historico-societal relations.
For putting CMW into practice, the investments in terms of time, interpersonal openness, emotional involvement and analytic thought are rather high. Yet the reported experiences and the feedback of participants in all institutional settings on taking part in CMW projects overwhelmingly confirm personal gains, growth, new horizons, increased understanding of complex issues as common results. In reports about CMW projects the fascination that participants feel for the method is a re-occurring theme.
Ironically though, in spite of the character of the method in its reliance on collectivity and collaboration amongst participants, many practitioners of CMW seem to be rather isolated when it comes to discussing their own experiences with the method. The Symposium is an attempt to counter this isolation by providing a forum for exchange of experiences. We wish to:
- scrutinise our practices in the various fields where CMW has been applied;
- raise issues and discuss critical questions that develop for us when we use CMW;
- create an opportunity to build networks for cooperation and knowledge exchange across geographical and disciplinary boundaries;
- build bridges for an increased transfer of CMW in areas of social activism and professional reflection;
- look at the potential and impacts of CMW for emancipatory politics.
For the Symposium we invite contributions from practitioners of CMW from all sorts of backgrounds, social and political activism, research and/or teaching, universities, adult education, trade unions etc.
The focus at the Symposium is on active participation and exchange. The sessions will have a workshop character.
As a contributor at the Symposium you will incite thought, discussion, exchange. You will meet and connect with the participants who came to engage with you in a meaningful discussion that arises from your contribution.
Sessions are scheduled for a duration of 90 minutes. Your contribution is the only one during the session. A simple structure for your session could be, e.g. an initial presentation on your topic (30 minutes) followed by discussion afterwards (60 minutes).
For presentations, we encourage you to consider alternative formats, e.g.
- a personal letter to the participants that you read as an intro to the session,
- a sketch that you (or a group) would play to portray issues or questions to share with the group,
- an artwork that embodies the issues or questions you want to share,
- you may have other ideas … please share them.
Such formats may not suit every topic, but where they do, please consider them as a real possibility.
When you send us a proposal, a member of the organisational team will contact you for an initial discussion and feedback on the proposal and the envisaged format for the contribution.
For suggesting a contribution, please send us a brief abstract, and feel free to also explain background/s, potential questions, and what you would like to gain from making the contribution at the Symposium. For proposals and inquiries, please send an email to: info@collectivememorywork.net
Deadline for receiving proposals: 1st of December, 2024.
Confirmation of acceptance of proposals: 28th of February, 2025.
Organisational issues and registration process
| Date | 17th of July – 20th of July, 2025 |
| Venue | Institut für Bildungswissenschaft (Department of Education) Sensengasse 3a 1090 Vienna Austria |
| Accommodation | In general participants will organise their own accommodation. If you prefer accommodation in a private setting (couchsurfing) please contact the orga-team. We may be in a position to help with finding private accommodation for a limited number of participants. |
| Child-minding | We offer to organise child-minding during the Symposium. This requires advance planning. An early deadline will be necessary for requests for child-minding. This deadline will be communicated here together with the final registration details. If you consider bringing your child/children with you to the Symposium, it would be helpful for the organisational team, that you contact us informally as soon as possible. |
| Finance | The cost for the Symposium will be kept to a bare minimum to make participation feasible as widely as possible. The exact amount for the registration fee will be communicated via our webpage soon. |
| Food | We are going to start the Symposium on Thursday (17th) with a shared breakfast. On all days there will be food organised for lunch. |
| Dates to keep in mind | Deadline for proposals for contributions: 1. 12. 2024 Confirmation of acceptance for contributions: 28. 2. 2025 Registration open: tba Deadline for requests for child-minding: tba |
Some questions that were asked so far:
It can be quite hot in Vienna in July, are the rooms in the venue climatised? … Yes. Rooms are climatised.
I am not going to submit a proposal for a contribution, can I still participate in the Symposium? … Sure, there is no obligation to take on the role of presenter, you will also contribute simply by participating in the discussions, and this is very welcome.
Can you suggest a few hotels for finding accommodation in Vienna? … We will make a list of hotels available for this purpose. Please bear with us for a short while, we are working on it.
I am planning to submit a proposal for a contribution, but I am not sure about a creative format for it. Can you advise further? … The format needs to match the topic. Not every topic can be forged into a ‘creative format’, and there is nothing wrong as such with ‘traditional formats’. We just wish to point explicitly to the openness in relation to format/s. Our intention is to make the Symposium an event that holds some elements of surprise and fun. When you think of the run-of-the-mill academic conference (the bigger, the worse …) with its 15 min. presentation, 5 min. discussion slots – there is no proper engagement possible; not with the topic presented and not with the presenter as a person either. We try to open this up, stretch the sessions to 90 minutes with only one presentation. This is to give the presenter more time to lay out their topic. But it should also, and very much in line with the idea of collective participation in CMW, give the participants in the session ample time to ask questions, make comments, open space for collaborative critique. This in mind, if you think of four days sitting in seminar rooms and following three or four power-point, or lecture style talks of an hour length (or longer) per day, there is the danger that participants are thrown back to the status of a ‘quiet audience’ with little chance to actually pick up the threads that the presenters offer. Hence, it is a bit of a balancing act to follow a ‘traditional format’. On the other side, if a presenter takes the cue of the ‘creative format’ too serious, and e.g. dismisses all ‘traditional elements’ for instead including ‘creativity’, this could lead to a pure gallery play for the sake of effect only – which is not a good solution either. So, if a presenter starts planning their session with the premise to include the participants as much as possible in the session, the format may become more like a workshop, and that would be the best result. And as stated above, if you submit a proposal a member of the organisational team will contact you, and all further questions can be addressed directly.