Call for Papers: Edited Collection on Libraries and Cultural Rights Publication
Seeking chapters for a new edited collection entitled Beyond Article 19: Libraries and Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.
This book will address the subject of libraries and cultural rights, a topic that has received relatively little attention in the past, but which librarians and others concerned with human rights are beginning to recognize and discuss. Librarians have long been concerned with individual rights and have worked tirelessly to protect and preserve those rights, but little has been written about the role that libraries can play in protecting and promoting group rights, specifically cultural rights. This book will examine this shortfall by exploring the relationship between libraries, cultural rights, and community life and identity.
We are seeking chapters that take a theoretical, practical, and/or historical approach to the issue. Possible chapter themes include:
* Theoretical explorations of libraries and cultural, economic, and social rights
* Legislation that protects libraries as social and cultural institutions
* Legal and judicial aspects of libraries and cultural rights
* The role of libraries in creating and preserving cultural memory
* The history of libraries and cultural rights/community identity
* Libraries as vehicles for social, economic, and cultural expression
* Explorations of Article 27 – how and why do/should libraries participate in the cultural life of a community
* Cultural rights as social rights in the library – moving beyond static collections to dynamic spaces of interaction
* Libraries as cultural mediators – how is cultural life defined/negotiated in multicultural communities.
* Is there a difference between cultural life as represented in national archives versus common public libraries? Should there be?
* How can libraries represent community identity while operating in a globalized world?
* Libraries as reflective and/or prescriptive of cultural identity
* Can libraries as “neutral spaces” actually serve as centers of cultural and community identity?
This collection of essays will clarify these issues, underscore their importance and significance, and lay the groundwork for further inquiry.
Please send an abstract and vita to the editors, Julie Biando Edwards (julie.edwards@umontana.edu) and Stephan P.
Edwards(stephan.edwards@umontana.edu) by MARCH 30, 2009. Completed chapters will be due to the editors on JUNE 1, 2009.
Julie Biando Edwards
Assistant Professor, Ethnic Studies Librarian & Multicultural Coordinator
Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library - MLIB 314
University of Montana
Missoula, Montana 59812
406-243-4505
Stephan P. Edwards
Director, First-Year Interest Groups and 4-Bear Program
Adjunct Professor
Lommasson Center 280
The University of Montana
32 Campus Dr.
Missoula, MT 59812
406-243-4415
