Publicity and the Political in the Long 20th Century

International Conference

How does publicity shape and transform politics, cultural experience and governance in the Long 20th Century? How have the institutions and practices of publicity evolved through changing media environments, governmental forms and commodity worlds to configure the political in a broad and multi-sited way? This international conference has a twin focus on India, often celebrated as the largest democracy in the world and currently on the brink of a historic election, and on the generative impact of digital media in a global perspective. We study how key agents of publicity, ranging from advertisers to influencers, commercial artists to filmmakers and digital PR companies, and practices ranging from film, auditory and print propaganda to digital forensics and AI, cultivate desire, create trust and manage conflicts in complex societies in the long 20th century.

Conference Organizers: Ravi Vasudevan (ICAS:MP, Sarai programme, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi), Ritika Kaushik (Research Training Program “Konfigurationen des Films”, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt), Vinzenz Hediger (professor of cinema studies, PI ConTrust/Normative Orders, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt)

A cooperation of ICAS:MP, ConTrust, and the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies. Made possible through the support of the M.S. Merian – R. Tagore International Centre of Advanced Studies ‘Metamorphoses of the Political’ (ICAS:MP), Delhi (funded by the BMBF – Federal Ministry for Education and Research) and ConTrust – Trust in Conflict. Political Life under Conditions of Uncertainty, Frankfurt (funded by the HMWK – Hessisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst).

Conference coordinator: Alo Paistik (GU) with support from Sophie Moktadir.

Program (PDF): Click here…

Please register in advance with: moktadir@tfm.uni-frankfurt.de