Doleshalvik
New member
This is an update on this year's International Academic Polyamory Conference, happening on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, California, (USA) Feb 21-23. [The official name is "The International Conference on Monogamy and Nonmonogamy"].
The main focus of this event is on the academic/scientific presentations. Anyone with an interest in matters related to polyamory and consensual nonmonogamy is invited to attend. Although some of these presentations may be a little too cerebral for some people, most of them are not. Last year, even most non-academic types found most of them quite interesting and informative. (It was intriguing to discover there are active polyamory-type movements in most European countries, Australia, and elsewhere in the world, and that in at least some places, the resistance to consensual nonmonogamy is not quite as intense, or at least does not take the same form - as in the United States. (But in some countries, the resistance is much greater). Good to get some fresh perspectives.
Most of the academic presenter spots are spoken for, but final decisions have not been made yet, and we are still taking proposals for presentations. I'd really like to get as much material related to consensual nonmonogamy happening outside of the United States as possible, and related to perspectives other than the dominant, middleclass, mainstream US culture. We've already got some material of this type, but we'd like more. If you want to do a presentation, please do get your proposal to me ASAP!
Note also that there is also a track of "Public Education " presentations, geared more for the general public and regular polyamorous crowd. These include topics of interest to poly people, such as dealing with jealousy, communication issues, STDs, and other practical issues. Its a good, safe place to meet a large number of other people with a serious interest in things like polyamory, open relationships, and consensual nonmonogamy. These sessions turned out to be very popular last year. We had a packed house for these public education sessions, and people had a great time. Looks like its shaping up to be even more fun this year.
This years website:
https://sites.google.com/site/ipachome/
There are five sessions this year. The Friday night session (Feb 21) is geared for Psychology/Social workers/Therapist types, but anyone is welcome to attend. Many of these presenter spots are spoken for, but we still have at least one opening.
The main academic sessions are on Saturday. Feb 22. This is the main core of the event. Most of these presentations will be standard types of psychological and sociological studies, but we are trying to attract presentations from as a wide variety of discipines as possible. NOTE: Student presentations are also very welcome!
Notice that this year we are also having a session for presentations related to Literature/Folklore/Mythology/Media studies.
Like last year, we are also having a "Public Education session" for presentations geared to the general population.
The political discussion and sessions related to polyactivism are all happening on Sunday. The Political session is being run as a distinct event through a separate website, but its at the same place on the same weekend.
{NOTE: We have no information about the polyamory movement in Africa, or how things may be playing out there compared with the rest of the world. Anybody have a presentation about this they'd like to do?]
***
In its most recent form, the call for papers looks like this:
"This event will be devoted to presentations of scientific and academic research related to polyamory, open relationships, swinging, other forms of consensual nonmonogamy, and related subjects. Presentations will cover various topics that offer some possible progress to a deeper and more complete understanding of the phenomenon of consensual nonmonogamy. Issues related to both nonmonogamous and monogamous relationships will be explored from an interdisciplinary perspective, in as objective and unbiased a manner as possible.
We strive to make this a strongly interdisciplinary conference. Presentations can include not only psychological research and sociological surveys, but also sociocultural studies, anthropological research, political analysis, historical studies, future projections, or other any other types of research related to the subject of consensual nonmonogamy. Analysis of artistic material, media studies, folklore, and mythology will also be considered.
Preference is for completed projects, but works in progress will also be welcome. Emphasis is on original work not published or previously presented, but exceptions may be made for material deemed especially relevant to the theme of the event. Papers and projects from graduate and undergraduate students will also be considered.
Papers will be published after the conference in online proceedings with a confirmed ISBN number/reference. There will no length limit for submissions, but the presentations will be limited to 30 minutes, with ten minutes dedicated to questions, answers, and discussion following each presentation. Proposed presenters are encouraged to send inquires as early as possible.
This an update about the meeting of polyamorous political activists happening on Feb 23, 2014, in Berkeley, California (USA). We had a good crowd last year (about 50 people), and it was very productive, so we are doing it again this year.
Much of significance seems to be happening on the political front that concerns poly people.
For instance, in California, a few weeks back, the state legislature approved a law making it legal for a child to have three (or more) legal parents, and the law was signed by the Governor. Although the issues that inspired this law were not specifically related to polyamory, the existence of such a law has obvious implications for poly families. (Several other jurisdictions currently have similar laws, and more may be under consideration).
In Oregon, a judge recently granted legal custody of a child to an openly polyamorous family - despite the court being fully aware of the polyamorous character of the family. The court did this over the vocal objections of people who were fiercely against the idea.
In countries such as Brazil and Holland, government officials have legally sanctioned domestic partnerships that include three or more people. In Kenya, a woman officially married two simultaneous husbands, with the full knowledge and blessing of both husbands. (The jury is still out on whether the Kenyan government will ultimately accept this or not).
There are several lawsuits in various stages attempting to decriminalize polygamy in the US, Canada, and elsewhere. Most of these are driven by Mormon polygamists, not polyamorous people, and the outcome remains uncertain. However, the way this all eventually plays out could have profound implications for polyamorous people.
There have already been several articles in very conservative publications lamenting that polyamory has already made remarkable progress towards becoming a mainstream phenomena.
It seems that polyamory has recently become a favorite new topic of many Christian Right Wing commentators. It is not clear what is going on, but suddenly it seems they want to talk about polyamory much more than they used to. The basic spin seems to be that since the Religious Right has more or less completely failed in its efforts to prohibit same-sex marriage, they seem to be shifting gears, regrouping and trying to put the best face on this defeat by claiming it only proves they were right all along by warning that legalizing Gay marriage would open the door to legalizing poly marriage.
Is there really a movement intending to legalize poly marriage? If so, who is behind it? Is this something that is possible to achieve? Is it something the poly community wants to achieve? Is it something poly people should be putting effort into? Or might there more productive ways we could focusing our efforts?
It seems that the time has come to talk of many things, and with that in mind, we have scheduled our next polyamorous political conclave in Berkeley, California on Feb 23, 2014. (This is immediately following the International Conference on the Future of Monogamy and Nonmonogamy, but it is technically a separate event, and require a separate registration process).
Interested in participating? Want to offer your input about poly political activism? Got an interesting project you want to tell the rest of us about? Need some support for your own polyactivism efforts? Interested in sharing your ideas? Want to offer your support to other poly activists? Interested in making a presentation? We would like to have as wide a range of perspectives as possible. The schedule is still being put together, but we still have a few presenter slots open. If you want to attend, contact me ASAP!
[email protected]
LINK FOR POLYAMOROUS POLITICAL CONCLAVE:
https://sites.google.com/site/saturniaregnahome/
LINK FOR INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE FUTURE OF MONOGAMY AND NONMONOGAMY:
https://sites.google.com/site/ipachome/
The main focus of this event is on the academic/scientific presentations. Anyone with an interest in matters related to polyamory and consensual nonmonogamy is invited to attend. Although some of these presentations may be a little too cerebral for some people, most of them are not. Last year, even most non-academic types found most of them quite interesting and informative. (It was intriguing to discover there are active polyamory-type movements in most European countries, Australia, and elsewhere in the world, and that in at least some places, the resistance to consensual nonmonogamy is not quite as intense, or at least does not take the same form - as in the United States. (But in some countries, the resistance is much greater). Good to get some fresh perspectives.
Most of the academic presenter spots are spoken for, but final decisions have not been made yet, and we are still taking proposals for presentations. I'd really like to get as much material related to consensual nonmonogamy happening outside of the United States as possible, and related to perspectives other than the dominant, middleclass, mainstream US culture. We've already got some material of this type, but we'd like more. If you want to do a presentation, please do get your proposal to me ASAP!
Note also that there is also a track of "Public Education " presentations, geared more for the general public and regular polyamorous crowd. These include topics of interest to poly people, such as dealing with jealousy, communication issues, STDs, and other practical issues. Its a good, safe place to meet a large number of other people with a serious interest in things like polyamory, open relationships, and consensual nonmonogamy. These sessions turned out to be very popular last year. We had a packed house for these public education sessions, and people had a great time. Looks like its shaping up to be even more fun this year.
This years website:
https://sites.google.com/site/ipachome/
There are five sessions this year. The Friday night session (Feb 21) is geared for Psychology/Social workers/Therapist types, but anyone is welcome to attend. Many of these presenter spots are spoken for, but we still have at least one opening.
The main academic sessions are on Saturday. Feb 22. This is the main core of the event. Most of these presentations will be standard types of psychological and sociological studies, but we are trying to attract presentations from as a wide variety of discipines as possible. NOTE: Student presentations are also very welcome!
Notice that this year we are also having a session for presentations related to Literature/Folklore/Mythology/Media studies.
Like last year, we are also having a "Public Education session" for presentations geared to the general population.
The political discussion and sessions related to polyactivism are all happening on Sunday. The Political session is being run as a distinct event through a separate website, but its at the same place on the same weekend.
{NOTE: We have no information about the polyamory movement in Africa, or how things may be playing out there compared with the rest of the world. Anybody have a presentation about this they'd like to do?]
***
In its most recent form, the call for papers looks like this:
"This event will be devoted to presentations of scientific and academic research related to polyamory, open relationships, swinging, other forms of consensual nonmonogamy, and related subjects. Presentations will cover various topics that offer some possible progress to a deeper and more complete understanding of the phenomenon of consensual nonmonogamy. Issues related to both nonmonogamous and monogamous relationships will be explored from an interdisciplinary perspective, in as objective and unbiased a manner as possible.
We strive to make this a strongly interdisciplinary conference. Presentations can include not only psychological research and sociological surveys, but also sociocultural studies, anthropological research, political analysis, historical studies, future projections, or other any other types of research related to the subject of consensual nonmonogamy. Analysis of artistic material, media studies, folklore, and mythology will also be considered.
Preference is for completed projects, but works in progress will also be welcome. Emphasis is on original work not published or previously presented, but exceptions may be made for material deemed especially relevant to the theme of the event. Papers and projects from graduate and undergraduate students will also be considered.
Papers will be published after the conference in online proceedings with a confirmed ISBN number/reference. There will no length limit for submissions, but the presentations will be limited to 30 minutes, with ten minutes dedicated to questions, answers, and discussion following each presentation. Proposed presenters are encouraged to send inquires as early as possible.
This an update about the meeting of polyamorous political activists happening on Feb 23, 2014, in Berkeley, California (USA). We had a good crowd last year (about 50 people), and it was very productive, so we are doing it again this year.
Much of significance seems to be happening on the political front that concerns poly people.
For instance, in California, a few weeks back, the state legislature approved a law making it legal for a child to have three (or more) legal parents, and the law was signed by the Governor. Although the issues that inspired this law were not specifically related to polyamory, the existence of such a law has obvious implications for poly families. (Several other jurisdictions currently have similar laws, and more may be under consideration).
In Oregon, a judge recently granted legal custody of a child to an openly polyamorous family - despite the court being fully aware of the polyamorous character of the family. The court did this over the vocal objections of people who were fiercely against the idea.
In countries such as Brazil and Holland, government officials have legally sanctioned domestic partnerships that include three or more people. In Kenya, a woman officially married two simultaneous husbands, with the full knowledge and blessing of both husbands. (The jury is still out on whether the Kenyan government will ultimately accept this or not).
There are several lawsuits in various stages attempting to decriminalize polygamy in the US, Canada, and elsewhere. Most of these are driven by Mormon polygamists, not polyamorous people, and the outcome remains uncertain. However, the way this all eventually plays out could have profound implications for polyamorous people.
There have already been several articles in very conservative publications lamenting that polyamory has already made remarkable progress towards becoming a mainstream phenomena.
It seems that polyamory has recently become a favorite new topic of many Christian Right Wing commentators. It is not clear what is going on, but suddenly it seems they want to talk about polyamory much more than they used to. The basic spin seems to be that since the Religious Right has more or less completely failed in its efforts to prohibit same-sex marriage, they seem to be shifting gears, regrouping and trying to put the best face on this defeat by claiming it only proves they were right all along by warning that legalizing Gay marriage would open the door to legalizing poly marriage.
Is there really a movement intending to legalize poly marriage? If so, who is behind it? Is this something that is possible to achieve? Is it something the poly community wants to achieve? Is it something poly people should be putting effort into? Or might there more productive ways we could focusing our efforts?
It seems that the time has come to talk of many things, and with that in mind, we have scheduled our next polyamorous political conclave in Berkeley, California on Feb 23, 2014. (This is immediately following the International Conference on the Future of Monogamy and Nonmonogamy, but it is technically a separate event, and require a separate registration process).
Interested in participating? Want to offer your input about poly political activism? Got an interesting project you want to tell the rest of us about? Need some support for your own polyactivism efforts? Interested in sharing your ideas? Want to offer your support to other poly activists? Interested in making a presentation? We would like to have as wide a range of perspectives as possible. The schedule is still being put together, but we still have a few presenter slots open. If you want to attend, contact me ASAP!
[email protected]
LINK FOR POLYAMOROUS POLITICAL CONCLAVE:
https://sites.google.com/site/saturniaregnahome/
LINK FOR INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE FUTURE OF MONOGAMY AND NONMONOGAMY:
https://sites.google.com/site/ipachome/
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