fyi Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 16:46:03 -0500 From: Catherine Lavender <[log in to unmask]> Reply-To: H-NET List for American Studies <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Subject: CFP: Recovery Movement Panel (ASA 2000) >Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 14:39:07 -0600 >From: Trysh Travis <[log in to unmask]> This is the second call for papers on the history and meaning of the Recovery movement. In it, I actually mention that this is for a panel at next year's ASA, rather than just leaving that for everyone to guess. Since its founding in 1935 by a New York stockbroker and an Ohio surgeon, Alcoholics Anonymous has grown into an international organization of nearly two million members. Its "12-Step" model of addiction and recovery has profoundly influenced the self-help movement in the U.S., and spawned numerous imitators: groups dealing with the abuse of other substances as well as with eating disorders, sexual dysfunction, relationship and financial problems, and general social maladjustment. The metaphor of disease at the heart of the recovery movement increasingly shapes the way we think of ourselves and our relationships with other individuals and the larger society. Recent years have seen a flowering of books and films organized around the "addict's" journey into and then out of "diseases" of various kinds, and have also witnessed the vigorous export of the 12-Step philosophy to other nations. Yet due to the anonymous and non-professional nature of the recovery movement, little is known about how-and whether-recovery works. This roundtable session, "The Meaning of Recovery," seeks to map the presence of the recovery movement in modern America, and to begin to understand its place both in the social and the imaginative life of the nation. Contributions from both humanities and social science are welcome, as are proposals that explore the gender, race, and class dimensions of the movement, and its articulations in real life and in imaginative narrative. Please send a current vitae along with a proposal that describes research interests, and explains how you would present them within a ten-minute time slot, to: Trysh Travis Ass't Professor of English Box 0435, Dallas Hall Dedman College Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX 75275 <[log in to unmask]> (214) 768-4056 Proposals must be postmarked by 3 January. "I'm a goddess, not your mother." -- Luscious Jackson