From France to Québec, from Cuba to Algeria, whether as watchword, symbol, or lament, death both haunted and galvanized revolutionary movements in francophone world in the 1960s and ’70s. Militants mobilized the threat, reality, or promise of death to call people to resist and fight. In looking back at the way these ideas were used and absorbed by militants in the wake of formal decolonization (1960-1980), this conference aims to give space to a discussion around death and revolutionary militancy and emancipatory movements in the French-speaking world. The interdisciplinary, bilingual (French and English) two-day event will bring together scholars studying the relationship between death and militancy in the francophone world.
Potential themes for presentations include but are not limited to the following thanatological themes:
● Death and Marxist thought
● Suicide and self-death
● Religion, secularism, and martyrdom
● Grief, trauma, and emotion
● Gender, race, and identity as motivation or response to death
● Indigeneity, nationhood, and individual or collective belonging
● Terror and state violence
● The (il)legality and (il)legibility of death
● Representations of death and dying in literature or poetry, films, plays or art
● Funerals, Memorialization and Commemoration
We especially welcome contributions that pay attention to the global or transnational dimensions of these questions.
The conference will take place November 7 – 8, 2025 on the campus of the Université du Québec à Montréal. Presenters will be expected to pre-circulate and read one another’s papers. In addition to finding productive space in comparative and interdisciplinary work on death and militancy, this event aims to create a network of scholars in and beyond Canada who can continue to explore these questions together.
Those interested should submit the following information by Tuesday, March 25, 2025: title and abstract (300 words max) of your contribution, a brief CV (2 pages), and a short bibliography/biography of your relevant work (150 words). All participants should have proficiency in French and English.
Thanks to funding from the Centre de Recherche Interdisciplinaire sur la Diversité et Démocratie (CRIDAQ), the organizers will be able to provide travel funds for some participants, with priority going to non-permanent and graduate student presenters. We are in the process of applying for additional funding from the SSHRC which would provide additional travel expenses for other participants.
