Call for Papers: Performing Oppositions
Oppositions
Cultural Studies Association (CSA) 2026 Annual Conference
May 28-30, 2026
Fully Online
Deadline for Submissions: Friday, December 19, 2025
The Performance Working Group invites proposals from scholars and artists for individual papers, pre-constituted panels, and praxis sessions addressing the cultural politics of opposition and performance.
In the open call for the Cultural Studies Association 2026 conference, “opposition” signals “both a placement and an antagonism, a ‘setting against’ something: in thought, identity, space, movement.” Across the globe, we continue to witness the intensification of political oppositions, which bifurcate societies and construct increasingly rigid oppositional identities. Both everyday and artistic performances play a crucial role in the reinforcement of these divisions, positioning bodies as simultaneously discursively and materially oppositional. In the US, for example, the proliferation of ICE raids and National Guard occupations of so-called “democrat cities” collide with the absurd frivolity of protesters in inflatable costumes. This moment of oppositions recalls antagonistic approaches to theatre and performance, such as the dissensual approach of Claire Bishop’s “aesthetic antagonism” or the radical democratic approach of Tony Fisher’s “tragic politics of the agōn.”
However, performance also invites us to interrogate the contingency and instability of fabricated oppositions, especially in this moment of rearticulation and interregnum. From performance art to performance theory, the notion of performance disrupts conceptual oppositions between reality/theatricality, saying/doing, representation/presence, theory/practice, materiality/discourse, actor/spectator, and original/reproduction. On the one hand, popular anti-theatrical deployments of the concept—as, for instance, in critiques of “performative activism”—are used to question the conviction of oppositional cultural politics, especially online. On the other hand, Marcela Fuentes’s notion of “performance constellations” encourages a deeper understanding of the dynamic interplay between digital and embodied protests.
We invite proposals that engage with the various ways in which performance intersects with cultural, political, and conceptual oppositions. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
Stages of Conflict: Oppositional Performance as Cultural Struggle
Algorithmic Authenticity and Digital Dissent
Political Polarization and Populist Performances as Neoliberal Oppositions
Oppositional Identities: Performances of (Dis)Identification
Performance and Antagonism in Socially-Engaged Art
Artistic Censorship, Past and Present
Contrarian Aesthetics and Pursuits of Infamy
Oppositions in the Performance Studies and Arts Practice Classrooms
Performance Studies as Transversal Challenge to Binary Oppositions
We welcome proposals for standard academic conference papers (15-20 minutes in duration) and for discussions and/or demonstrations of creative practices (workshops, artist talk-backs, performance lectures, presenting recent performance and/or exhibition work). Our working group invites work-in-progress from both artists and scholars and encourages participation inclusive of faculty, independent scholars, and arts practitioners as well as graduate and undergraduate students.
Graduate and undergraduate students are especially encouraged to indicate their interest in our new Emerging Scholars and Artists Panel. This panel prioritizes presenters who are new to the conference circuit, offering an opportunity to test out the conference presentation experience and receive supportive feedback on work in progress. If you are interested in being considered for this panel, please indicate that interest in your submission.
Please indicate that your submission is intended for the Performance Working Group using the dropdown menu in the “Other Information and Files” section of the Easy Chair submission form.
Submission Deadline: December 19, 2025
Proposals for individual papers and praxis sessions (max 500 words) as well as pre-constituted panels (max 500 words + paper abstracts of max 150 words) must be submitted through the Easy Chair portal.
For more information on the 2026 Cultural Studies conference, including details on submission and registration, please visit: https://www.culturalstudiesassociation.org/conference.html
For more information about CSA’s Performance Working Group, please visit: https://www.culturalstudiesassociation.org/working-groups.html
Miya Shaffer