Session 2134. Geographies of the Circus: Identity

Organizer: Lindsay Stephens
Chair: Susan Ruddick - University of Toronto

• The Circus has a long history of transgressing boundaries: transforming fields and stadiums into otherworldly and 'exotic' spaces, and displaying bodies that refuse to conform to ideas of normal. It has been the home of the "freak show" and the spectacle, a space designed to evoke both wonder and fear, and it has provided the livelihood for a very diverse group of people. This session explores the geography of the Circus as both a research site and a metaphor. It examines the role of the circus in relation to contemporary political economic and social relations of late capitalism, neoliberalism, globalisation and transnationalism, providing new insight into pressing issues of risk, subjectivity, migration and resistance.
  
• Geographies of the Circus: Transgressive spaces and neoliberal subjects Lindsay Stephens - University of Toronto Abstract
  
• Where the Extraordinary is Ordinary: A Phenomenology of Youth Circus Training Doyle Ott, Sonoma State University
  
• Foolish Deconstruction: Justice as a Gaggle of Clowns Kristina Weaver, Glasgow University
  
• Discussant: Deborah Dixon

Session 2218. Geographies of the Circus: Place

Organizer: Lindsay Stephens
Chair: Lindsay Stephens

• Imagine That: Performing an Artistic Sense of Place in Downtown Phoenix Melinda Alexander - Arizona State University
  
• Spacial Patterns of Touring Circuses Within Europe Mike F Taylor - University of Brighton
  
• Discussant: Maria Borovnik
  
• The Circus of Globalization: Tracing transient livelihoods and transnational mobility in an era of late capitalism Teresa Vita Abbruzzese - York University