Beyond a Boundary Conference

Closing Plenary: Selma James, Selwyn Cudjoe, Clem Seecharan

(Chair: Dave Featherstone).

In this closing plenary session of The Beyond A Boundary Conference held in Glasgow in May 2013, Selma James, Selwyn Cudjoe and Clem Seecharan discuss their thoughts on CLR James and their thoughts on the conference.

Panel H. Re-Reading Beyond a Boundary:

Papers which seek to provide new interpretations, or critical re-readings, of Beyond a Boundary.

Adjepong; Alleyne.

This panel presentation features papers which seek to provide new interpretations, or critical re-readings, of Beyond a Boundary.

The papers & speakers are as follows:

1) Reading Gender and Sexuality in Beyond a Boundary. Presenter: Lady Anima Adjepong, University of Texas.

2) The Narrative Representation of Progress and Vindication in CLR James's Beyond a Boundary. Presenter: Brian Alleyne, Sociology, Goldsmiths, University of London.

Panel G. Beyond a Boundary and James’ Body of Work:

Papers which situate Beyond a Boundary within the context of James’ oeuvre as a whole, exploring relationships, and examining the complex development of James’ thought over time.

This panel presentation features papers which situate Beyond a Boundary within the context of James' oeuvre as a whole, exploring relationships, and examining the complex development of James' thought over time.

The papers & speakers are as follows:

1) "The Humbler Type of Cricket Scribe": C.L.R. James on Sport, Culture and Society in Imperial Britain. Presenter: Christian Høgsbjerg.

2) From Mariners, Renegades and Castaways to Beyond a Boundary: C.L.R. James and the Politics of Form. Presenter: Joseph Keith, English, Binghamton University, SUNY.

Keynote 3: Mike Brearley: What Do They Know of Cricket Who Only Cricket Know: Socrates and CLR James (Chair: Andrew Smith).

This keynote speech explores the theme of leadership in CLR James’ Beyond a Boundary. The speech is entitled: What Do They Know of Cricket Who Only Cricket Know: Socrates and CLR James. The speech was delivered by Mike Brearley, former England cricket captain and chaired by Andrew Smith.

This programme was filmed by WORLDbytes volunteers at The Beyond A Boundary Conference held at The University Of Glasgow in May 2013. The conference marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of CLR James’ book Beyond A Boundary.

Panel F. James, Politics and Aesthetics:

Papers which explore how James approaches questions of aesthetics and the politics of creative activity in Beyond a Boundary and elsewhere in his writings.

This panel features papers which explore how James approaches questions of aesthetics and the politics of creative activity in Beyond a Boundary and elsewhere in his writings.

The papers & speakers are as follows:

1. The Very Stuff of Human Life: James on cricket, history and human nature. Presenter: Andrew Smith, University of Glasgow.

2. Searching within the Boundaries: Modernism, Africanism, and the Worldview of C.L.R. James. Presenter: David Austin, John Abbott College, Montreal.

3. Performance and Civilizational Sociology in Beyond a Boundary. Presenter: Paget Henry, Brown University.

Panel E. James: the Politics and Literature of Cricket:

Papers which consider James’ account of the politics of cricket, and his relationship with, and influence on, sports-writing, historically and contemporarily.

Washbourne; Bateman; Steen.

This filmed panel features papers which consider James' account of the politics of cricket, and his relationship with and influence on sports-writing, historically and contemporarily.

The papers & speakers are as follows:

1. C.L.R. James, W.G. Grace and (Mediating) the Claim of the Representative Figure. Presenter: Neil Washbourne, Media Studies, Leeds Metropolitan University.

2. '"From far it look like politics": CLR James and the Canon of English Cricket Literature'. Presenter: Anthony Bateman, De Montfort University.

3. How CLR James Influenced Sports writing. Presenter: Rob Steen, Cricket Writer and University of Brighton.

Keynote 2: Wai Chee Dimock: Boundless Labor: C.L.R. James, Herman Melville, Frank Stella

(Chair: Christopher Gair).

This keynote speech explores the relationship between the works of C.L.R. James, Herman Melville and Frank Stella. The speech is entitled: Boundless Labor: C.L.R. James, Herman Melville, Frank Stella. The speaker is Wai Chee Dimock and the chair is by Christopher Gair. This programme was filmed by WORLDbytes volunteers at The Beyond A Boundary Conference held at The University of Glasgow in May 2013. The conference marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of CLR James’ book Beyond A Boundary.

Wai Chee Dimock

Wai Chee Dimock has written on every period of American literature, from Anne Bradstreet to Star Trek. She is Wiilam Lampson Professor of English and American Studies at Yale University.

Chair: Christopher Gair

Senior Lecturer in American Literature. University of Glasgow.

Panel D. Beyond Boundaries II:

Papers which consider the way in which James was both influenced by, and influences, a diverse range of social and political contexts, and which suggests how his work might help us understand politics and sport across the world contemporarily.

This panel presentation includes papers which address post 9/11 identity politics and cricket; CLR James’ influence on mainly West Indian thinkers during his brief visits to Montreal in the late 1960’s and CLR James as interpreted in the writings of Sylvia Wynter.

The papers and speakers are:

1. Beyond the Boundaries of 9/11 Fiction: Cricket and American Identity in Joseph O’Neil’s Netherland, by Arin Keeble, School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics, Newcastle University;

2. C.L.R. James, Montreal, and Post-Colonial West Indian Radicalism by Paul Hébert, History, University of Michigan

3. The Caribbean Beyond: Reading C.L.R. James and Sylvia Wynter by Aaron Kamugisha, Lecturer in Cultural Studies, University of the West Indies, (Cave Hill Campus).

Panel C. In the Spirit of James

Papers reporting on research which has been influenced by James, or is undertaken in the spirit of his approach, investigating the politics of sport in a range of different contexts.

This panel presentation features papers reporting on research which has been influenced by James, or is undertaken in the spirit of his approach, investigating the politics of sport in a range of different contexts. The papers & speakers are as follows:

1. 150 Years of Yorkshire Cricket & Its Changing Social Context. Presenter: Lionel Cliffe is member of Yorks. CCC and retired members of the Politics Dept., University of Leeds.

2. Cricket as Black Cultural Politics in the Age of the Post-colonial. Presenter: Ben Carrington, Department of Sociology, University of Texas.

3. A Gentleman's War. Presenter: Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich, Documentary Artist. The session was chaired by Minkah Makalani.

Panel B. Beyond Boundaries I

Papers which consider the way in which James was both influenced by, and influenced, a diverse range of social and political contexts, and which suggest how his work might help us understand politics and sport across the world contemporarily.

This filmed panel features papers which consider the way in which James was both influenced by, and influenced, a diverse range of social and political contexts, and which suggests how his work might help us understand politics and sport across the world contemporarily.