Homo Viator. Dressing Nomads, Travelers, Migrants and Pilgrims: Ethical Challenges and Implications
The nomadic lifestyle is connected with the beginnings of many civilizations, but it is also an important feature of the culture of numerous contemporary societies. The need to travel is an indispensable part of human life. This Costume and ICEthics joint session invites submissions for research papers that explore the multifaceted relationship between dress and nomadic cultures, both ancient and modern, focusing on the ethical challenges and implications that arise from these interactions. Throughout history, nomadic groups have developed unique and highly functional forms of dress adapted to their specific environments, social structures, and cultural practices. These clothing traditions often hold deep symbolic meaning, reflecting identity, status, and worldview. However, the study, preservation, and representation of these traditions, particularly in an increasingly globalised world, raise complex ethical questions. This session addresses these issues by bringing together interdisciplinary perspectives from archaeology, anthropology, fashion studies, cultural studies, history, and ethics.
We seek contributions that examine a wide range of case studies and theoretical approaches, including, but not limited to, the following:
Themes:
- Reconstructing the Past: Archaeological and historical analyses of ancient nomadic dress, including methods of preservation, interpretation, and the challenges of representing ephemeral materials.
- Cultural Appropriation and Representation: The use of nomadic dress elements in contemporary fashion, film, and other media, and the ethical dilemmas surrounding cultural appropriation, misrepresentation, and the erasure of cultural heritage.
- Identity and Dress: The role of dress in constructing and expressing individual and collective identities within nomadic communities, and how external forces impact these identities.
- The Commodification of Tradition: The production and sale of “traditional” nomadic clothing and textiles, and the economic, social, and cultural consequences for nomadic communities.
- Sustainability and Ethics: The ecological knowledge embedded in traditional nomadic dress practices, and the potential for sustainable and ethical fashion practices in contemporary contexts.
- Museums and Heritage: The display and preservation of nomadic dress in museums, and the ethical considerations related to ownership, repatriation, and community engagement.
- Nomadic Dress in a Globalised World: The impact of globalisation, modernisation, and cross-cultural exchange on nomadic dress traditions.
- Gender and Dress: How dress reflects and reinforces gender roles and identities in nomadic societies, and the challenges to these roles in a changing world.
- The Politics of Dress: How dress expresses resistance, asserts cultural sovereignty, or negotiates power relations between nomadic groups and dominant societies.
Abstracts of 300 words, along with a brief author biography (300
words), should be submitted by June 15, 2025. Papers should be limited to 15 minutes.
