Call for papers for a symposium, to take place as part of the World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies, 19-24 July 2010, Barcelona (http://www.wocmes.org/wocmes/)
Re-conceptualising Gender in the Middle East
The issue of gender identities in the Middle East is once again being instrumentalized as part of global and Middle Eastern geo-political struggles. From US rhetoric claiming to support Middle East women’s ‘empowerment’ to the rise of Islamist movements and their particular emphasis on gender propriety, imagery of women and definitions of gender relations are demarcating the battle lines in the so-called war against terror. Against this backdrop, it becomes urgent for academics
to challenge this polarization in the conceptualisation of gender identities and gender relations within the Middle East and to draw attention to the multiplicity and historicity of gender in the region.
This multi-disciplinary symposium will outline transformations in gender identities and relations within a diversity of spheres—from political discourses to popular culture—and in a variety of Middle Eastern geographic locations, including diasporic spaces, over different historical periods. The emphasis will be on examining the concrete political, economic and social processes that give rise to changing conceptualisations of gender in the Middle East, understanding gender not only in terms of women/femininities but also in terms of men/masculinities and in recognising the intersectionality
of gender identities.
This symposium will bring together a wide range of disciplines in order to fully appreciate the many dimensions of this theme. It will contribute to increased understandings of the historically-constructed nature of gender within the Middle East and, in this way, to challenging mainstream views (in the West and the Middle East) about the exceptionalism of gender relations in this region in global comparison. Symposium papers will form the basis for a published edited volume/special journal issue. Please send an abstract of your proposed paper of 300-400 words and a one-page CV/resume, by email,
to:
Dr Nicola Pratt
Lecturer in Comparative Politics and International Relations
University of East Anglia
Norwich
Email: n.pratt@uea.ac.uk until 30 June and nicolachristine@yahoo.com thereafter.
DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF ABSTRACTS IS 1 SEPTEMBER 2009.
Successful proposals will be contacted by mid-September.