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From: Susanne Dahlgren - susanne.dahlgren@helsinki.fi
*Call for Papers
*Gender in (Post-) Conflict*
NOTE FEBRUARY 10, 2006 DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSION.
*Panel of the Nordic Society for Middle Eastern Studies
and the AK
Gender of the German Middle East Studies Association to
be held at
WOCMES 2 in Amman, 11-16 June 2006*
Organizers: Susanne Dahlgren, Helsinki Collegium for
Advanced Studies
Martina Kamp, University of Hamburg and
Carl-von-Ossietzky University
of Oldenburg
Recent studies on violence indicate a strong
interconnection between
violence and social constructions of femininity and
masculinity. In
times of war and conflict, complementary role models are
enforced;
for men as providers and protectors of the family and for
women as
dependent subjects to be protected.. Accordingly,
powerful masculine
role models such as a warrior, young hero or determined
leader are
enhanced. In contrast, women (and children) are portrayed
as victims
of war and conflict. Aspects associated with femininity
in
patriarchal societies, i.e. caring, nurturing and moral
virtues, are
debased, while the reproductive functions of women become
glorified
in the image of a ‘patriotic motherhood’. Times of war
and conflict
are meanwhile understood as points of departure to study
reconstructions of gender relations from structural,
symbolic,
discursive, normative and practice perspectives among
others.
Since the colonial conquest, most, if not all, societies
in the
Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia have
experienced wars,
civil wars, genocides, and numerous ethnic, religious and
social
conflicts. In this region, the interconnection between
gender and
conflict, however, has rarely been addressed in the
context of
religion and its role in rewriting gender relations. Also
focusing on
the processes of emerging modernities as sites of
conflict allow
making gender relations visible in historic and ongoing
state
building processes. In this panel, we make use of a
conceptual
framework to analyse the (re-)construction of gender
relations in
ongoing and historic conflicts. We use a broad
understanding of the
term conflict framework, which includes gender dynamics
in pre-
conflict periods, gendered violence in times of war and
civil war,
and reconstructions of gender orders in the aftermath of
conflicts.
Consequently, we also call upon papers that address
gender-specific
issues in conflict and post-conflict situations that
increase the
risks of social and/or political exclusion in the
reconstruction of
post-conflict societies. Papers that address masculinity
in conflict
and crises are also welcome.
We invite interested scholars to participate in the
panel, please
send an abstract (max. 1 page) not later than February
10, 2006 to
Susanne Dahlgren - susanne.dahlgren@helsinki.fi
Martina Kamp - ak.gender@gmx.info
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