WUNRN
The
conference is part of the research project "Religion,
Politics and Gender Equality", conducted by the Heinrich Böll
Foundation in collaboration with the United Nations Research Institute for
Social Development (UNRISD).
Religions
worldwide still affect state structures and public opinion. Strict separation
of religion, on the one hand, and the state, politics and civil society, on the
other, exists in only a minority of countries. For women and their right to
equality, there is much at stake in how religion and politics intertwine.
Religious and political leaders often mobilize religious beliefs in political
interventions to constrain women’s rights and gender equality. However,
religions also play an important role in the lives of many people. They often
open up new spaces for women’s societal participation, and religiously grounded
claims about the fundamental equality of all human beings have provided
important inspiration to emancipatory movements for human rights and democracy.
Allies or threat in the
struggle for women's rights?
Is the strict separation of religion and politics a requirement for women’s
rights and gender equality? Or can they be realized in the context of public
religions? Are religious movements allies or threat in the struggle for women’s
rights? The Heinrich Boell Foundation has invited scholars and feminist
activists from Germany, India, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, UK, and
the U.S. to discuss the question of how to deal with religions in the fight for
women’s rights and gender equality.
The conference is part of
the research project "Religion,
Politics and Gender Equality", conducted by the Heinrich Böll
Foundation in collaboration with the United Nations Research Institute for
Social Development (UNRISD).
Date: Friday and Saturday, June 5
- 6, 2009
Venue: Heinrich Böll Foundation, Schumannstraße 8, 10117
Berlin (location
plan)
You are cordially invited to
attend this international conference! Please register until May 15,
2009 by using the registration
form.
Child-care can be provided if
necessary.
Conference language is English,
simultaneous translation to German will be provided.
Further information:
Jill Scherneck
Phone: +49 (0)30 - 285 34-318
E-mail: scherneck@boell.de
Anne Jenichen
Phone: +49 (0)30 - 285 34-317
E-mail: religionrevisited@boell.de
Friday, June 5, 2009
16.30-17.30 Registration
17.30-18.00 Welcome addresses
- Barbara
Unmüßig, Heinrich Böll Foundation
- Shahra
Razavi, UNRISD
18.00-20.00 Keynote
addresses and public discussion
Speakers:
- José
Casanova (Georgetown University, Washington, DC): „The Politicization of
Religion: Public Religions Revisited”
- Anne
Phillips (London School of Economics and Political Science, London):
„Religion: Ally, threat, or just religion?”
Discussants (10 min each):
- Farida
Shaheed (Shirkat Gah, Pakistan)
- Agnieszka
Graff (Warsaw University, Poland)
Facilitator:
- Renate
Wilke-Launer (Freelance Journalist, Hamburg)
Saturday, June 6, 2009
10.00-11.00 Lecture
What kind of secularism for gender equality and democracy?
- Deniz
Kandiyoti (University of London, UK)
11.00-12.00 Introduction of
working groups
- Religious
Feminists – Allies in the struggle for women’s rights?
(Facilitation: Homa Hoodfar, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada) - Welfare
provision by faith-based organizations – danger to women’s rights or
necessary addition to the state?
(Facilitation: Asef Bayat, International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World, Leiden, the Netherlands) - Multiculturalism
and Muslim immigrant women’s rights and choices in Western Europe
(Facilitation: Gökce Yurdakul, Humboldt-University Berlin) - Religious
fundamentalisms – feminist understandings and counter strategies
(Facilitation: Cassandra Balchin, Association for Women’s Rights in Development, UK) - Religion,
politics and family laws
(Facilitation: tbc)
12.00-13.00 Lunch break
13.00-15.00 Parallel
working groups
15.00-15.30 Poster
Session with posters
prepared by the working groups presenting flow and results of their discussions
15.30-16.00 Tea and coffee break
16.00-18.00 “Fishbowl“
discussion
How to challenge politicized religions in favor of women’s rights and gender
equality?
- Gita
Sen (Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era, DAWN)
- Sindi
Medar-Gould (BAOBAB, Nigeria)
- Maria
Consuelo Mejia (Catholics for the Right to Decide, Mexico)
- N.N.
- Facilitation:
Shahra Razavi, UNRISD
18.00-18.15 Concluding remarks
- Barbara
Unmüßig (Heinrich Böll Foundation)
- Shahra
Razavi (UNRISD)
End of conference
================================================================
To contact the list administrator, or to leave the list, send an email to:
wunrn_listserve-request@lists.wunrn.com. Thank you.