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I could barely hold my nose long enough to get through this solipsistic, masturbatory example of current "progressive" academic examination of homo-/gender assimilation into European capitalism. So far have the liberationist impulses of sixties sexual freedom movements sunk. David =========================================== > Conference - 27 & 28 January 2011 - University of Amsterdam > > Sexual Nationalisms > Gender, Sexuality and the Politics of Belonging in the New Europe > > Since 1989, and even more so after 9/11, the rise of new nationalisms > has been inextricably linked to a refashioning of the politics, > identities and imaginaries of gender and sexuality in Europe. The old > virile nationalism analyzed by George Mosse is now being reinvented in > the light of a new brand of sexual politics. Feminist demands and > claims of (homo)sexual liberation have moved from the counter-cultural > margins to the heart of many European countries' national > imaginations, and have become a central factor in the European Union's > production of itself as an imaginary community. Rhetorics of > lesbian/gay and women's rights have played pivotal roles in discourses > and policies redefining modernity in sexual terms, and sexual > modernity in national terms. How are these baffling shifts in the > cultural and social location of sexuality and gender to be understood? > In Europe and beyond, the refashioning of citizenship contributes to > the redefinition of secular liberalism as cultural whiteness. > Homophobia and conservatism, gender segregation and sexual violence > have been represented as alien to modern European culture and > transposed upon the bodies, cultures and religions of migrants, > especially Muslims and their descendants. In the process, the status > of Europe's ethnic minorities as citizens has come under question. How > can the entanglement of sexual and gender politics, anti-immigration > policies, and the current reinvention of national belonging be > analyzed? How are we to understand the appropriation of elements of > the feminist and sexual liberation agenda by the populist and > Islamophobic right? > The prominence of sexual democracy in the remaking of European > national imaginaries requires bringing the critique of gender and > sexuality beyond second-wave feminism and post-Stonewall liberationist > perspectives. In late-capitalist, post-colonial Europe, struggles for > sexual freedom and gender equality no longer necessarily challenge > dominant formations; on the contrary, they may be mobilized to shape > and reinforce exclusionary discourses and practices. The new politics > of belonging is thus inseparable from the new politics of exclusion. > This shift has not been without consequences for progressive social > movements. Whereas in social and cultural analysis, nationalism has > long been associated with male dominance, sexual control and > heteronormativity, certain articulations of feminism and lesbian/gay > liberation have now become intimately entwined with the reinforcement > of ethnocultural boundaries within European countries. > As feminist historian Joan W. Scott recently argued when she coined > the provocative notion of "sexularism", new forms of sexual regulation > have been introduced, especially targeting migrants, their > descendants, and other "non-whites". Discursively defining the new > national common sense, sexularism also operates at the level of the > visceral, reaching deep into the sexual and racial politics, habits > and emotions of everyday life. A required allegiance to sexual > liberties and rights has been employed as a technology of control and > exclusion--what could be called a "politics of sexclusion". > Symmetrically, the Europeanization of sexual politics has entailed > counter-reactions both inside and outside Europe. In Eastern Europe > admission to the European Union has been conditioned on the acceptance > of the new standards of sexual democracy, which sometimes led > anti-European reactions to also frame themselves in sexual terms. In > Western Europe "non-"whites can sometimes be tempted to identify with > the caricatures imposed upon them. > An increasing number of scholars in the humanities and social sciences > have begun to investigate the important shifts taking place in > discourses of sexual freedom and gender equality across the continent. > These shifts open up new arenas for ethnographic and other empirical > research. What role do sex and gender play in various European > nationalisms? In which cultural terms are sexual and gender boundaries > articulated? What different trajectories can be discerned, and how can > differences between countries be explained? What are the effects of > these transformations at the level of the formation of community and > subjectivity? How do these discursive shifts become tangible in > everyday life? And how can sexual politics avoid the trap of > exclusionary instrumentalization without renouncing its emancipatory > promise? > In order to discuss such questions, we invite contributions grounded > in ethnography and other empirical research along the five following > themes: > > 1. The Nationalization of Gender Equality > In secular European imaginations of immigrants and their descendants, > the Islamic headscarf in particular has been perceived as an axiomatic > signifier of religious and gender oppression. It has been listed along > other "uncivilized" ills also attributed to ethnic minorities and > disadvantaged neighborhoods, whether they be domestic violence, forced > marriage, or female genital mutilations. In contrast, recently > acquired milestones in gender equality, like the legal right to > abortion, have been adopted by Left and Right politicians alike as new > symbols of timeless national essences. What representations of gender > have been conveyed by contemporary constructions of the nation? How > have forms of domination between men and women been challenged and/or > reproduced in neonationalist and secularist projects? In what ways are > migrant women's lives affected by the entwinements of feminist > discourses and movements with these projects? How have those women > experienced and handled being framed as simultaneously the main > victims and the main accomplices of the new Islamic threat? > Whereas religion is understood as operating at the level of the > embodied, the habitual, material and visceral aspects of secularism > are generally ignored or obscured. But what is the secular counterpart > of the religious body? What does a gendered politics of secularism > look like? At times, restrictive policies against women wearing > headscarves have been justified in terms of the necessary limitation > of religion to the private sphere; at other times, they have been > framed in terms of gender equality and feminist ideals. Should this > justificatory plurality be taken at face value, or does it point to > deeper and more complex resentments against postcolonial and other > "non-white" migrants? > > 2. The National Politics of Sexual Freedom > In Europe, ideals and practices of sexual freedom have mostly been > experienced as a tangible break with formerly hegemonic religious > traditions and the restraints of community and family. In particular, > gay people have sometimes been framed as the very embodiment of modern > liberalism, as self-fashioning, unattached, and autonomous subjects. > Why have such representations been so effectively tied to the > nationalization of modernity in some countries but not in others? What > have been the specific trajectories of such representations, and how > have they affected lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender identified people > in everyday life? What new normativities have been shaped in the > process? And what have been the consequences of these discourses for > those who have been framed as the "others" of sexual democracy-- > Muslims and ethnic minorities? > What have been the implications of such reinventions of sexual > whiteness for everyday life in the global cities of Western Europe, > and the sexual, cultural, religious and political diversity they > offer? How have feminist and lesbian/gay movements been affected by > these shifts in the social location of sexual and gender politics? > What does "race" have to do with the refashioning of sexual politics > and identities? If sexual freedom and gender equality are being > mobilized in a culturalist re-enactment of European racism, how does > this affect white imaginaries and subjectivities? How are those > (historically) excluded from whiteness affected by it? Which bodies > come to be constructed in the sexual politics of neonationalisms? > Which forms of "queerness" are being authorized and which > articulations of sexual otherness are being "queered" and thus > excluded from sexual normality? On what grounds does this occur, and > how do these processes materialize in everyday life? > > 3. The Urban Geographies and Class Politics of Sexual Democracy > The interweaving of urban governance with sexual politics has been > normalizing certain sexual spaces at the exclusion of others. In the > context of an emergent urban entrepreneurialism and as part of > gentrification processes, sexual others have been conscripted into > urban politics and spatial renewal, while new hetero- and > homonormativities have taken shape in the process. Gender > representations have also played important roles in framing and > representing cities as aesthetically and commercially attractive for > business, tourists and aspiring residents. Simultaneously, certain > brands of urban theory have celebrated gay men and women as the > avant-garde of urban change, hence of the conquest of formerly working > class and ethnic minority neighborhoods by bohemian middle and upper > classes. What roles have sexuality and gay urban presence played in > processes of gentrification? How have sex and gender been articulated > in the urban governance of social marginalization? > How are the sexual politics of neoliberalism to be understood? What > role does the market play in the sexual reinvention of nationalism and > citizenship and in shaping new (homo)normativities? Is the > stigmatization of Muslim migrants as sexually conservative a > reenactment of discourses that in the past stigmatized working class > communities as immoral, archaic or authoritarian? What do the class > politics of "sexularism" look like? What kinds of subjectivities are > produced in new regimes of sexual progress? > > 4. The Sexual Politics of Immigration Policies > The ever-stricter immigration policies of Europe--both at national > levels and at the level of the E.U.--have often been justified in > terms of sexual democracy: migrants, especially from Africa or other > Islamic countries, have been ostensibly kept out, not on racial, but > on sexual grounds, in order to preserve the hard-won democratic values > of Europe in the treatment of sexual minorities, and even more > crucially, of women. As a consequence, these same migrants, whose > matrimonial (forced, fake, etc.) or sartorial (hijab, niqab, etc.) > practices have thus been under constant scrutiny, are expected to > demonstrate a sincere adhesion to sexual democracy that is presumed > inherent to European cultures, despite its very recent history and > contemporary limitations. > How does such a constraint redefine the subjectivities of migrants-- > as well as that of their European partners? What does it mean for a > woman of Islamic culture to be encouraged to reject her family's > expectations in order to express her sexual modernity? What are the > strategies available to migrant women and sexual minorities who > attempt to resist oppression, even violence, while refusing to be > co-opted by anti-immigrant, if not xenophobic or racist, politics? In > other words, what are the interactions between the sexual logic of > immigration policies and the sexual imaginaries and practices of the > migrants thus targeted? > > 5. European Sexual Modernization and Its Discontents > Today, the borders of Europe are also sexual boundaries. Admission > into the E.U. requires identifying with the agenda of sexual > democracy. At the same time, almost by definition, non-European > countries are suspect. Turkey's tradition of secularism largely > inspired by the French historical model has not been sufficient to > dispel the suspicion that this Muslim country is alien to European > sexual democracy--as evidenced by the visible presence of the Islamic > headscarf. In the same way, international campaigns against homophobia > have largely been about the homophobia of others: the logic of human > rights has focused more on legal repression than on legal > discrimination--the penalization of homosexuality outside Europe > rather than the exclusion of gays and lesbians from rights of marriage > and adoption within Europe. > Conversely, the Europeanization of sexual democracy has fueled > reactive nationalisms, not only in those countries that are bound to > remain on the margins of Europe, such as the Maghreb, but also in > recent E.U. members--regarding homosexuality in particular, for > example, in Poland or Lithuania. How are European and non-European > sexual politics reconfigured in this new context, i.e. what are the > political consequences, in various countries within and outside of > Europe, of this geopolitical context? > > We invite all those interested to submit a one-page abstract and a CV by: > September 1, 2010. > Abstracts as well as questions can be sent to: Robert Davidson > (r.j.david...@uva.nl) > > Organizing Committee: Laurens Buijs, Sébastien Chauvin, Robert > Davidson, Jan Willem Duyvendak, Eric Fassin, Paul > Mepschen, Rachel Spronk, Bregje Termeer, and Oscar Verkaaik > Organizing Institutions: > Amsterdam Research Centre for Gender and Sexuality, UvA > Institut de Recherche Interdisciplinaire Sur Les Enjeux Sociaux, > EHESS, Paris > Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies, UvA > Research Cluster Dynamics of Citizenship and Culture, UvA > Research Centre for Religion and Society, UvA > Research Cluster Health, Care, and the Body, UvA > ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
