http://www.kartininetwork.org/html/calendar.html#04
CALL FOR PAPERS FIRST CONFERENCE OF KARTINI NETWORK ON ASIAN WOMEN'S/GENDER STUDIES ASIAN WOMEN'S/GENDER STUDIES IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM DALIAN UNIVERSITY, DALIAN, NORTH EAST CHINA 21 - 24 SEPTEMBER 2004 The Kartini Network for Women's/Gender Studies in Asia was formally established in Manila in May 2003 after two years of preparation. Kartini, named after the Indonesian pioneering feminist writer and activist, aims to create synergy between women's/gender studies and feminist activism in the region. Kartini members are women's/gender studies centres or institutes and feminist organizations in Asia and elsewhere. A major objective of the Kartini network is to enhance the knowledge base to increase women's capability for organizing for gender justice. Kartini will strive to make Asian women's voices better heard in processes of nation-building and socio-economic development. The network also aims to incorporate women' s rights in cultural and religious institutions and movements. Kartini members have identified five major themes of particular interest to the Asian region. These themes will also be the topics for the First Kartini Network Conference in Dalian. In addition to the conference Kartini members are engaged in particular research topics on the themes identified. Tailor-made advanced training courses will be organized both in research methodologies and in women's theories around these themes. The approach of Kartini research and activism is cross-cultural and comparative within the Asian context, incorporating both empirical work and theoretical reflection. At present the Kartini Network consists of thirteen member institutes, both academic centres or institutes for women's/gender studies and activist women's organizations, as well as founding members. Several other member institutes are in the process of joining the network. It is co ordinated by an elected steering committee that is regionally based. This committee is chaired by two co coordinators. Present co-coordinators of the Kartini Network are Dr MaryJohn Mananzan, Institute of Women's Studies, Manila, the Philippines and Dr Saskia E. Wieringa, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Secretariat: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: www.kartininetwork.org The conference will be hosted by the Centre for Gender Studies at Dalian University which is a major centre of higher learning in North Eastern China. You are invited to submit a paper on any of the following conference themes: 1) Women's/Gender Studies, -Historical Perspectives and Future Challenges. This overarching theme will explore questions pertaining to studying women/gender in different contexts in Asia. The focus will be on the different modes in which the significance of "women", "gender", "feminism" and so on emerged in specific contexts, how work on these issues has been institutionalised, theories and methodologies used, and the kinds of possibilities and problems that have been encountered. The aim of this theme will be to critically reflect on the diversity of women's studies and encourage comparisons and connections within Asian contexts. A central concern is: What are the distinctive issues about women/gender studies in different Asian contexts and what contributions theoretical/methodological/political) have been made to the corpus of feminist knowledge and action? Possible sub-themes: a) Mapping country profiles and herstories: Histories of women/gender studies/women, gender and development studies; institutional structures; issues of research, methodology, pedagogy and training. b) Global and local influences: neo-liberal market orientation, restructuring of universities, resource crunch, local ideological re-orientations (eg. attempt by the state to relocate women's studies in India as family studies), pressures encountered from social movements, especially women's movements, as well as major institutions such as academia, the state, NGOs and international agencies. The effects of historical change. Conflicting pressures - such as between activism and academics, between "women's/gender studies" as a distinct field of study or discipline and questions/strategies and forms of "mainstreaming", and so on. c) Explorations and debates related to issues of epistemologies, theories and methodologies: the use of "women's studies" or "gender studies" or "women, gender and development", the use of the term "feminism", disciplinary paradigms (eg. political economy, cultural studies), the legacies of theoretical ideologies (eg. liberal, socialist, postmodern, indigenist), and so on. Of special interest here are questions of translation, perceptions of women's studies and feminism as western, and the creation of local vocabularies. d) Sub-regional (South Asian, South-East Asian, East Asian etc) links, commonalities, conflicts and debates. e) Critiques levelled at existing paradigms for the study of women/gender based on issues of class, caste, nation, ethnicity, religion, sexuality and so on. Theme convenor: Women's Studies Programme, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, India, attention Mary John, [EMAIL PROTECTED] 2) Fundamentalisms and Feminisms This theme addresses issues that challenge the singular equation of 'fundamentalism/terrorism/islam' which has gained hegemony after 9/11 and aims to highlight the emergence of different kinds of religious fundamentalisms/identity politics in the Asian region, their linkage with similar movements/organisations world-wide and the strategies and struggles of social movements, in particular the women's movement in confronting this phenomena. Theme papers would address all or some of the following aspects: a. Context/History/Text: the emergence of specific fundamentalist movements and the crisis of modernity, identifying the configuration of local and global political, social, economic and other forces and the constituencies which sustain these movements. The papers will explore issues related to the distinctions between state-sponsored religious fundamentalism and civil society based fundamentalisms or their collusion; their political/ ideological agendas and characterisation (fundamentalist/nationalist/fascist, right wing, Islamist); and linkages with 'diaspora nationalisms' and international organisations from a feminist lens. b. Feminisms and Fundamentalisms: these two movements have been posed as homogenous antinomies particularly given the fundamentalist agenda to re-assert control over women's bodies, minds and public spaces. Papers will explore both -fundamentalists and diverse feminist discourses and practices in Asia which seek to reconfigure gender ideologies: the constructions of masculinity and femininity; of new cultural/religious identities; contestation between multiple identities and a singular politicised religious identity; support, complicity, collaboration, mobilisation and its implications for understanding women's individual and collective agency. c. Strategies and struggles against fundamentalisms intersect with questions around citizenship, secularism and reform within religion. Papers will critically assess the diverse strategies and struggles deployed by women's movements in the Asian region. Issues relating to confrontation and engagement with 'fundamentalist' women and organisations will be explored. Another area of inquiry is the implication of a suspension of human rights and expanded purview of anti-terrorist legislation for the process of democratisation in the region and globally. Theme convener: Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, The Netherlands, attention Amrita Chhachhi, [EMAIL PROTECTED] 3.Conflicts and Violence. Conflicts, wars and social tensions in Asia are gendered in all respects: who are the perpetrators; who bear the consequences of conflict; and who negotiate peace. From domestic violence to ethnic, communal, religious and national conflicts and wars, women experience a continuum of escalating violence impacting their lives. Theme papers will include comparative research on communal ideologies and practices, the impact of continuing ethnic conflicts and wars, the nature and extent of sexual violence as well as women's participation in peace processes. The theme will also include the sexual politics of various contexts that result in gendered violence. Theme convener: Inform, Colombia, Sri Lanka, attention Sunila Abeyesekere, [EMAIL PROTECTED], 4) Sexual Rights. In Asia, issues related to sexualities have emerged in significant ways in recent years. A number of regional and international developments-such as heightened media attention, gay and lesbian movements, struggles and demands of sex workers, and HIV/AIDS agendas-- have opened up new visibility. New discourses differ from prior discourses on the control of women's bodies and women's desires, posing new challenges to women's studies and women's movements. Marginalized and stigmatized groups have been brought center stage. As a result, normative institutions for the regulation of women's sexuality have been questioned and even destabilized. This theme will include comparative research, new training methodologies, strategies of consciousness raising, policy initiatives and public debate, as well as testimonies of violations of sexual rights. Theme convener: Jagori, New Delhi, India, attention Abha Bhaiya, [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. Globalization, Economic Reforms, Mobility and Livelihoods in Asia. Processes of globalization in Asia have had diverse and far-reaching effects on its social and political structures and have further eroded the fragile ecology of the region. The drive of global capitalism to increase economic productivity in order to expand international markets has had implications on poor women and men's livelihoods. Economic reforms, new labor regimes, introduction of new technologies and infrastructure, types of agricultural intensification, massive resources extraction and increasing industrialization have shaped gendered patterns in population movements and have increasingly diversified opportunities and constraints on women's livelihoods. Globalization processes have transformed gender ideologies and power relations at different sites (state, households, farms, firms) and places cities, villages), producing heterogeneous patterns of identity formation, consciousness and agency. Noteworthy is China's entry into the WTO where, economic and trade reforms may reinforce or discontinue gendered labor regimes, affect mobility decisions of women and men and generate new types of gender cooperation and conflict. This panel will include papers on how women and men respond to institutional changes triggered by globalization processes on the changing gendered patterns of livelihood and mobility strategies in Asia and their implications for policy and women's organizations in the region. Please submit a 300 word abstract on your chosen theme and send it to the respective convener by the end of May, 2004. The conveners will then communicate with you directly. The conference conveners will work in close collaboration with the other theme conveners of the Kartini Network. Completed papers will be expected by 15 August, 2004. They will have to be sent to the Dalian organizing committee, attention [EMAIL PROTECTED] Selected papers will be considered for publication after the conference. Registration fees: Foreign participants US $100 Asian participants 50 Chinese nationals 30 Students 20 Staying in campus hotel would cost around US$20-25 per night. Meal tickets for four days will cost US$100. Arrival date 20 September, date of departure 25 September 2004. A limited number of scholarships are available. Please apply to the organizing committee. The head of the organizing committee at Dalian University is Dr Qiqi Shen, Center for Gender Studies, Dalian University, Dalian Economic Zone 116622, PR China, [EMAIL PROTECTED] After January 2004 you can visit the website of the Kartini Network for more information on our members and activities. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/BRUplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.arsip.da.ru *************************************************************************** __________________________________________________________________________ Mohon Perhatian: 1. 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