Call for Papers: Queer Feminist Perspectives On Political Homophobia And Anti-Feminism In The Middle East And Europe

Call for Papers

In recent years, an overwhelming discourse of political and anti-feminism has gained salience globally. This has created the conditions for different far right groups to assert their right to determine what is legitimate in society, based on their hetero-patriarchal and conservative views. These homophobic and anti-feminist discourses have given rise to prejudice and potential violence and injustice against the perceived enemies of the far right. The Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Humboldt University of Berlin’s Department of Diversity and Social Conflict in cooperation with Brown University announce a Call for Papers and invite to hand in to submit abstracts until 25. April 2021.

The Two Day Conference

From 24th to 25th September 2021, there will be a two-day conference that aims to bring together researchers, activists, and community organisers to discuss how discourses on gender and sexuality have evolved in the Middle East and Europe amid the rise of far-right and authoritarian movements.

Our conference has three objectives. First, to situate far-right and authoritarian actors in their respective socio-historical contexts, and second, to discuss how political homophobia and anti-feminism have developed as core ideological elements of the far right in a local transregional framework.

Finally, the conference aims to shed light on local, transregional, and global responses to homophobia and anti-feminism in the respective regions. Queer and feminist paradigms will significantly contribute to our conversation about the far right and social justice.

By adopting this lens, we bring an intersectional perspective to the study of sex, sexuality, gender, and intimacy: one that builds on the awareness of diverse context boundaries while focusing on the non-normative expressions, practices, identities, and desires at a time of a resurgence of far-right nationalisms.

Call for Papers

The papers presented will be considered for publication, and we encourage participants to submit original and unpublished work.

Papers should engage issues of sex, sexuality, gender, or intimacy amid increasing political homophobia and anti-feminism in the Middle East and Europe. Contributions can be reflective essays or research-based and address either region or both.

For authors who would like to submit work beyond the scope of these regions, a short paragraph should detail how the submission will contribute to the conference key issues.

Key issues the conference will explore:

  • What are the sociopolitical factors shaping and connecting far-right discourses on gender and sexuality in the Middle East and Europe?
  • What are the discourses, practices, and collective actions that have been mobilized to challenge political homophobia, anti-feminisms, and related social justice issues, in local, regional, and transnational contexts?

Format and Timeline

Please submit an abstract (around 300 words) and a short bio by April 25, 2021 to

queerfeministperspectives@gmail.com.

 

Participants will be notified by May 1, 2021. As a preliminary step to the digital event in September, conference participants will attend a one-day workshop in June 2021 to discuss the papers.

 

Please submit original and unpublished work by:

Extended abstracts (around 800 words)

by June 1, 2021

Full drafts of papers (5000-8000 words)

by September 1, 2021

 

Pending review, authors of accepted papers will be notified by October 1, 2021.

Here you can find the Call for Papers PDF.