https://womenreligionandsecularism.wordpress.com/2016/05/17/cfp-family-and-sexual-mobilizations/
At the annual conference of the *Italian Society for Political Science
(15-17 September 2016)*, there will be two panels on Family and sexual
mobilizations, included in the section “Participation and Social
Movements”, and one panel on Religious and secular female mobilizations,
included in the section "New Challenges in the ‘Global’ Mediterranean"
–*deadline
for paper submission is June 5th <
http://www.sisp.it/convegno2016/>*. -
http://www.sisp.it/convegno2016/
*Panel 6.6 The Family as a Bone of Contention in 21st Century Europe*
At the beginning of the 21st century, Europe is witnessing an increasing
number of controversies and debates involving ethics and religious values.
On the one hand, faiths globalization and immigration flows have increased
the continent’s religious pluralism, giving rise to controversies related
to dress codes, places of worship, dietary prescriptions and other issues;
on the other, the secularization of society as well as technological
improvements have stimulated the development of controversies related to
issues such as abortion, euthanasia and other ethical issues. Many
controversies, however, are related to another field, which seems to be
increasing gaining relevance, with a cluster of controversies related and
different visions of family and gender roles.
Among these controversies, a major role has been played by the debates
about LGBT rights, mainly because of a real revolution which in a couple of
decades has swept western Europe, with the legalization of same-sex
partnership and even, in many countries, with the utter recognition of
marriage equality for heterosexual and homosexual couples. This
development, and the debates connected to it, has given rise to several
movements and groups active in the public sphere: on the one side, LGBT
organizations and other (mainly secularly-oriented) groups favourable to
marriage equality and to the recognition of LGBT rights; on the other,
(mainly religiously-oriented) groups aiming at defending a ‘traditional’
idea of family based on marriage between man and woman. Moreover, the clash
between these two positions has given rise to side debates which have
gained relevance in the latest years, such as the controversy about the
promotion of tolerance, rather than the promotion of ‘traditional values’
in public schools.
The panel welcomes both in depth single-case studies devoted to such
issues, as well as broader comparative works that take into account the
discursive, political, and legal opportunity structure that influence the
actors’ strategies in different contexts.
Chairs: Alberta Giorgi, Luca Ozzano
*Panel 6.7 Intersecting conservative and progressive sexual mobilizations*
In the context of an extension of the democratic field to sexual issues,
European social movements studies have often focused on sexual minorities
movements, and particularly on the relationship between activist, political
and institutional actors. In recent years, conservative movements that
contest the sexual order and changes of the contemporary family
configurations, not necessarily defined in terms of the so-called “natural”
family, have occupied also a growing number of scholars. But rarely,
researchers of conservative and progressive movements gather together in
order to hold a comparative analysis of this specific form of collective
action.
Considering recent debates and conflicts about the recognition of the
same-sex couples and family rights, we seek to investigate, in particular:
– Mediation and negotiation processes between activist, political and
institutional fields, and therefore strategies of (de)legitimation of the
actors and their claims;
– Dynamics of circulation, translation, appropriation and re-signification
of the collective action models between field conservative and progressive
fields (movement-countermovement dynamic);
– Logics of politicization of sexuality, that is not only homosexuality but
also heterosexuality that is not conceived as the universal model anymore
but became, like homosexuality, a politicized identity.
Thus, the panel Intersecting conservative and progressive sexual
mobilizations intends to investigate new forms of politicization of
sexuality, from the point of view of political participation and social
movements, opening a comparative analysis on several models of progressive
and conservative mobilizations based on national, transnational and
international case studies. Therefore, this panel aims at promoting a
dialogue between Italians and European researchers on sexual movements,
either their work on sexual minorities movements, on conservative counter
and anti-movements, or both in a comparative perspective.
Chairs: Martina Avanza, Massimo Prearo
*Panel 13.3: New Forms of Religious and Secular Female Participation in the
Mediterranean Region*
Women, gender roles, and female participation in the public realm recently
rose to prominence as key issues to investigate the current social and
political transformations in the Mediterranean region. From the 1980s, a
wide literature (Arat 2012; Saktanber 2006; Cooke 2007; Zayzafoon 2005; Ask
and Tjomsland 1998) has explored women’s participation and/or mobilisation
within Islamic movements and parties. Moreover, the debates over the
“Islamic feminism” (Mernissi 1991; Badran 2009; Moghissi 1999; Braidotti
2008; Moghadam 2002) enriched the picture by directing the spotlights on
the redefinition of gender roles within religious circles, parties and
institutions.
Besides such a religiously motivated female engagement, the heterogeneity
of women participating in social and political movements all over the MENA
region gained the interest of scholars who analysed women’s activism in
protests, especially during the so called “Arab springs” (Khamis 2011;
Bennoune 2012). Five years after the revolts, women’s political and/or
religious engagement turned to be either silenced, eclipsed by state
repression, or transformed: women’s militancy being institutionalised,
included within state bureaucracy; or rather represented by associations
closed to –unless embedded with– the governments (Göçmen 2014). Yet, it was
exactly from these precarious and evolving niches that women find their
ways for expressing their public role, in some cases in the context of new
institutional arrangements related to the religion/state boundaries.
In the light of these considerations, the categories of mobilisation and
participation seem indeed inadequate both at the theoretical and practical
levels. Hence the necessity to focus on the everyday experiences of women
engaged in movements, parties, NGOs, institutions in the Mediterranean
region. The panel invites contributions that critically call into questions
the forms and meanings of female engagement in the religious and secular
public realm. In particular, it analyses the scope and scale of female
participation by asking: How concretely does it occur? Which factors/actors
contribute in enhancing it? To what extent the current political and social
transformations have contributed in redefine it?
Designed as a space of dialogue and encounter, the panel promotes original
models of interpretation based on different contexts and experiences. It
strongly welcomes contributions based on empirical researches (both single
cases studies or larger analyses), envisaging an interdisciplinary
perspective and employing ethnographic and comparative methodologies.
to submit an abstract (max 500 words) follow online instructions:
http://www.sisp.it/convegno2016/
for more information: chiara.maritato@???
--
Centre for Social Studies - University of Coimbra
GRASSROOTSMOBILISE - Eliamep (Athens)
