Posted on behalf of Anindita Datta
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Re Orienting Gender: Geographies of Resistance, Agency, Violence and Desire in Asia.
November 19-21, 2014.
Department of Geography, University of Delhi
Supported by The IGU Commission on Gender and Geography
CALL FOR PAPERS
The spatial underpinnings of gender and gendered nature of space(s) are now well known. Similarly, the whiteness of geography and calls for feminisms to be more inclusive have been heard since the 80’s. Yet, despite more inclusive geographies today, epistemic violence continues to construct non white, non western subjects mostly as poor, powerless and unempowered. In much the same way, within conventional theory, spaces come to be constructed through discourses that ultimately flatten and homogenize them. In this situation, difference, diversity, local feminisms, local knowledges and local understandings of space and place risk being lost unless seen contextually, using situated knowledges. This seminar seeks to re -orient the geographies of gender through a focus on understandings of gender and space in a specifically Asian context.
The growth of the geography of gender within Asia has been marked by an absence of epistemological and ontological debate. Among geographers located and trained in Asia, a policy driven research environment has seen themes that are more directly quantifiable and perceived as having greater policy implication being privileged. Whether or not this is a product of colonial history of the region is a matter of debate. On the other hand, a growing number of scholars located outside of the Asia have opted to study Asian subjects and space. Most such studies are markedly different in theoretical and methodological orientations from those produced by scholars trained and rooted within Asia. A mutually beneficial dialogue between the two strands of research can provide scope to widen and deepen the field. This seminar aims at initiating such a discussion on gender, space and the politics of location in general and on the themes of resistance, agency, violence and desire in Asian contexts in particular.
In the diverse, multilayered social and spatial contexts of Asia, resistance, agency, violence and desire are complex themes to interrogate. The object of this seminar is to do so by foregrounding gender within these and using the lens of space. In other words, which spaces, real or imagined are the spaces over which the complex and gendered geographies of violence and desire unfold? How are these spaces implicated in the performance of (gendered) resistance or how do they come to invest the gendered subject with agency? Can such gendered spaces be theorized beyond mainstream understandings and through other sensory mediums such as sound, touch, smell and tastes? Do the conventional divisions of space such as private and public hold true in nonwestern contexts? Do the predominant thematic concerns, concepts and the geographical methodologies employed provide adequate scope for the recovery of agency of both the gendered subject and gendered spaces?
Possible sub themes include but are not limited to the following-Methodologies and thematic concerns in mapping gender, sexuality and space in Asia; Visibilising local feminisms; Interrogating and (re)mapping gender roles and relations in Asian contexts; Gender, space and the politics of location; Excavating spaces of power, resistance, violence and desire within everyday geographies; Re mapping space using multi sensual approaches. In all of these, recovering agency and presenting a nuanced Asian alteriety to the discourse on gender, sexuality and space is an important project.
Abstracts of about 500 words should be sent to [log in to unmask] with a cc to [log in to unmask] as attachment to emails. Papers that have been selected will be notified by 15 March 2014. Full papers of publishable standard – in MS Word format and around 5,000-6,000 words – must be submitted by 30 August 2014. Selected papers will be taken forward for publication. Participants are encouraged to seek funding for travel from their parent institutions. Subsidized on campus accommodation can be made available on a first come first served basis. The programme includes an in-seminar workshop on re mapping gendered spaces using qualitative methods for early career researchers.
Registration fees : Key Dates
Students and Research Scholars: Rs 500/ Submission of Abstracts: 31 January 2014
Faculty Colleagues: Rs 1000/ Notification of Acceptance: 15 March 2014
Foreign Delegates: Rs 2500/ Submission of Full Papers: 30 August 2014
Organising Committee:
Dr Anindita Datta: Convenor, Dr Ram Babu Singh : Head, Dept of Geography, Dr Suresh Chand Rai: Member, Dr Ashis Kumar Saha: Member, Kiran Bhairannavar: Member, Dr Sudeshna Bhattacharya: Member, Prof Ragnhild Lund: Member representing IGU Commission on Gender and Geography.
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