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FYI Best, Sharon --- On Sun, 18/10/09, Tuomas Martikainen <[log in to unmask]> wrote: From: Tuomas Martikainen <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Diaspora: Veiled Orient - Unveiled Occident? To: [log in to unmask] Date: Sunday, 18 October, 2009, 11:44 AM International Conference: "Veiled Orient - Unveiled Occident? Stagings in Politics, Law, Art, and Culture since the 19th Century " University of Zurich, 3 - 5 June 2010 When talking about Islam and in particular about Islamism and ‘Islamic fundamentalism’, Western societies tend to focus on the imagery of the veiled woman. ‘The veiled woman’ seems to symbolise in a nutshell the threat to Western values presented by oppression and terror. Even though today, not only scientific publications, but also the press, broadcasting and television try to approach the issue in more differentiated ways, such clichés prove persistent in the debate regarding the by Western standard alien religion and culture. In apprehensive arguments, Islam and Islamism are being conflated into one and the same phenomenon, both seem to embody a threat to democratic values, or are read to stand for terrorism. Negative stereotypes of these kinds have been criticised from different angles, and rightly so: it is inappropriate to equate Islam with Islamism When generalising Islam so crudely, distinctions between individual Islamic countries are being erased. Moreover, Western countries buying into the mantra of the threat of terror posed by ‘Islamic fundamentalism’, might serve the purpose of limiting civil rights and as sidetracking from a society’s own crises and problems. Criticism of such Islamic enemy stereotyping, as often encountered in Western countries, presents a pressing but complicated issue for feminist studies and politics alike. It is important to stress the discrimination of women in Islamic oriented cultures, and to identify the violations of human rights which often run along gender specific circumstances and confines. However, Western media frequently resorts to undifferentiated lines of argument when reporting on ‘the role of the woman’ in the Middle East. It might be tempting to oppose the clichéd imagery of the veiled woman illustrating the oppression in Muslim countries with the ‘freedom oriented Western society’; yet, such images are not suitable to call attention to injustices. On the contrary, these images rather serve to stabilise these injustices, as demonstrated lately by academics of different disciplines. Also, the enemy stereotyping of ‘the misogyny of Islam’ often works as a cover for antifeminism, political conflicts and social injustices in our own society. The conference wishes to approach the topic of ‘The Veil’ from a historic as well as a current socio-political perspective. The practices and representations of veiling and unveiling in Muslim as well as Western societies since the 19th century shall be analysed, thereby identifying the cultural and gender specific codes employed. One important aspect will be the relationship between modernism and colonialism. Contributions are welcome on topics like the Western view of the ‘mysterious harem woman’ in art, film and literature, representations of veiling/unveiling of truth in religion, philosophy and ideology, as well as their historic and political semantics. Furthermore, religious forms of veiling/unveiling in different societies and cultures and their respective embedding in social and political situations shall be looked into. Concepts like religious freedom, transnational feminism, civil rights and human rights can be discussed. Forms of veiling/unveiling in Western culture could be a topic as well: for example the elegant city lady or the diva in art, fashion, culture and film. Deconstructions of Western clichés of the veiled woman in Islam, as presented in the works on violence and migration of contemporary artists, will be looked into as well. Last but not least, one can analyse how the image of the veiled Muslim woman is used in Western media. The conference will explore the question of how veiling and unveiling in Europe and the nations of the Islamic world is being politically and juridically regulated. Paper proposals should include title of the paper, name, affiliation, short CV, email and a 500 word abstract. Proposals must be submitted by November 30, 2009 to: [log in to unmask] Publication of selected papers is envisaged Organiser: Gender Studies, Universität Zürich, http://www.masternebenfachgenderstudies.uzh.ch Conference conveners: Prof. Dr. Bettina Dennerlein, Dr. Elke Frietsch, Prof. Dr. Therese Steffen Contact: Dr. Elke Frietsch, [log in to unmask], Tel: ++41(0)446344835 _______________________________________________ Diaspora.fi http://www.diaspora.fi/