Call for Abstracts: Critical Events Studies and the Politics of Gender

Dr Rebecca Finkel, Queen Margaret University, Scotland

Dr Louise Platt, Manchester Metropolitan University, England

This call may be of interest to those doing gender within events frameworks / doing events within gender frameworks. Please consider submitting a paper to the proposed interdisciplinary panel focusing on critical events studies and the politics of gender.

Critical events research has been a developing field for over two decades, and many scholars have focused political, social, and economic studies by framing them around planned events and their impacts on communities and places. Convergences of gender, sexuality, and intersectional analyses and events, sport, leisure, and tourism studies have driven new critical understanding of the impacts of events in cities, countries, and worldwide. This panel explores the political aspects of gender as it relates to researching the events environment. Papers can focus on any size and type of event from festivals and conferences to community and international events. Papers can be theoretical or theoretically informed empirical work.

The following list is indicative, although not nearly exhaustive, of likely topics in the panel:

Power, participation, and representations: examinations of the gendered power relationships in the events arena and how this is linked to participation and also representation. How are women represented in events? What makes an event masculine or feminine? How does this have an impact on how the event is viewed and who attends? Is it possible to depart from constructed gender binaries in the liminal spaces of events? Other power hierarchies are welcome to be considered.
Research methods and methodologies for studying gendered events: explorations of innovative methods and methodologies for studying and understanding critical events studies and the intersection with gender. What approaches are most appropriate (e.g. visual, ethnographic, participatory) for understanding gender and planned events?

Role of media: explorations of traditional and social media and their impacts on gendering events. How is understanding of events shaped when viewed through various media lenses? How are issues of gender performance, power, and perspectives mediatised?

Policy and governance: critical analyses of the institutionalised gendering of events. How have policies had an impact on gender in events frameworks?
Social justice and human rights: explorations of the gender consequences of planned events. From festivals to mega events, what are the key concerns and controversies affecting gender equality, gender justice, and fundamental human rights?

Issues of identity: How do we construct our identities with regard to events? How is this gendered and what other aspects of the events landscape have an influence on how we see ourselves and our social world?

Performance: the stakeholders and actors of events shape their design. Who is included/ excluded in events and events decision making? What role does gender have in the performance / performers of events? How does this construct boundaries or create access for forging new dialogues and re-negotiating event spaces?

Commercialisation of events and gendered outcomes: How does the commercialisation and commodification of events reinforce or challenge gender norms and behaviours?

Intersectionality: How does gender intersect with class, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation in events environments?

Future approaches: What is next for critical events studies and the politics of gender?

Abstracts of 300 words (max.) are invited by 4th November, 2016. New and young scholars with 'work in progress' papers are welcomed. In the case of co-authored papers, one person should be identified as the corresponding author. Abstracts should include full contact details for all authors, including name, institutional affiliation, and email address. Please include 3-8 keywords with your Abstract.

Abstracts should be emailed to: Rebecca Finkel [log in to unmask]

(Please do not submit on the ECPR site to be included in this panel. A full panel submission including accepted papers will be made by the final ECPR deadline.)

The ECPR Standing Group on Gender and Politics was founded in 1985, and now has more than 750 members worldwide. It is a broad network of scholars researching issues relating to gender and sexuality in politics and world politics. The Group encourages workshops, panels, and research groups with an emphasis on gender, and seeks to increase the profile of women in the main fields of political science. Over the past twenty years, research in this field has expanded significantly, and the number of gender and politics scholars participating in ECPR Joint Sessions and General Conferences has increased exponentially. In 2007, the Standing Group on Gender and Politics arranged its first ever conference, the European Conference on Politics and Gender (ECPG). The conference now takes place biennially.