2018
sees the 50th anniversary of the apex of the movements of
dissent, radical change and revolution in the 1960's. Across the
globe, workers, students and freedom movements challenged
existing orthodoxies and regimes of prejudice, discrimination,
inequality and oppression. This extended for demands for greater
sexual freedoms, rights and recognition, and opposition to
criminalisations, pathologies, subjugations and violence. For
many in the West, the emergence of sexual movements as part of
the protests of the late 1960's had a direct bearing on
subsequent legal, cultural and political change, and put sexual
equality, rights and justice on the political map. Even with the
perceived resurgence of conservative forces and neo-liberal
capitalism, which have been seen as contesting 'progressive'
movements and ideas, issues of sexual freedom and justice have
become far more evident and subject to debate, contestation and
political and policy change. The character of that change can
and should be critically assessed, and one element of that
critical assessment should be the role of revolution and radical
change, in contrast to the reformist and incremental change that
has characterised much of sexual change over the last fifty
years.
Revolution
is itself a contested term. It is not always clear where
evolution, or reform, ends and revolution begins. Whilst the
traditional representation of revolution is a violent uprising,
revolution takes different forms: political but also social,
aesthetic and cultural transformations. There are also those
continuities that seem to resist forms of transformation -
particularly the persistence of globalisation, capitalism and
neo-liberalism.
This
anniversary allows the space to a conference to assess the
relationship between sexual politics and social and political
revolutions. We are
seeking contributions that explore this relationship in any
historical contexts and conjunctures. Contributions might focus
on:
· The 1960's, sexual change for LGBTQI identities and
cultures, and their consequences
· Sex, sexuality and revolution in Global Contexts
· Aesthetic revolutions and their representational
politics of sexuality
· The cultural politics of sexuality
· Sexual revolutions and discourses of reform and
revolution
· The sexual politics of revolutionary movements
· Queer revolutions - philosophy, theory and politics
· Bolshevik, Maoist and Cuban Revolutions and sexual
change
· The role of social revolutions in catalysing sexual
change
· Contrasting Sexuality in Capitalist and Communist
Regimes
· Sexual revolutions: essentialist, constructionist
and critical theories of sexuality and sexual change
· Sexuality and nationalisms
· The erotics of conflict
· Sex, gender and violent conflict
The
list of possible themes is by no means exhaustive. We invite
proposals for both papers and panels that deal with the
intersections of sex, sexuality and revolution. Expressions of
interest should be presented in abstracts for papers (250 words)
or panels of up to three speakers (please submit a 300 overview
and a set of abstracts) should reach us by Friday 15 December 2017 at
the latest, as should expressions of interest from non-paper
giving participants. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by
Wednesday 20th December
2017. Those who require earlier acceptances in order to
acquire funds can specify this and we will enact a rolling
acceptance process for those people as their proposals are
submitted.
Please send abstracts to [log in to unmask]
The
fee for the two-day workshop is 120 Euros (100 Euros for
Postgraduates), and includes conference packs, refreshments and
lunch for both days.
For
more info on INSEP, please visit – http://www.insep.ugent.be/