Masculinities in Times of Crisis
webinar
18 March 2021
Corona Update
Due to the ongoing pandemic, the academic workshop has been replaced by a webinar on masculinities in times of crisis.
On 17-19 March 2021, UCSIA organizes an academic workshop on gender, conflict, citizenship and belonging at the University of Antwerp.
Gender and gender(ed) relations have long been the subject of political imagination and interpretation. This is particularly the case in times of crisis and perceived threats to the nation, when political actors seek to mobilise through a (renewed) emphasis on the importance of the nuclear (heteronormative) family and traditional roles for both women and men. Within such political tactics and mobilisations, the (native) male’s responsibility to defend the nation is emphasised, while women are told to focus their energies on producing and educating children as well as supporting their husbands in their national duties.
These processes are clearly visible in today’s political climate in Belgium, Europe and the world. Consider the responses in Europe to the so-called 2015 migrant crisis, or the rise in populist rhetoric that is based on the fight against ‘gender ideology’.
This workshop seeks to better understand the current political climate in Europe, which includes the resurfacing debates on abortion, the spread of referenda on the family across Europe, the various discussions in European countries on the re-introduction of military service, as well as the activities of anti-gender movements that have attempted to curtail academic freedom in researching gender and sexuality. To do so, it examines the role of (ideological) constructions of ideal and normative masculinities/femininities and alternatives to them in times of crisis, which remain too often overlooked by researchers.
Some of the questions central to the workshop are:
- How are ideal masculinities/feminities (re)produced in times of crisis through law, institutions, culture, politics, media…? How are these binaries resisted and transcended?
- How do idealised masculinities/feminities correlate with ideals of citizenship?
- How do those who do not conform do these ideals negotiate citizenship and belonging?
- How do economic and institutional legitimacy crises affect negotiation (and questioning) of idealized types of masculinity and femininity?
The workshop seeks to develop a broader historical and geographical perspective, and welcomes papers on cases from any period post-Second World War in Europe (especially Southeast-Europe) and the Middle East.
Keynote Speakers
Catherine Baker
Research Coordinator for History and Senior Lecturer in 20th Century History, University of Hull
Brandon Hamber
John Hume and Thomas P. O’Neill Chair in Peace at Ulster University based at the International Conflict Research Institute (INCORE)
Petra Meier
Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Antwerp
Petra Meier studied political science in Brussels, at both the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the Université libre Bruxelles, and social geography in Amsterdam, at the Universiteit van Amsterdam. In 2002 she obtained her Ph.D. at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, went to the Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen for a post-doctoral research project, and joined the department of Political Science at the Universiteit Antwerpen as an Assistant Professor in 2006. In the period 2009-2016 she directed the Flemish Policy Research Centre on Equality Policies; from 2010-2016 she chaired Sophia, the Belgian association of gender studies, together with Stéphanie Loriaux; and in 2018 she founded the Antwerp Gender & Sexuality Studies Network, together with her colleague Alexander Dhoest. More recently, her attention shifted to strategic management as she got elected to the Executive Committee of the European Consortium for Political Research in Spring 2018 and serves as Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences since October 2018.
Her research focuses on issues of equality and diversity, mainly – but not exclusively – from a gender perspective, on how inequality gets produced and reproduced, and on what contributes to fostering equality in a more sustainable way. It looks into the representation of gender in politics and policies.
Uğur Ümit Üngör
Professor of History, University of Amsterdam
Uğur Ümit Üngör (PhD Amsterdam, 2009) is Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Amsterdam and the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust, and Genocide Studies. His main areas of interest are genocide and mass violence, with a particular focus on the modern and contemporary Middle East. He is an editor of the Journal of Perpetrator Research, and coordinator of the Syrian Oral History Project. His publications include Genocide: New Perspectives on its Causes, Courses and Consequences (Amsterdam University Press, 2016, ed.), Confiscation and Destruction: The Young Turk Seizure of Armenian Property (Continuum, 2011), and the award-winning The Making of Modern Turkey: Nation and State in Eastern Anatolia, 1913-1950 (Oxford University Press, 2011). From 2014 to 2019, Üngör coordinated a Dutch Research Council-funded research project on paramilitarism, which led to the monograph Paramilitarism: Mass Violence in the Shadow of the State (Oxford University Press, 2020). He is currently working on its follow-up monograph Shabbiha: Assad’s Militias and Mass Violence in Syria (forthcoming, 2020).
Cynthia Miller-Idriss
Professor of Education and Sociology at the American University in Washington, DC
She teaches courses on culture, identity, extremism, education, research methods, and globalization. Her research is focused on the cultural dimensions of far right youth extremism and school-based responses to rising hate. She is the author of The Extreme Gone Mainstream: Commercialization and Far Right Youth Culture in Germany (Princeton University Press, 2018); Blood and Culture: Youth, Right-Wing Extremism, and National Belonging in Contemporary Germany (Duke University Press, 2009). She is Senior Fellow at the Centre for Analysis on the Radical Right (CARR) and an active member of the American Sociological Association, the Council for European Studies, the Comparative and International Education Society and the German Studies Association. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology and a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Michigan.
Programme Outline
Wednesday
18 March 2020
18h00-20h00
Public opening lecture on
Youth, Gender, Populism & Nationalism
Cynthia Miller-Idriss
Professor of Education and Sociology at the American University in Washington, DC
Thursday
19 March 2020
9h00
Welcome by UCSIA
9h00
Introduction by chair
9h15
Introductory lecture on
Gender and Conflict – Historical Perspective
Petra Meier
Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Antwerp
10h00
Q & A
10h30
Coffee Break
Paper Presentations Panel I
Lunch
14h00
Introduction by chair
14h15
Introductory lecture on
Conflict and Gender in Southeast Europe
Catherine Baker
Research Coordinator for History,
University of Hull
15h00
Q & A
15h30
Coffee Break
Paper Presentations Panel II
17h30
End of Day Programme
Friday
20 March 2020
9h00
Welcome by UCSIA
9h00
Introduction by chair
9h15
Introductory lecture on
Conflict and Gender in the Middle East
Uğur Ümit Üngör
Professor of History, University of Amsterdam
10h00
Q & A
10h30
Coffee Break
11h00
Paper Presentations Panel III
Lunch
14h00
Introduction by chair
14h15
Paper Presentations Panel IV
15h30
Coffee Break
16h00
Public closing lecture on
Transforming Societies after Conflict
Brandon Hamber
John Hume and Thomas P. O’Neill Chair in Peace, International Conflict Research Institute (INCORE), Ulster University
17h30
End of Day Programme
Call for Papers
The workshop ‘Gender, Conflict, Citizenship and Belonging’ consists of a two-day international meeting (preceded by a public opening lecture) with specialized lectures, presentations and debates by invited senior and junior scholars. The aim is to offer a platform to scholars to present their research on the topic and exchange their ideas on research findings. Such a meeting may open up new multidisciplinary horizons to think about the topic.
Besides empirical research, also conceptual or methodological contributions are welcomed for submission from various disciplines.
We invite theoretical and empirical papers on the following themes and questions:
- How are ideal masculinities/feminities (re)produced in times of crisis through law, institutions, culture, politics, media…? How are these binaries resisted and transcended?
- How do idealised masculinities/feminities correlate with ideals of citizenship?
- How do those who do not conform do these ideals negotiate citizenship and belonging?
- How do economic and institutional legitimacy crises affect negotiation (and questioning) of idealized types of masculinity and femininity?
The workshop seeks to develop a broader historical and geographical perspective, and welcomes papers on cases from any period post-Second World War in Europe (especially Southeast-Europe) and the Middle East.
Application Procedure
To submit your application
- fill in the online submission form
- upload the abstract (750 – 1.000 words including references, in English) of your proposed paper
- upload your curriculum vitae, in English, list of publications included (if available)
Application deadline: 25 November 2019
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Selection Criteria
Applicants should
- be a master student, doctoral student or postdoctoral researcher
- be involved in ongoing academic research relevant to the themes addressed in the sessions of the workshop
- respect formal requirements of the application process
- submit a well written paper proposal, related to the main topic of the workshop and representative of your research work, indicating the methodology and theoretical underpinning of your research
Selection Procedure
Blind peer-review:
the selection of participants will be made on a competitive basis by the members of the organizing scientific committee headed by the director of UCSIA. The papers will be examined through a blind refereeing process. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
Notice of acceptance:
20 December 2020 at the latest
Workshop Attendance
- conference attendance, meals and accommodation for the selected presenters are free of charge
- all participants are expected to arrange and pay for their own travel
- all participants are expected to take part in the full programme
Presentation and publication opportunity
- selected participants will present their papers in a panel session
(20 minutes in English) - a selection of papers presented at the workshop will be considered for publication
Organisers
In Cooperation With
Henk de Smaele, Centre for Political History & Antwerp Gender and Sexuality Network, University of Antwerp
Heleen Touquet, Chair in European Values, University of Antwerp
Roshanack Shaery-Yazdi, Centre for Political History, University of Antwerp
Stijn Latré, Director of UCSIA
Contact
Barbara Segaert, Scientific Coordinator, UCSIA
T | +32 (0) 3 265 49 60
Chair for European Values
joint project between the UCLouvain and the University of Antwerp dedicated to the study of European values in their diversity
Practical details
Date & Time
Academic workshop: 18-20 March 2020
17-19 March 2021
Public lecture: to be announced
Call for Papers
Notice of Acceptance: 20 December 2019
Full details | Online submission form
Venue
University of Antwerp
City Campus – Hof van Liere
Prinsstraat 13 & 13 B, 2000 Antwerp
BELGIUM
Travelling to Antwerp from Abroad
International trains
Antwerp Central Station offers direct railway connections to Amsterdam Centraal, London St Pancreas International, Paris Nord and Köln Hauptbahnhof.
This makes the train a comfortable and green way to travel to Antwerp from many larger cities in the Netherlands, Great-Britain, France and Germany.
We recommend you to order your train tickets as soon as possible, because prices increase in time. The earlier you book, the cheaper your trip. Ticket sales open three to six months in advance, depending on the trainline operator.
When you arrive in Antwerp Central Station, take a minute to look around you. Many travel guides have rated it as one of the most beautiful stations in the world.
Brussels National Airport
Brussels National Airport in Zaventem is the most travelled airport in Belgium. If you are coming by plane, you will most likely arrive here.
The Airport Express is a direct coach service that runs every hour (3 a.m.-12 p.m.) between Brussels Airport and Antwerp Central Station. The ride takes about 45 minutes. You can find the bus stop at park P15, close to the terminal. The covered walkway leads you automatically to and from the terminal.
There is also a direct train connection (twice an hour) between Brussels Airport and Antwerp Central Station. The approximate travel time is 32 minutes. The airport train station is located below the terminal (basement level -1). Keep your train ticket at hand upon arrival at Brussels Airport. You will need to scan it at the automated access gates.
More information:
www.brusselsairport.be/
Antwerp City Airport
Antwerp Airport is a small airport located in Deurne at a mere seven kilometers from the city centre of Antwerp. It covers a selection of mostly European destinations such as London Southend, Florence, Innsbruck, Malaga, Split, Toulon, …
The easiest way to travel to the city centre is by taxi (15 min, € 15).
You can also take public transport, but there is no direct service. Take bus 51, 52 or 53 directly in front of the airport building to Antwerp-Berchem railway station in 10 minutes, where you can take bus 21 and 32 or tram 9 and 11 to Rooseveltplaats (Roosevelt Square), near Antwerp Central Station.
More information:
www.antwerpairport.aero
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Another option is the international airport in our neighbour’s capital: Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Especially for long distance flights, it is an alternative worth looking into. Your journey could turn out significantly cheaper and/or shorter.
There is a direct train connection between Schiphol Airport and Antwerp Central Station every hour. The estimated travel time is under an hour.
We recommend you to order your train tickets as soon as possible, because prices increase in time. The earlier you book, the cheaper your trip. Ticket sales open four months in advance.
You can also buy international train tickets at the NS Hispeed desks, located near the Meeting Point at Schiphol Plaza.
The NS train station is located directly below the terminal building. Take the escalator or lift downstairs and board the train.
More information:
www.brusselsairport.be/en/
Brussels South Charleroi Airport
This is an airport with mostly short distance destinations (with the exception of Hong Kong). The majority of the flights are operated by low cost airlines.
Mind: although your flight might be cheaper, travel time to and from Antwerp will be longer and your transport options for early and late flights are limited.
Also take into account that, although the airport is called Brussels South, it is located in Charleroi, which is in no way near to Brussels National Airport. When booking your train tickets make sure to select the right railway station.
You can buy a single or return ticket (same day return) to “any Belgian station” from the ticket machines outside the terminal near Door 2. This ticket includes the TEC bus journey (from the airport to Charleroi-South station) and the train journey (from Charleroi-South station to another Belgian station of your choice).
More information:
www.brussels-charleroi-airport.com
