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Minorities: between marginality and participation in the Middle EastCall for Papers: BRISMES Graduate Student Conference Oxford, 8th May 2013The events of the last two years have thrown into sharp relief thedebate about the cohesion of societies and regimes in the Middle Eastand North Africa. Particular focus has been given to the place of theindividual within their community, and the prospects for thesecommunities to contribute to the wider process of change in the region.Analysing the treatment of minorities, and the opportunities orobstacles they face for participating in all spheres ofdecision-making or community life, will help facilitate discussion onhow far the various regimes are committed to democracy and humanrights. In this context it is intended that 'minorities' should beinterpreted widely in order to include ethnic, religious, linguistic,sexual, social, cultural, economic and political minorities.The conference will analyse traditional and innovative modes ofparticipation, and discuss how recent political events have changed,challenged or maintained these. The organisers welcome papers whichfocus on alternative ways in which minorities have sought or rejectedinvolvement, thereby alleviating or reinforcing their marginality.The Graduate Section of BRISMES and its co-hosts, the Oxford MiddleEast Centre and Ertegun House, extend a call to all young researchersand PhD candidates to present research that addresses these issues.Submissions are invited from any disciplinary field which covers themain theme. It is anticipated that discussion will include the varietyof perspectives from which this topic can be understood, dealing withall the regions of West Asia, North Africa, the Gulf, or withminorities originating from these regions but located elsewhere.Proposals for panels and abstracts for individual papers should be sent to:graduate.section.brismes@gmail.comAbstracts should be around 250 words and include the paper title andthe name and contact details of the presenter.  Panels will comprisethree papers of 15 minutes' presentation time plus 5 minutes fordiscussion.Further information will be available on the conference website:https://sites.google.com/site/brismesgs2013/Deadline for submission of abstracts: 22nd February 2013Notification of acceptance of abstracts: 15th March 2013