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From:    Agnieszka Wierzcholska &#60;a.wierzcholska@fu-berlin.de&#62;Date:    22.09.2016Subject: CFP: Gender-Power-Eastern Europe - Berlin 10/16------------------------------------------------------------------------Osteuropa-Institut, Freie Universität Berlin20.10.2016, BerlinDeadline: 20.10.2016Call for papers for an international interdisciplinary conference, 20-23 June 2017 in BerlinGender - Power - Eastern EuropeChanging Concepts of Femininities and Masculinities and Power RelationsThe rise of right wing populist parties and conservative movements inEastern Europe , from Poland to Hungary and Russia, has dramaticallyaffected discourses about and concepts of gender. The "turn to theright"  has also ushered substantial shifts in policies concerningwomen's rights as well as gender studies as an academic and educationalproject.  Arguably, in some cases right wing political victory wasfacilitated by usage of anti-gender equality rhetoric (anti-genderism;anti-gender mobilization).  These worrisome developments demandexploration in broader contexts. Yet, the situation in East Europeansocieties is quite diverse if scrutinized from a gender perspective.After the transformation process of the early 1990s, increasingparticipation and liberation of women in public spheres can be observedin various countries. Other countries like Poland and Hungaryexperienced setbacks at several points of their history and in diversespheres of society. There, traditional gender roles re-entered thediscourse and practice. In other countries again, new problems arosewith political and territorial tensions. In Ukraine, for example, spacesof violence and war are forcing us to monitor gender roles, women'srights, and participation from a new perspective. In Russia, Ukraine andBelarus strong anti-authoritarian protests are renegotiating genderroles and concepts in multiple ways , and creating new potentials forfeminist and LGBTQ movements.The role of gender within power relations of new political and socialconstellations, the participation of women in politics, economics andwarfare, as well as spaces of violence need to be scrutinized andexplored. The Institute of Eastern European Studies at the FreieUniversität in Berlin is inviting scholars from different disciplines todebate these questions in an interdisciplinary conference entitled"Gender - Power- Eastern Europe" to be held in June 2017 in Berlin. Ouraim is to open up a space for discussions not only about recentdevelopments, but also to investigate the cultural, sociological andhistorical patterns of these developments in the longue durée. Aboveall, we focus on the agency of women and thus we move away fromdescribing the status of women solely as an objects of discrimination ineconomic and societal structures. Similarly important are the new rolesand models of masculinities exercised by men in Central and EasternEurope, which are being shaped within and outside of family. Finally, weintend to explore how power relations are negotiated in diversesocieties and what role gender plays therein.Three thematic panels are planned:1) The new conservativism and changing concepts of masculinity andfemininity2) Gender and participation in politics and economics3) Gender, sexuality, and violencePanel descriptions:1) This panel will explore the gender dimension of the new politicalconfiguration - right wing populism. Concepts of masculinity andfemininity and their historical, political, sociological and culturalheritage and legacies will be at the focus of attention. Papers focusingon the interconnectedness of gender concepts and national discourses arewelcome. We are intending to debate mechanisms of inclusion, exclusionand instrumentalization of certain images and concepts of femininity andmasculinity and their re-figurations in contemporary East Europeandiscourses. Both theoretical and  empirical papers are invited for thispanel.2) Participation of women will be the key issue in this panel. Wewelcome papers addressing  political participation of women in EasternEurope, especially formal and substantive representation in parliament,official institutions or the role of political quotas. Economic factorsare vital to understanding how gender roles and gender relations ofpower are constructed. Powerful economic actors can influence not onlydiscourses, but also economic realities of men, women and families. In2009 Nancy Fraser's critique of the neoliberal market policies and theconsequences of financial crisis brought about an important debate onthe role of women's social movements in neoliberal landscapes.  Numerousscholars have shown the profound effects of neoliberal policies  on thesocio-economic position of women in Eastern Europe during and after thetransformation. On the one hand, economic policies contribute to therise of new gender regimes and change the nature of activism.  On theother hand, also pro-family and social policies are capable of creatingnew economic realities.3) This panel addresses the power relations in both public and privatespheres, where gender is discoursively produced and reproduced, but alsowhere violence is perpetuated. Several countries in the Balkan regionand post-Soviet republics serve as source countries for traffickers inwomen, which has been recognized by Human Rights Watch as one of themost severe examples of human rights violations in Eastern Europe. Othertypes of relations between gender, power and violence can be observed inthe case of Euromaidan protests in Ukraine, where women activelyparticipated in military formations. Additional topics, which arewelcome in this panel, might include: domestic violence and the fightagainst it, gender in right-wing violence, gender and militarization,alternations in abortion laws, changing landscape of LGBTQ movements inEastern Europe.Scholars from a wide range of disciplines are invited to participate.Comparative papers are very welcome in order to reveal intertwinedprocesses occurring in different East European countries.Please send your abstract of around 500 words and a CV to the followingemail address until 20th of October 2016: a.wierzcholska@fu-berlin.de.The organizing committee:Prof. Katharina Bluhm, Dean of the Institute of Eastern EuropeanStudiesProf. Gertrud Pickhan, Head of History Department at the Institute ofEastern European StudiesDr. Justyna Stypinska, Department of Sociology at the Institute ofEastern European StudiesAgnieszka Wierzcholska, Department of History at the Institute ofEastern European StudiesDr. hab. Agnieszka Graff, American Studies Centre, University of Warsaw------------------------------------------------------------------------Agnieszka WierzcholskaOsteuropa-Institut, Freie Universität Berlin, Garystr. 55, 14195 Berlin+4930-83853181a.wierzcholska@fu-berlin.deURL pour citer cet article:&#60;http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de/termine/id=32006&#62;