Call for Papers 2011 (English)
Topic: Multi-directional Transfers. Internationalization of Gender Studies
Internationality is one of the almost unquestioned qualities of modern academia, another excellence criterion next to innovation, visibility, interdisciplinarity, and equal opportunity. Internationalization can be just another criterion that must be met or it might increase the pressure that so many already feel. However, it is possible that it offers chances and risks that have yet to be sufficiently discussed.
Gender research and those various institutions working in the field of gender studies are also involved in internationalization debates or processes. Although the internationalization of gender studies is an important step towards the discussion and application of feminist approaches and practices on local, regional, national, and/or global levels, its impacts remain under-researched.
Beyond the debate about internationality as a criterion of excellence for academic and research institutions, the topic is not totally new to gender studies. Indeed, the topic of internationalization reflects an intensely controversial scholarly debate within feminist gender studies: In general at least two threads in the discussion surrounding the internationalization in feminist debates can be identified (see Moallem, Minoo: Review: Feminist Scholarship and the Internationalization of Women’s Studies. In: Feminist Studies, vol. 32, no. 2 [2006], 332-351: 334). The first is connected to the idea of an imaginary alliance of women (“sisterhood is global”) who are oppressed by the same universal patriarchal system, and whose liberation seems possible through the internationalization of certain emancipatory norms and values. The second viewpoint is based on the criticism of the first, accusing it of feminist imperialism. This approach points to existent dominant political and economic forces of colonial modernity and its post- or neo-colonial structures, such as capitalism, imperialism, and exploitative structures based on highly imbalanced gender relations. It also points to the myth of progress within the debate about internationalization and to the concealment of power relations in the production and communication of knowledge, as well as the interpretation and the establishment of knowledge regimes.
Certainly the trans-regional, transnational, and international exchange of ideas offers up great potential. In this vein, the contribution of non-western scholars to relevant debates, especially on the critical reflection on gender research, remains inadequately noted or appreciated for several reasons. An equal international academic exchange is therefore far overdue.
But what happens with theoretical concepts and knowledge when they travel from a certain local and linguistic context and become “globalized” in other contexts? How can we prevent and make visible the loss or displacement of contents?
In the course of the practical implementation of internationalization efforts questions arise: does this process, for example, offer chances to make marginalized voices more audible or is there instead a danger that those scientists or institutions that can not internationalize on their own be further marginalized?
In this 2011 edition of the Yearbook, we wish to address several problem areas of the internationalization of gender studies outlined above as well as the following questions:
* Which possibilities do those less-established research fields like gender studies have in order to meet the requirements of internationalization? Does gender studies not need a special concept of internationalization that takes into account the uniqueness of this disciplinary, inter- and trans-disciplinary research field as well as its particular sensitivity to the dominance of western feminist perspectives?
* Does this abstract academic debate fail to address the advancing internationalization of civil society (e.g. NGOs working on gender topics)?
* How should the issue of internationalization be discussed from a postcolonial feminist perspective (e.g. the critical challenge of power relations in the knowledge industry)?
* In concrete terms, what forms of cooperation and exchange processes are possible and reasonable? How should they be organized on bi-national, multi-national, and transnational levels?
* Should internationalization be a quality criterion for gender studies? If yes, through which criteria should this specific quality be evaluated?
* Can non-Eurocentric models of modernity be fruitful for the understanding of non-western gender conceptions?
* What does internationalization mean for the approach to different native languages? Are translations more reasonable than an anglicized standardization?
* Are there new possibilities for bi-national, multi-national, and international cooperation through advances in new technology?
* How can ecological imperatives of international exchange be addressed? What alternatives are there for global mobility?
- Prof. Dr. Dörte Segebart, Freie Universität Berlin (doerte.segebart@fu-berlin.de)
- Prof. Dr. Doris Wastl-Walter, Universität Bern (wastl@giub.unibe.ch)
Contributions must be submitted through the Yearbook’s editing system. Sending via e-mail or post is not possible. All contributions will be assessed through peer review.
Submission deadline is May 31st 2011.
Contributions evaluated positively in the peer review process will be continuously published following proofreading and editing. The 2011 edition of the Querelles Yearbook will consist of all accepted contributions and will be completely published not later than the end of October 2011.
Querelles is place for a methodically open dialogue in the tradition of the Querelles des Femmes. It was founded in 1996 as the first interdiscplinary Yearbook in this field and aims to historically contextualize the contemporary development of topics and methods in as well the critical (self) reflection on gender research. Central topics are addressed through a disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary approach. Additionally, the history of science and the humanities is analyzed as gender history using selected examples. With the conversion to an open access periodical in 2011, the Yearbook implements another innovation. This process is financially supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.
Details for article production:
* Contributions should normally be written in German. Please contact the editors in advance if you wish to submit a contribution in English (if possible please send an abstract when contacting).
* The editors will make efforts to provide translations to English.
* Contributions should neither be under consideration for publication nor published elsewhere.
* Articles may not be longer than 50,000 characters (incl. spaces).
* A brief abstract (max. 1500 characters) describing the primary argumentation is to be submitted with each contribution.
* The use of illustration, audio, and video references are welcomed. Please pay attention to the appropriate usage of copyrighted material.
* The submission of contributions other than texts, especially audio and video works, is possible and desired.
* We ask you to strictly follow the Yearbook guidelines for formatting and references.
Further questions and feedback
The editors of the 2011 edition are available for questions concerning content or organization. General and technical questions, especially about possible formats and their preparation, can be addressed to the contact address (anita.runge@fu-berlin.de).
More information here.
This blog is no longer updated. Please instead visit Writers For Diversity for new opportunities for women/ LGBT writers and writers of color. Thank you.
