Turning Muslims into Comrades: Gendered Transformations of Muslim Lives in Socialist and Post-socialist Contexts

Conference and Special Issue:
Turning Muslims into Comrades: Gendered Transformations of Muslim Lives in Socialist and Post-socialist Contexts

26–27 October 2021

Convenors: Drs Andreja Mesarič and Ivan Simić, Charles University, Prague

CALL FOR PAPERS
We invite conference contributions exploring the interplay between government policies, gender and Muslim populations in socialist and post-socialist contexts. Driven by a commitment to socialist modernity, many state-socialist gender policies created new opportunities and unprecedented social mobility. At the same time, they often led to violence, displacement and marginalisation of minority populations. The study of gender policies aimed at minority Muslim populations opens up numerous multi-disciplinary questions regarding the complexities of gender, masculinity, femininity, heteronormativity, religious identity and practice, social mobility, education, public space, privacy, systemic exclusion, racialisation, violence, resistance, migration and displacement, etc. Post-socialist transformation has brought another reconfiguration of masculinities and femininities often interpreted as a return of repressed traditional gender norms, yet crucially influenced by both the socialist past and contemporary socio-economic, political and religious factors.

We are seeking articles from a range of disciplines that explore questions of gender on the individual, community and institutional level in the history, culture, and socio-political life of Muslims in socialist and post-socialist countries. The conference will have a particular focus on Muslims living as minorities. However, we are also interested in gendered analyses of Muslim majority state-socialist and post-socialist contexts.

Topics addressed by the papers might include but are not limited to:
State policies and their gender impacts; Muslim responses to state policies and actions at the individual, community, and institutional levels; Comparisons between countries and regions, including between Muslims living in minority and majority settings; Transnational influences on gender policies and practices; Representation and media; Migration and displacement; Education policies; Changing traditions; Violence; Sexuality; Socialist modernity; Alternative modernities; Transformation of state policies and gender norms in post-socialist contexts; Gendered analyses of the resurgence of Islam in late socialism and post-socialism

We intend to publish the conference contributions in a special issue of a peer-reviewed journal. Several journals are being considered at this stage, aiming for maximum impact.

Deadlines:
Abstracts (250 words max): 1 May 2021
Paper Drafts: 1 October 2021
Conference: 26–27 October 2021
Editorial Revisions: 5 November 2021
Submission to the journal: 19 November 2021
by e-mail to: Dr Ivan Simić, i.simic.12@ucl.ac.uk

There is no conference fee. We expect the conference to be held online due to COVID, but if we organise it in person, we might be able to offer travel grants to graduate students and non-tenured faculty.