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