Contextualising Geographical Approaches to Studying Gender in Asia

International Seminar on Contextualising Geographical Approaches to Studying Gender in Asia

3-5 March 2010

Venue: University of Delhi, India

Organised by: Department of Geography, University of Delhi and the College of Asia & the Pacific, Australian National University (ANU) with Support from the International Geographical Union (IGU)

Call for Papers

Against a backdrop of immense social and cultural diversities and rapid changes in society and economy, gendered geographies in Asia are being continuously produced, reproduced and renegotiated. Geographical research on gender and gender relations in Asia have reached a critical mass, with a number of studies being produced by Asian-based geographers as well as by Asian or other scholars trained and living abroad. In this context, Gender Studies and mainstream Human Geography can no longer inhabit and represent separate worlds. Rather, both approaches have immense potential to enrich each other theoretically, methodologically and empirically. The critical questions concern: what new angle can geographical approaches to gender introduce to gender and women's studies in Asia? Conversely, how can gender studies enrich geographical studies on Asia?
This international seminar addresses the long felt need of a comprehensive dialogue and discussion between and across practitioners of the fields. In particular, it addresses the contexts from within which work on the geographies of gender and gendered geographies have emerged, the constraints faced as well as the boundaries breached. It also aims to initiate a dialogue between geographers working on gender and scholarly approaches rooted in other disciplinary methodologies in Asia.

The seminar is a collaborative effort between the University of Delhi* and The Australian National University. Apart from providing a forum for Asian geographers to critically examine the contexts that shape their work on gender, it also aims to initiate a productive dialogue between them and other Asian feminists as well as those based overseas. The seminar would also attempt to present and explore the inherent polyvocality of the Asian academic milieu to feminist geographers of the Anglophone world.

Those interested in participating in the seminar may chose to share theoretical formulations or empirical work on the manner in which gender and space create and implicate each other, the nature of spatial practice and representations, the gender bias in geographical curriculum and alternative methodologies to capture the nexus between gender and space, specifically in the Asian context.

Technical sessions of the seminar would thus be grouped along the following broad themes:

I. The spatiality of gender
II. The gendered nature of space, place, and environments
III. Contributions of gender studies to geographical pedagogy
IV. Methodological issues in gender studies in geography – quantitative vs qualitative, women vs gender, positionality and fieldwork

Selected papers from those accepted for presentation will be published in a co-edited volume. Abstracts of about 500 words should be sent to the organisers along with a brief biographical outline by 15 November, 2009. Abstracts should be in sent in a doc file as attachment to emails. Papers that have been selected will be notified by 15 December, 2009. Full papers of publishable standard – in MS Word format and around 5,000-6,000 words – must be submitted by 15 February, 2010.

Participants are encouraged to seek funding for travel from their parent institutions. However a limited number of travel grants will be available for the Indian participants. Local hospitality and accommodation will be covered by the organisers.

Key Dates

Submission of Abstracts: 15 November 2009
Notification of Acceptance: 15 December 2009
Submission of Full Papers: 15 February 2010

Contacts

• Anindita Datta: anindita.dse[at]gmail.com
• Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt: kuntala.lahiri-dutt[at]anu.edu.au

Further Details