Anti-Feminist Backlash in the Global South: Cross-Regional Discussions, Strategies, and Innovative Practices
As anti-feminist backlash continues to gain momentum, it is important for feminist organizers, activists, and researchers to collaborate across geopolitical and socioeconomic contexts to effectively counter anti-feminist backlash. With this in mind, The Arab Institute for Women (AiW) at the Lebanese American University is issuing a call for papers on the issue of anti-feminist backlash in the Arab region and beyond, as part of a four-day conference to be held in Beirut, Lebanon, on the Lebanese American University campus on June 19, 20, 21, and 22, 2023.
The goal of the conference is to produce and build knowledge on anti-feminist backlash, compare and contrast anti-backlash strategies, and to build cross-sectoral and transnational alliances among anti-backlash actors in the global South. Towards that end, the conference will include both academic and non-academic submissions. This can include academic papers, policy briefs and case studies, or presentations by civil society partners and activists on current programming, and reflections on countering the backlash.
How to apply
Interested participants should submit an abstract (300 words) to [email protected] with “Anti-Feminist Backlash in the Global South: Cross-Regional Discussions, Strategies, and Innovative Practices” in the subject line by April 1, 2023, to be considered for the conference.
In your abstract, please identify whether your submission is academic or non-academic. If you are co-presenting or writing, please list the names of all authors/team members.
Topics or questions to consider for this conference may include, but are not limited to:
- Best practices or lessons learned for anti-backlash programming.
- Theoretical engagements with the concept of “backlash”: Is backlash a useful feminist concept? Why or why not? What can be done to expand the concept to make it more useful?
- Drivers of backlash across a wide spectrum: from fundamentalism and religious conservatism to capitalism.
- Comparative analyses of backlash across the global South, or between the global South and the global North: Does the current concept of backlash work in different historical contexts? How can backlash be modified to adapt to different socioeconomic and political contexts?
- Intersectional analyses of backlash: How do different racial and gender communities, or different classes and citizens/non-citizens experience backlash differently? How can backlash as a concept better accommodate intersectional experiences?
- Tracking the backlash online and offline: What are some of the best practices for documenting backlash as it happens? How can we think about bringing together different experiences of backlash to the global level for discussion and analysis?
- Advocacy: How can we raise awareness about backlash? What are some of the best practices and forms of activism for increasing awareness and dialogue about backlash? What types of anti-backlash policies or frameworks exist that can be used as examples for implementing policies attuned to backlash?
- Case studies about backlash and anti-backlash work in places around the world.
Expired
