Labnet: CFP: Anarchism and Sexuality - a conference in Leeds, February 2010

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From: Labourhistory.net

CFP: Anarchism and Sexuality: a conference in Leeds, February 2010
URL: http://labourhistory.net/news/i0904_2.php 

Anarchism and Sexuality in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries

Leeds, 19th February 2010

Call for Papers

Deadline - 30th June 2009

The aim of this conference is to explore the connections between
anarchist thought and activism in regions of extensive uptake of
anarchist ideas, e.g. Spain, Portugal and Latin America, with respect to
an important area of anarchist ideas and practice: sexuality.

This is an under-studied area in anarchist historiography and other
disciplines, such as history of labour movements, and this is
particularly the case in some understudied countries within these
regions (especially Portugal and Brazil). As areas with large anarchist
movements, they offer telling examples of how anarchism engaged with
this important question.

Sexuality was taken up by anarchist movements as an example of their
attempt to interconnect cultural, social and economic questions and
forms of exploitation and as a response to broad issues of power
differentials between men and women in society, the role of the Catholic
Church and as an attempt to live and experience cultural change as part
of the overall challenge anarchist movements have provided against
capitalist social relations. This is relevant not just on a historical
level but also has relevance to current debates on the relations between
politics, sexuality, cultural change and identities. We invite papers on
historical as well as present day intersections between anarchism and
sexuality, and their implications for anarchist or libertarian practice.
We would also encourage contributions on Spanish- and
Portuguese-speaking Asia and Africa and their respective anarchist
movements.

In addition to providing a forum for the discussion of the legacy and
the present of anarchist thought, the conference aims to allow for a
critical engagement with current theories that derive from the realities
of countries generally unknown in British critical thinking, political
science and sociology, not to speak of gender and sexuality studies. The
organisers will accept papers in English, Spanish or Portuguese. Please
send abstracts of no more than 200 words or expressions of interest to
Gwendolyn Windpassinger, G.Windpassinger at lboro.ac.uk, or Richard
Cleminson, R.M.Cleminson at leeds.ac.uk, by Tuesday, 30th of June, 2009.

Richard Cleminson (University of Leeds)
Gwendolyn Windpassinger (Loughborough University)