CALL FOR PAPERS - Masculinities in Asia
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Date: 4 Aug 2011 - 5 Aug 2011
Venue: Asia Research Institute
469A Tower Block, Level 10 Bukit Timah Road
National University of Singapore @ BTC
Organisers: N/A
Description:
CALL FOR PAPERS (DEADLINE: 1 MARCH 2011)
This international workshop is jointly organized by the Asia Research Institute and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (Asian Studies Division, Gender Studies Minor Program, and 'Doing Asian Studies' Reading Group), National University of Singapore
Over the past few decades, gender studies has become one of the most productive areas within the academic study of Asia. Numerous conferences held over the years on gender related themes specifically in the Asian context and path-breaking studies using gender as a category of analysis have generated fresh insights and challenged established paradigms across disciplines. Yet, the analytical category of "men/masculinities" still remains largely invisible, unexamined and under-theorized in gender studies of Asia.
Since the 1980s, scholars such as Robert Connell and Jeff Hearn have argued for pro-feminist gender studies which investigates hierarchies within femininities and masculinities, and considers the implications of narrowly defined gender roles and patriarchal structures for both women and men. Even in a society explicitly characterized as patriarchal, men come to experience "subordinations, stigmatizations or marginalizations as a consequence of their sexuality, ethnic identity, class position, religion, or marital status" (Hearn and Morgan, 1990:11). Asia represents an interesting geographical location to investigate masculinities owing to the intense flow of people and ideas, diverse and complex forms of class, ethnic, religious, gender and sexual identities and relations, and dynamic social, cultural, political and economic changes that have characterized the history of the region.
Masculinities in Asia is an international workshop that seeks to contribute to current understandings of masculinities and, more broadly, gender in Asia. It addresses the need for a regional, comparative, and interdisciplinary dialogue among scholars of gender across regions in Asia, broadly defined as South, East, Southeast, and Central Asia. By engaging scholars of gender in Asia from a variety of geographical locations, theoretical perspectives, and disciplinary approaches in a conversation, the workshop promises to identify sets of shared concerns, challenges and discourses, and discern transnational and regional patterns and processes. The goal is not to cultivate a unique 'Asian' view on manhood and masculinity that can be readily used to compare and contrast with its 'Western' counterparts, but to explore and highlight varied and competing articulations and experiences of masculinities that complicate conventional perceptions of Asia as a region. We hope to provide an opportunity for developing a new understanding of Asia through analyzing issues concerning masculinity in different parts of the region in a comparative framework.
SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS
We invite those interested in participating in the workshop to submit original paper proposals that examine masculinities in Asia across historical periods and disciplines in innovative ways. Selected papers from those accepted for presentation will be published in a monograph/special journal issue. A title, an abstract of 400-500 words, along with a brief biography of 150 words, should be sent to Valerie Yeo at valerie.yeo@nus.edu.sg by 1 March 2011. See below for the Paper Proposal Submission Form. Papers that have been selected will be notified by 1 April, 2011. If accepted, the full paper must be submitted by 1 July 2011.
Participants are encouraged to seek funding for travel from their home institutions. However, a limited number of travel grants will be available for the participants.
CONTACT DETAILS
Workshop Organisers:
A/P THANG Leng Leng, Dept of Japanese Studies, NUS
Dr Chie IKEYA, Dept of Southeast Asian Studies, NUS
Dr CHEE Heng Leng, Asia Research Institute, NUS
A/P Michelle M. LAZAR, Dept of English Language & Literature, NUS
A/P ONG Chang Woei, Dept of Chinese Studies, NUS
Dr Suriani SURATMAN, Dept of Malay Studies, NUS
Dr Reiko YAMAGISHI, Dept of Japanese Studies, NUS
A/P YONG Mun Cheong, South Asian Studies Programme, NUS
Secretariat:
Ms Valerie YEO
Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore
469A Tower Block, Level 10, Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 259770
Email: valerie.yeo@nus.edu.sg
Tel:
Fax: (65) 6779 1428
Contact Person: Mdm YEO Ee Lin Valerie
Email: ariyeov@nus.edu.sg