A one-day conference  

CALL FOR PAPERS

Over the past year, academics have brought critical perspectives to bear on the complex causes and consequences of the English riots of 2011. These interventions have unsettled the easy answers offered by politicians and the police. Important questions have been raised about the relationship between the riots and the increasingly hostile conditions of neoliberalism and Coalition policies, including: growing unemployment, rising tuition fees, the withdrawal of the EMA, cuts to Sure Start and an overhaul of welfare provision. On the 28th September 2012, The Weeks Centre for Social and Policy Research(London South Bank University) – in collaboration with the Institute for Policy Studies in Education(London Metropolitan University) – will host a one-day conference designed to interrogate the relationship between the Riots and re-shaped inequalities of race, class, place, gender, sexuality in a post-crash, austerity era. As we see protests and uprisings across Europe and beyond, this will be a moment to reflect more widely on the convulsions of contemporary capitalism. Continue Reading

The interim conference, ‘Gender and Democracy: Gender and Research in Times of Change’, was hosted by the University of Gothenburg’s Department of Education and Special Education. Continue Reading

Triumphs:  Story 1

She’s just won a prestigious prize (at a prestigious conference): praise was rightfully delivered and she basked it the glory, in the surprise that seemed to say she’d arrived in academia (early career no more). But she was worried. Did this really signal a safety in arriving, a recognition of value, labour, contributions? Or did it signal more labour, maybe this time without recognition or value? When the stakes are set so high do we have no choice but to keep apace, to endlessly indicate, effect and fear our own (in)capacities? When we compete with colleagues in a competitive university-marketplace – and when competition is so close it is generated by-ourselves-for-ourselves (as ‘keeping up’, ‘what next?’) – what cares, connections, capacities are rendered near and far? I tell her to add her award to her email signature, a neat summary quickly conveying who she is as a hyperlinked bio. But I pause. There’s a borderline between the achieving academic, the celebrity star and the pretentious, (self)promotional subject. I pause. These are laboured cares. Continue Reading

The Gender and Education Association would like to announce that the ninth international Gender and Education conference will be held at London South Bank University from Tuesday 23rd – Friday 26th April 2013. Continue Reading

Dear Colleagues,

We are writing to you to update you on recent developments with regard to the future of the Women’s Library, which is housed at London Metropolitan University. Continue Reading

Homeland is a US television series based on an Israeli show, Prisoners of War. It centres on CIA agent Carrie Maddison, played by Claire Danes, who in dramatic opening scenes is told by a source that a US marine has been ‘turned’. When a few days later US marine Nicholas Brody, played by Damien Lewis, is rescued after eight years in captivity, Carrie is convinced he’s the marine in question. Alongside Brody’s heroic homecoming we follow Carrie’s increasingly obsessive attempts to prove him a traitor. Carrie’s an unusual female character so in this post we begin a conversation about her which we plan to continue as events unfold each Sunday night. We hope you’ll join in. The show is full of twists and turns so don’t read this unless you’re up to date with the latest episode shown on the UK’s Channel 4 (or you don’t mind knowing what happens in advance). If you’ve seen ahead of this and you add comments please alert us to any spoilers. Continue Reading

The Guardian reports on a recent survey from UK Feminista’s which highlights a new wave of feminist activism springing up amongst young women in the UK.   In the article, one young woman, 17-year-old, Isabella Woolford Diaz was reported to have established a feminist girls group at her school in Camden, London. Continue Reading

I’ve been a part of a few feminist reading groups in different UK-US institutions: lately this has posed a question of what kind of ‘feminism’ are we reading, evaluating and doing in these classroom encounters? Who can be the feminist-in-the-classroom and what efforts, labours and recognition come into play here? How do these encounters travel beyond the classroom and where, then, do we locate feminism? At Rutgers, I was lucky enough to participate in the Happiness reading group, where researchers across the career stage were encouraged to present their work-in-progress and to share views, critique and inter-disciplinary thoughts on the subject of ‘happiness’; how to get it, whether and where it arrives, and what/who sustains this, with the group facilitating its production as well as its disruption.  The explicit feminism/feminist(s) frequently arrived by virtue of certain bodies being in the room, declaring their presence and ‘outing’ their investments, often just by declaring their research interests. Happily or not, the feminist in the classroom cannot often be equally present or an unburdened absence (speaking only for herself) with the expectation too that she should take us, our feminism, to another level, revealing her feminist approach with her every articulation. Continue Reading

Gaby Weiner, Chair of the Association since 2009, formally stepped down from her position on Thursday evening along with former Chair and Executive Member Carolyn Jackson. Both were presented with gifts and lifetime memberships by Gaby’s successor, Gabrielle Ivinson at a reception hosted by the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research at this year’s interim conference.

We wish Carolyn, Gaby and Alexandra Allan (who has also left the Executive) the best of luck.

The Nordic Educational Research Association (NERA) is the main Nordic organisation for educational researchers and it has had a Gender and Education network for some 20 years. At this year’s NERA conference held in Copenhagen (8-10 March), the network organised paper sessions, roundtable discussions and a Gender and Education meeting which was attended by 23 delegates from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia and Japan.

The conference followed an active year for NERA’s Gender and Education network. They organised a symposium at AERA’s 2011 conference, updated their website and launched a network email list, which currently has 60 members. These members are predominantly based in Sweden and Iceland where NERA’s 2013 conference will take place. Further information concerning this can be found on NERA’s website. Alternatively, join NERA’s Gender and Education email list by contacting Jukka Lehtonen (jukka.p.lehtonen@helsinki.fi).