CALL FOR PAPERS From the Grassroots to the Statehouse: Women’s Activism and Political Power
CALL FOR PAPERS
22nd Annual Women's History Conference at Sarah Lawrence College
From the Grassroots to the Statehouse: Women’s Activism and Political Power
Friday and Saturday March 27-28, 2020
This conference is free and open to the public
When Liberian Nobel Peace Prize winner and anti-war activist Leymah Gbowee was asked “What one thing could be done to improve the status of women and girls around the world?” Her answer was “More women in politics.” Gbowee’s response suggests that politically active women will ask the right questions and support the best policies to help women and girls achieve their full potential. In anticipation of another U.S. Presidential election in 2020, this conference asks: How much of a difference does it make to have women in positions of power and focuses on the question, what is the potential power of women’s leadership now and in the past? From leadership in activist organizations to running in local elections to ultimately attempting to become leaders of nations- have women done what Gbowee fervently believed is possible? When women get into positions of political power, how much do they confront, change, and shake up the status quo? Or, do we find conversely that women are forced to modify more radical positions in order to serve a broader constituency? Does the phenomenon of forced compromise and de-radicalization occur only in electoral politics or can it be found in other places where women are in positions of power?
We hope that participants at this conference will grapple with these questions from a range of different perspectives, including examining the extent to which participation in electoral politics has or has not benefited women.
We welcome proposals that go beyond the category of “women” to include the powerful activism of LGBTQ populations, disability rights activists, and immigration activists, to name just a few of the perspectives that we are hoping to engage with through this conference. Panels with an international focus and /or on grassroots activism are particularly encouraged.
Panels may include but are not limited to:
Organizing from the Ground up: Grassroots Political Action
Women's Access to Power and Decision Making in African Countries
Violence and Intimidation Against Women in Politics
Women's Participation at the Local Level
Media Narratives of Women in Politics
Trans Focused Political Action
LGBT Communities and Access to Political Power
Political Campaigns Global and Local
Race, Gender and the 19th Amendment
Suffrage Campaigns
Uses of Gender in Political Campaigns
Women Heads of State in Asia
The Complicated Legacy of Aung San Suu Kyi
Women's Education and Political Participation
Political Empowerment: Women and Public Policy
Disability Representation in Politics
Gender and the Politics of the Middle East
Women's Contributions to Caribbean and Latin American Politics
Proposals should be no more than two pages per presenter. For panels, please include a short description of each presentation and a one-page C.V. for each presenter. Proposals for panels are especially welcome but we will also consider individual papers. Creative work is not only welcomed, but encouraged. Email submissions are preferred.
Deadline: December 9, 2019
Send proposals to:
Tara James, Associate Director
Graduate Program in Women’s History
Sarah Lawrence College
1 Mead Way, Bronxville, New York 10708
914-395-2405
tjames@sarahlawrence.edu
Tara James, Associate Director
Graduate Program in Women’s History
Sarah Lawrence College
1 Mead Way, Bronxville, New York 10708
914-395-2405
tjames@sarahlawrence.edu