one-day seminar convened by Sofia Aboim

(ICS-UL) and Pedro Vasconcelos (CIES/ISCTE-IUL). The main aim of the seminar is to showcase the research carried out in Portugal on the above topics under the umbrella of critical perspectives that enable to further enhance our knowledge and discussion, whether theoretical or empirical. Over the past few decades, a number of crucial challenges led to further reflection about the supremacy of a male-dominated hetero-normative gender order, thus shaking the traditional linkages between hegemony and subordination, and enlarging the field of gender studies. Since its emergence from feminisms, gender studies have become one of the most challenging disciplines. The seminar aims at an interdisciplinary exchange of ideas and perspectives on the issues of gender, sexuality and the body in contemporary societies. It invites ground-breaking research on a diversity of topics: masculinities, femininities, sexual orientation, gender identity, body, embodiment and performance, gender ‘transgressions’, queer theory, gender power, justice and sexual politics, critical methodologies, intersectionality, etc.

We welcome papers that challenge binary dichotomies (e.g. traditional and modern) and seek to develop an approach combining the analisys of gender relations and identities with a critical view of the state of the art. We particularly encourage papers that may contribute to

the questioning of hegemonic categories of thought, power and identity.

Abstract submission

Abstracts should have no less than 300 words and should also include the title of the paper, the name(s) of the author(s), institution, a short biography and email address.
Abstracts must be submitted both to Sofia Aboim (sofia.aboim@ics.ul.pt) and Pedro Vasconcelos (pedro.vasconcelos@iscte.pt) no later than March 15, 2013.

Key-note speaker

Christopher E. Forth, University of Kansas
The Continuity of Crisis: Historical Reflections on Masculinity and Embodiment