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Newsletter No 31: Conference Announcements

Conference "Body Concepts"
(16th and 17th of March 2001 at the University of Basel, Switzerland)

The aim of the Swiss Society for Research on Women and Gender is to present new results of important achievements on gender relations at home and abroad. For this purpose, they will organize an interdisciplinary and international conference on the topic: "Body Concepts" which will be held on March 16 -17 2001, at the University of Basel. At this conference the central paradigm, "body", will be examined through different angles of disciplines. Perception of the body, as well as esthetical figurations and scientific concepts about the body and its parts will be the topic of discussion. There will also be a focus on symbolic, indirect dimensional meanings of corporeality (corporate body, organs, organisms). The most important part of the conference will be to fathom out and communicate the specific possibilities of knowledge, which lie in the permanent interdisciplinary discussion (ex: the culture of humanities and natural sciences).

This program embraces three major speakers: Prof. Dr. Britta Schinzel, medicine; Prof. Dr. Christina Von Braun, cultural science; Prof. Dr. Gabriele Brandstetter, theater science. In the four workshops there will be a short performance and discussion of a theme from the mentioned spectrum. The conference languages are German, French, and English

Alva Myrdal's Questions to Our Time
An International Conference in Uppsala, Sweden, 7-8 March 2002

Alva Myrdal stands out as a main contributor to the development of progressive thought in the 20th century not only in Sweden but internationally. Born in Uppsala, Sweden, in 1902, she combined family life and a professional career with a life-long commitment to politics and social science. In March 2002, we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Alva Myrdal with an international interdisciplinary conference at Uppsala University, Sweden. We will focus on three main themes that interested Alva Myrdal throughout her life: women's emancipation, social engineering and the peace question.
The first two themes are constants in her work and thinking. We find them in the 1930s and 1940s, when she took part in the shaping of the modern "Swedish model," devoting her time to issues of social policy, gender equality and population decline. Her agenda included an attempt to formulate a socio-political basis for a modern family policy and the development of new educational models that emphasised children's individual needs. In her view, the reshaping of society involved individual liberation as well as social adaption. She also advocated a more intense dialogue between social scientists and policymakers, regarding science and reason as essential elements in modern democracies.
After the Second World War, Alva Myrdal entered the international arena, where she was able to develop her interest in sociopolitical issues at the UN and UNESCO. In the period 1955 to 1961, she was Sweden's ambassador to India, a position that intensified her interest in the situation of Third World countries. From 1961 onwards, issues of peace and disarmament increasingly occupied her time, and in the 1960s and 1970s, she played a prominent role in international disarmament negotiations. Alva Myrdal received Einstein's first peace prize in 1980 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1982.
We welcome papers that deal with these topics either from a historical point of view or contemporary perspective. We also expect that within all three themes the relationship between social science and policymaking will be dealt with as a crosscutting dimension. We invite scholars from a broad range of disciplines to present papers. We are planning to publish a selected numbers of papers in a conference report. The number of participants may be limited; those presenting papers have priority. Please send an abstract (1/2 page) + a short CV to:
Sabina Nilsson, Institute for Futures Studies P.O Box 591 S - 101 31 Stockholm Sweden, or sabina@framtidsstudier.se until 1 of April 2001. Notification of acceptance: 30th of May 2001.
Paper due: 7th January 2002. Please note the conference language will be English, and that while conference participation is free, participants will be responsible for travel and hotel.

PLENARY SPEAKERS PLANNED: Professor Yvonne Hirdman (on modern reason-and its enemies); Professor Alice Kessler-Harris (on social policy in USA and Sweden); Professor Martha Nussbaum (on feminism and universalism): Professor Lena Sommestad (on attitudes toward the future); Professor Peter Wallensteen (on Alva Myrdal and the peace issue)

COORDINATORS:
Labour Movement Archives and Library, Stockholm (Arbetarrörelsens Arkiv och Bibliotek)
National Institute for Working Life, Stockholm/Norrköping (Arbetslivsinstitutet)
Institute for Futures Studies, Stockholm (Institutet för framtidsstudier) www.framtidsstudier.se;
Department of Peace and Conflict Research,Uppsala University (Institutet för freds- och konfliktsforskning) www.peace.uu.se

PROGRAM COMMITTEE:
Yvonne Hirdman (National Institute of Working Life and History Department, University of Stockholm) yvonne.hirdman@historia.su.se ; Klaus Misgeld (Labour Movement Archives and Library) klaus.misgeld@arbarkiv.a.se ; Lena Sommestad (Institute for Futures Studies), lena.sommestad@framtidsstudier.se ; Peter Wallensteen (Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University), peter.wallensteen@pcr.uu.se ; Cecilia Åse (National Institute of Working Life and Department of Political Science), cecilia.ase@historia.su.se; Lisa Öberg (History Department, Södertörns Högskola), lisa.oberg@sh.se

This conference celebrates the tenth anniversary of the Women's History Network and the opening of the new purpose-built Women's Library (formerly Fawcett Library) at London Guildhall University. It seeks to highlight the major contribution that women's history and feminist scholarship has made, and is continuing to make, to the rewriting of history and the recreation of the past.

Academics, postgraduate students, teachers, archivists, and others from Britain and abroad are invited to offer papers, group sessions, or workshops covering all places and periods that address the general themes of the conference. International and comparative perspectives are especially welcome.

· Resources, sources and methods
· Women's history and theory
· Teaching women's history
· Women and national histories
· 'Race' and ethnicity
· Women's activism
· 'Private' lives and sexuality
· Personal narratives

Offers of papers and abstracts of 250 words should be sent by Monday 9th April to: Clare Midgley, Women's History Network, Centre for Gender Studies, Dept. of Politics and Modern History, London Guildhall University, Calcutta House, Old Castle Street, London E1 7NT. Tel: 020 7320 1024 Fax: 020 7320 1157 Email: midgley@lgu.ac.uk
Booking forms for the conference will be available from March from the above address or from the WHN website: http://www.lgu.ac.uk/fawcett/WHN/main.html

Note: a limited number of bursaries to attend the conference are available for speakers from developing countries and students or people on low income. Initial inquiries to the above address.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Women and Politics Series:
Women In History - History Without Women
(Žene u povijesti - žene izvan historije)

May 10-12, 2001 Dubrovnik, Croatia
Organized by: Zenska infoteka (Zagreb), in co-operation with WISE (Women International Studies in Europe) and the Inter-University Center, Dubrovnik
Anne Dabb, Andrea Feldman and Ðurda Knezevic Seminar Coordinators

In May 2001, Zenska infoteka will celebrate the fifth year of our annual seminar, Women and Politics. Each year, a group of more than thirty women activists and scholars, primarily from Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, have gathered to discuss specific topics surrounding the central theme of women and politics. Past seminars have focused on issues such as: women's political participation in Eastern Europe during transition, women in the arts and media, the impacts and implications of militarization on Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Republics, and feminism(s) in Eastern European contexts. Our annual publication of texts produced during these seminars has received considerable recognition from scholars and activists worldwide. As a result of the seminar's past success and the positive reviews of attendees from previous years, we have decided to continue hosting the seminar. During last year's meeting, participants agreed that this year's seminar should focus on women and history from multidisciplinary perspectives.

We therefore invite proposals for the 2001 seminar, Women in History - History Without Women. Suggested presentation topics may include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

· Interdisciplinarity in historical studies - intersections between history and anthropology, sociology, folklore, psychology and/or cultural studies
· Methodologies and approaches to women's history and feminist historical studies
· The context of oral histories: understanding memory/women's participation in preserving memory through crises
· The history of women's organizing
· Women's movements as social movements
· Women's history and education
· The treatment of women's history in historical texts, documentaries and other media
· The history of gender and sexuality
· Women's history as part of political agendas

As the interests, expertise and current research projects of participants will determine the final agenda, we invite prospective participants to contact us as soon as possible with their proposals. Please note that the seminar is open to a limited number of western participants and will maintain a focus on Central and Eastern European, Central Asian and Middle-Eastern perspectives. All participants will prepare a research paper in English (the working language of the seminar); selected works will be published after the seminar. Please send a 250-word abstract or project proposal describing and/or outlining your presentation and a brief biographical statement (3-5 sentences) via fax or e-mail (with attachments in WORD, if possible) by Wednesday, February 28th. E-mail to Andrea Feldman at fekmeister@yahoo.com

Please send a 250-word abstract or project proposal describing and/or outlining your presentation and a brief biographical statement (3-5 sentences) via fax or e-mail (with attachments in As the interests, expertise and current research projects of participants will determine the final agenda, we invite prospective participants to contact us as soon as possible with their proposals. Please note that the seminar is open to a limited number of western participants and will maintain a focus on Central and Eastern European, Central Asian and Middle-Eastern perspectives. All participants will prepare a research paper in English (the working language of the seminar); selected works will be published after the seminar. Please send a 250-word abstract or project proposal describing and/or outlining your presentation and a brief biographical statement (3-5 sentences) via fax or e-mail (with attachments in WORD, if possible) by Wednesday, February 28th. E-mail to Andrea Feldman at fekmeister@yahoo.com