International Conference: Fundamentalism and Gender

The nexus of ‚fundamentalism‘ and ‚gender‘ has been an issue in western media for several years. ‚Islamism‘ and ‚oppression of women‘ are perhaps the alliance that most readily springs to mind, yet, equally, the pre-marital sexual abstinence, homophobia and conservative family values propagated in Christian fundamentalism have become increasingly a focus of public interest in recent years. The conference seeks to explore the issue ‚Fundamentalism and Gender‘ on several levels and to address it critically from inter- and trans-disciplinary perspectives. The focus will be on the historical and current specifi cs of religious fundamentalisms. Consideration will be given also to those western secular means and methods of self-affi rmation that are structured with recourse to discursive knowledge production regarding the issue fundamentalism. The conference is organized around three different thematic strands:

1. Literalism/ Religion/ Science
2. Nation/ State/ Community
3. Body/ Life/ Biopolitics

The overarching research interest lies in the analytical diversifi cation of the term ‚fundamentalism‘ and its intersection with the category ‚gender‘. The focus will be on the following questions: for what reasons are all(religious) fundamentalisms constituted to a substantial degree by (normative) defi nitions of sexuality, gender roles and intergender relations? Why do sexual politics constitute a common denominator of religious fundamentalisms that otherwise radically differ? To what extent and why does the category ‚gender‘ play a role (or not) in definitions of fundamentalism? What understanding of religion, politics, society and of the individual subject are implied in discussions of fundamentalism? Who, what, when, where is declared feminist in this context, or rejected as such, and by whom?