CALL FOR PAPERS
WOMEN, ABORTION AND RELIGIONS: DEBATES ON SEXUAL POLITICS, SUBJECTIVITIES AND RELIGIOUS FIELD. (PERIOD 2017-2018)
The Program on Gender Studies (PEG by its acronym in Spanish)- San Marcos National University and Flora Tristan Center of Peruvian Women are pleased to invite scholars and activists to submit articles for our editorial project Women, abortion and religions: debates on sexual policy, subjectivities and religious field.
Presentation
Over the last decades, we are more aware on abortion as a social complex issue with a field developed by a group of historical, cultural and politic processes, existing within global and local dynamics, as poverty, inequality, public health, secrecy, legality/illegality and also, without any doubt, religion thus establishing the characteristics of its practice, penalization and decriminalization. We consider that abortion as a social issue is a symptom of the infrastructure of sexual policy, that is, of the mechanisms through which sexual difference is developed in all societies. Therefore, to analyze the dynamics of abortion in contemporary societies is crucial to establish a genealogical exercise regarding the views and responses of women towards the place “assigned” to them, to their bodies and undoubtedly to their contribution on the development of citizenship. The abortion and women relationship displays a multitude of strengths, always starting and ending in their own bodies.
Several research studies point out religions have been one of those privileged fields for such processes. Evidently, from the post secular debate, religions have not stopped influencing neither the history of governmentality nor the construction of concrete forms of subjectivity, particularly related to abortion. This publishing aims at reflecting, analyzing and questioning these relations.
Religions can be analyzed as a place of control or also action (or both at the same time) related to the construction of women (spiritual, politic, cultural, human rights) demands. In this regard, studying the religious phenomenon from an intersectional gender perspective is a way to track the situation of women today, especially through the analysis of circumstances surrounding their abortions. Therefore, we are particularly interested in inquiring about those historical, political and social processes where religions support or oppose abortion and their effects in the lives of women. We look for papers with a profound investigation on one of these aspects (or both) based on the analysis of historical, ethnographic, legal material, among others. We focused on the existing interaction among different religious traditions (such as, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, indigenous world views, among others) and said phenomenon.
This invitation seeks papers with an analysis on the role religions play in the history of governmentality regarding abortion. That is, we aim at studying the mechanisms, strategies, representations (among others), developed by religious fields and capitals existing within processes of influence and intervention of the religious discourse in States and also in the international policy (multilateral organisms, international cooperation) within the contemporary world.
This invitation also aims at analyzing the construction of corporalities, subjectivities and identities of women who experienced abortions, related to religious fields and capitals. In particular, their spiritual and/or religious or atheist practices, their experiences and perceptions. Within this framework, papers on world views/theologies, rites, mysticism, moral and memory can be included. We are also interested in exploring articles with a reflection on religious groups and collectives linked negatively or positively with abortion.
Beyond the post secular debate, the encounter with religions within the international scenario leads us to think on policies dynamics and new subjective constructions where religions are introduced as an important device on social analysis. In this regard, we are deeply interested in inquiring about the work of women or women movements (for example, Islamic, Catholic, Christian,
Jew women or with alternative beliefs) who have underwent abortion within their own spiritual traditions and ritualized practices, within each and every cultural and social context where traditions result transformed by their own demands.
Goals
The goals of this publishing aim at:
- Building a comparative and systematic perspective of the relation between religious discourses and abortion within contemporary societies.
-
Analyzing the construction of subjectivities on women with abortion stories related to the religious phenomenon within local and regional specific contexts.
-
Studying the historical, social and cultural dynamics where religious traditions play an important role on the promotion or rejection of abortion in contemporary societies.
-
Reflecting on spiritual productions (practices, rituals, perceptions, among others) developed by women with abortion stories in different regions of the whole world in or out of religious traditions, with particular emphasis on the South-South dialogue.
Topics
Papers should include these thematic lines, although they are not restricted to:
- Religious traditions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Shintoism, Taoism, indigenous world views, among others), abortion and women within contemporary societies.
Local stories on the relation between abortion and women with different religious traditions.
Mechanisms, strategies and representations created by religious leaders or religious discourses existing or affecting the penalization or legalization of abortion within States or the international policy.
Spiritual practices of women on abortion in contemporary societies, in particular dialogues and resistances regarding their own religious traditions.
Analysis on any aspect regarding spiritual practices (such as divinity and rituality) from a feminist theological perspective.
Feminist theological production on abortion and women on each religious tradition.
Ability of women and groups of women to take action within the context of spiritual production regarding abortion.
Spiritual expressions related to non confessional practices, secularism, atheism and other contemporary spiritual manifestations on abortion.
Intersection among religious practices with sexuality, gender, race and social class within the women movement.
Relationship among spiritual production, ethical discourses and supporting practices from women, with particular emphasis on the South-South dialogue.
Relevant information To participate send an abstract with a maximum of 350 words until November 30th 2017 to Martin Jaime (mjaimeb@pucp.pe) and Fátima Valdivia (valdiviadelrio@gmail.com), academic editors of this compilation. Please include any questions or doubts.
Once proposals are accepted you will receive a written notification. All articles will follow the APA (American Psychiatry Association) style and should have 8 000 to 10 000 words, without bibliography. All papers will be peer-reviewed by double blind pairs. Articles can be written either in English or in Spanish. Complete articles must be sent until June 30th 2018 to Martin Jaime and Fátima Valdivia, academic editors of this compilation, to the following e-mail addresses: mjaimeb@pucp.pe and valdiviadelrio@gmail.com