Revisiting 'The Material': New directions in Gender,
Sexuality and Law Studies
Saturday 28 April
2007 @ University of Westminster
A one day workshop by the AHRC Research Centre for
Law, Gender and Sexuality.
Confirmed speakers include:
Wendy Larner, Lisa Adkins & Kathi Weeks
In recent years there is detectable a revival of interest
in materialism in the field of gender, sexuality and
law studies. This revival signals a coming together
of a number of different theoretical and political
concerns. These include attentiveness to the relation
between neo-liberal governance and legal and political
developments in the gender and sexuality field; a growing
concern to address the consequences of increased global
inequality; a re-engagement with the concept of class
in the context of intersectionality analysis; and a
frustration with what is perceived to be a deepening
theoretical and political cleft between ‘redistribution’ and ‘recognition’ issues
(or, as it is sometimes characterised, between ‘the
material’ and ‘the cultural’ spheres)
in social, cultural, political and legal discourse.
At the same time, within feminism, in particular,
new engagements with materiality are emerging from
theoretical encounters with ideas of embodiment. Similarly,
in the field of activism, there is a renewed emphasis
on the need for progressive scholarship to root itself
more deeply in lived experience, in the material realities
of peoples’ daily lives.
These developments present new challenges for those
working within the field of gender, sexuality and law
studies. For example, what is the role or potential
of discourses of materiality in relation to power’s
exercise and resistance? How might ideas of the material
advance understanding of how gender and sexuality are
constructed and mediated through law and other regulatory
practices? And how can we move beyond imagining new
forms of emancipatory social relations towards their
concrete materialization?
The object of this workshop is to explore some of
these challenges within the context of diverse interrogations
of materiality and materialism. Issues of governance
and regulation in the field of gender, sexuality and
law provide the context for this broader conceptual
exploration of ‘the material’, ‘materiality’ and ‘materialism’.
Research questions include:
- What do we mean when we invoke notions of material, materiality and materialism? -Is there a turn towards ideas of the material in gender, sexuality and law studies and if so why?
- Do ideas of the material provide a better bridge between theory and practice? -What is the relationship between the material and the cultural (and is this a viable distinction)?
- Do notions of the material facilitate engagement with issues of agency and subjectivity? -What is the relevance of class in the context of gender, sexuality and law studies and critical theory -more generally?
- Can we engage with neo-liberalism without conceptualising the material?
- Does materialism promote historical perspectives? Put another way, does the rejection of materialism entail the loss of history?
- What are the implications/consequences of adopting a materialist approach in relation to gender, sexuality and law issues? How do ideas of the material problematise the norms governing this field?
- Does materialism entail engagement with discourses of origins?
- What is the relation between materiality and labour/ subjectivity /inequality?
- Does embodiment offer an alternative way of conceptualising the material?
- Do materialist approaches offer new ways for conceptualizing and addressing issues of intersectionality?
Workshop format:
This workshop is envisioned as a space for conceptual discussion and theoretical debate. Rather than hearing papers which outline substantive research findings, the workshop will emphasize conceptual analysis. While some short papers will be given, the priority of the workshop is to provide a forum for all workshop participants to discuss how concepts of “materialism” relate to their own work. Accordingly, we welcome individuals to suggest themes/concepts/ideas to be discussed.
Provisional Programme
Venue: University of Westminster, Regent Street building, room 215, 309 Regent Street (north of Oxford Circus tube)
Registration:
Space is limited to 35 people so please register early to ensure your place!
Please download your registration form here.
For further information on this event, please contact Sarah Lamble (SL231@kent.ac.uk) or Joanne Conaghan
(jafc@kent.ac.uk).
