Bridging decolonial & materialist feminisms – online public lecture – November 17, Ghent University, UC Berkeley, Birzeit University

Register here to receive the link to the Zoom webinar: https://eventmanager.ugent.be/PublicLectureDecolonialandMaterialistFeminisms

This public lecture intends to shed light on the materialities of decolonial feminisms and their variegated historically situated infrastructures and scales: from bodies to territories, from the flesh to the soil, from biologies to minerals and land, and from property to labour.

In relation to transnational discussions we understand decolonial feminisms in their broadest sense to address and resist the gendered ongoing histories of colonialism, white eurocentrism and US centrism. Thus, in various contexts, decolonial feminisms may include anti-colonial, decolonial, and postcolonial theory, and epistemologies of the global south(s). We understand materialist feminisms as feminisms that insist on examining the material conditions under which gendered and sexual power relations take shape under racial and patriarchal capitalism, through i.a. gendered and sexual divisions of labour and property.

Paola Bacchetta, PJ Di Pietro and Lena Meari will discuss how decolonial and materialist feminisms inspire their work, what might be gained from cross-fertilizing insights and questions from these two feminist traditions and what this entails both methodologically and politically. The panel will be moderated by Prof. Maria Martin de Almagro Iniesta (Ghent University).

Paola Bacchetta is Professor in the Department of Gender and Women’s at University of California, Berkeley, Co-founder and first Director of the Berkeley Gender Consortium and current (transnational) Co-Coordinator of the Decolonizing Sexualities Network. She is author and co-editor of numerous books, articles and book chapters on: feminist decolonial, transnational and queer of color theories and praxis; global racialities; politics of spatialities; and Hindu nationalism and other right-wing movements.

PJ DiPietro works at the intersection of decolonial feminism, Latinx Studies, and trans* of color praxis. They are a faculty member in the department of women’s and gender studies at Syracuse University (unceded Haudenosaunee land, New York).

Lena Meari is an assistant professor of cultural anthropology at the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences and the Institute of Women’s Studies at Birzeit University, Palestine. She has special interest in the geopolitics of knowledge production; subject formation in colonial contexts; decolonizing methodologies; critical feminist theory; and revolutionary movements.

Website: https://www.globalstudies.ugent.be/bridging-decolonial-and-materialist-feminisms/2/

Facebook: https://fb.me/e/PmPiAsWC

 

Lunch Research Seminar: Prof. Dr. Lisa Dikomitis, Dr. Helen Price & Dr. Brianne Wenning (ECLIPSE)

Registration:
Send an email to s.devuyst@ugent.be. There will be a free sandwich lunch. Please register before 21/11 if you want to participate in the lunch and indicate your preference: sandwich meat, cheese, vegan or fish. If you do not want to participate in the sandwich lunch, you can register until 29/11.
Title:
Culture, gender and parasites: Interdisciplinary global health research around leishmaniasis
Abstract:
Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a skin condition caused by infection with a microscopic parasite (Leishmania spp.) which results in the development of skin lesions which heal slowly and are difficult to treat. These lesions can result in the stigmatisation and social isolation of the infected individual, causing severe emotional distress. ECLIPSE is a four-year £4.6M healthcare programme funded by the UK’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), which aims to improve the patient journey for people with CL and to reduce stigma in the most underserved communities in Brazil, Ethiopia and Sri Lanka.
The ECLIPSE team is multidisciplinary with over 60 researchers (anthropologists, psychologists, sociologists, parasitologists, public health and primary care specialists), physicians (dermatologists, family doctors, community medicine specialists) and artists (theatre makers, performance artists, musicians, painters). The ECLIPSE researchers are using an intersectional approach involving a range of qualitative and quantitative methods to gain an in-depth understanding of people’s, communities’ and healthcare professionals’ experiences and views on the impact of CL on the daily lives of those affected and the barriers to seeking healthcare, including obtaining accurate, early diagnosis and receiving effective treatment. The ECLIPSE programme is underpinned by theoretical and methodological approaches from medical anthropology. Research activities include team ethnography, individual ethnography, interviews, focus groups, CL awareness and stigma surveys, creative community workshops with local artists, intervention design and feasibility evaluations.
The ECLIPSE team is strongly committed to involving community members in Brazil, Ethiopia and Sri Lanka in all ECLIPSE activities. This means that each stage of the research is conducted with local communities, in line with the ECLIPSE ethos: ‘no research about community members, without community members’. ECLIPSE researchers recognise, value and seek to amplify community knowledge and understandings of health and illness, and explore the facilitators and challenges of seeking treatment for CL. Indeed, community engagement and involvement is at the heart of ECLIPSE. The community members’ experiential knowledge, combined with other knowledge (such as biomedical and anthropological insights), will result in the development of new knowledge which will underpin the co-creation of the ECLIPSE public health interventions. These will be co-developed with community members, implemented and evaluated in Brazil, Ethiopia and Sri Lanka. One intervention in each site will be community based, while the second will be a training package for local health workers.
With the increasing calls for large multidisciplinary teams in health research, team ethnography features more and more as a methodological approach. Global health projects like ECLIPSE, which rely on the collaboration among people in and across various communities, societies and countries, are particularly well suited for team ethnography to explore culture, gender and parasites. Team members in these projects, however, often experience competing demands and obligations to and from the local communities in which they work; to and from team members in the different countries; to and from health policy makers; and to and from funding bodies. Added to this mix is the pressure to maintain a consistent level of academic rigour, reflexivity and comprehensibility across field sites, cultures and contexts. This complicates the issue of how to conduct robust team ethnography.
ECLIPSE researchers will convene a 2-hour research seminar at the Centre for Research on Culture and Gender (CRCG) which will consist of a series of short presentations on different aspects of the ECLIPSE programme, and will introduce discussion topics, including:
•The patient journey for people with CL: a perspective from 3 continents
•Is CL a stigmatizing disease and who is affected most: an intersectional approach
•Community engagement and involvement in a CL programme: effective, decolonial and inclusive community engagement amplifying local knowledge
•Interdisciplinary research: how do we foster and further develop interdisciplinary insights on cutaneous leishmaniasis?
More information on the ECLIPSE website: www.eclipse-community.com
Supported by: ECLIPSE, Centre for Research on Culture and Gender, NIHR, ESCO

Online studiedag Vrouwen met een migratieachtergrond op de arbeidsmarkt – 02/12/2021

LEVL, ella, Furia, ENAIP-Limburg en de Nederlandstalige Vrouwenraad slaan de handen in elkaar. Samen organiseren we op 2 december 2021 van 9.30 tot 12.30 uur een online studiedag over “Vrouwen met een migratieachtergrond op de arbeidsmarkt”.

De online studiedag is gratis en richt zich op iedereen met interesse in dit thema.

Tijdens de studiedag gaan we dieper in op de verschillende drempels die vrouwen met een migratieachtergrond ervaren op de arbeidsmarkt. Ook verkennen we hoe de arbeidsmarktpositie van vrouwen met migratieachtergrond verbeterd kan worden.

Meer informatie hier.

We need to talk about… Gender | woe 6 oktober 2021 | Piet Hoebeke en Griet Vandermassen

Op woensdag 6 oktober organiseert VC Het Geuzenhuis een nuchter debat rond gender met Piet Hoebeke en Griet Vandermassen.

Volgens uroloog Piet Hoebeke is ons klassieke beeld van mannen en vrouwen dringend aan een update toe. Er bevindt zich tussen de stereotiepe man en vrouw immers een heel spectrum van seksuele identiteiten. Alle aspecten van onze seksuele identiteit kan je volgens Hoebeke zien als de regelaars op een mengpaneel. Die staan ook niet altijd volledig open of dicht, maar ergens tussenin.

Griet Vandermassen gaat een heel eind mee met die visie. Ook zij plaatst de acceptatie van ieders seksuele identiteit voorop – eveneens die van transpersonen – maar zet wel vraagtekens bij het idee van sekse en gender als een eindeloos gevarieerd mengpaneel. De verschillen tussen de seksen zijn volgens haar substantiëler dan Piet Hoebeke denkt.

Hierop aansluitend bespreken beiden hun meningsverschillen en hoe die zich vertalen in een andere visie op enkele ethische issues. Bijvoorbeeld of we aparte toiletruimtes voor de verschillende seksen moeten afschaffen, wat met mogelijk onomkeerbare behandelingen voor minderjarige transgenders? Wat met transpersonen in de sport?

Inschrijven en meer informatie: http://www.geuzenhuis.be/we-need-to-talk-about-gender

The Next Wave Academy

The Next Wave Academy wil jongeren (18-30 jaar) bijeenbrengen met zo divers mogelijke achtergronden en ervaringen, om zo tot intersectionele antwoorden en oplossingen te komen voor de maatschappelijke uitdagingen van vandaag (zoals de strijd voor het klimaat, anti-racisme, gendergelijkheid, strijd tegen homo- en transfobie …). Als we die vraagstukken/problematieken aanschouwen, kan het al eens overweldigend zijn en is het niet eenvoudig om een pasklaar antwoord te hebben. Aan de hand van participatieve en co-creatieve workshops doorheen het traject leren we van elkaar en groeien we samen richting oplossingen. Met The Next Wave Academy willen we dus vooral jongeren ondersteunen om zelf actie te ondernemen en hen de intersecties tussen sociale en ecologische rechtvaardigheid laten verkennen. Het traject wordt georganiseerd door de Vrouwenraad in samenwerking met ella vzw.

De inschrijvingen lopen tot en met 26 september, het traject zelf zal van start gaan vanaf 16 oktober. In het weekend van 19-20 maart 2022 organiseren we een tweedaagse voor de deelnemers. Het traject loopt uiteindelijk af in mei 2022. Deelname aan het traject is volledig gratis, en iedereen tussen 18 en 30 jaar kan zich inschrijven.

Via deze link kan je meer info over het traject terugvinden. Wanneer je doorscrollt vind je onderaan de link naar de FAQ-pagina. Via deze link kan je rechtstreeks inschrijven. We maakten ook een FB-event aan. We zijn ervan overtuigd dat het essentieel is om de stemmen van gemarginaliseerde en geminoriseerde groepen (zoals mensen van kleur, LGBTQ+, mensen met een beperking, vrouwen, …) centraal te stellen in het werk dat we doen, om op die manier zoveel mogelijk belangen mee te nemen. Daarom doen we een warme oproep aan mensen die tot geminoriseerde groepen behoren om zich in te schrijven voor dit traject. Met The Next Wave Academy willen we een safer space creëren, waarbij we geen enkele vorm van discriminerend gedrag en/of taalgebruik zullen tolereren.

Conference ‘Black Europe in Brussels’

Don’t miss the interdisciplinary conference ‘Black Europe in Brussels’ this summer. This conference consist of a range of inspiring activities taking place between 1-15 July 2021. The conference brings to the forefront the Afroeuropean communities and Brussels, the capital of Belgium and Europe. The conference is interdisciplinary and intersectoral in nature, which is reflected in the series of events focusing on various themes including Black histories and Brussels, doing Black art in Brussel, Afroeuropean communities and the European Parliament, Black mental health & care, and Black joy. ‘Black Europe in Brussels’ aims to be an academic, activist and intellectual space bridging the boundaries between institutions, practices and epistemologies. This is a conference for, by and with Afroeuropeans with the contributions of their allies and in dialogue with other marginalized communities.

This event is part of the international and interdisciplinary Afroeuropeans Network and is organized in anticipation of the 8th Biennial Afroeuropeans Network Conference “Intersectional Challenges in Afroeuropean Communities”, which is postponed to 6-9 July 2022 due to COVID-19.The conference brings to the forefront the Afroeuropean communities and Brussels, the capital of Belgium and Europe.

For more information check out:

– our website: https://www.afroeuropeans2021.com

– facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/afroeuropeans2021

This event is organized with the support of various partners including Africa Platform Ghent University Association, Black Speaks Back, Bozar, Brussels Centre for Urban Studies (BCUS, VUB), Centre for Literary and Intermedial Crossing (CLIC,  VUB), Critical Narratives, European Network Against Racism (ENAR), deButen Vlaams-Nederlands Huis voor Cultuur en Debat, Observatoire du SIDA et des Sexualités (ULB), Pilar House for Arts and Science, Research Centre Gender, Diversity and Intersectionality (RHEA, VUB), Wetsi Art Gallery.

 

Invitation to “Beyond the tip of the iceberg: sexual violence in Belgium”, UN-MENAMAIS final conference June 17th 2021

We are delighted to invite you to the online seminar ‘Beyond the tip of the iceberg: Sexual violence in Belgium’ on the 17th of June 2021. At this seminar we present the results of the UN-MENAMAIS study, the first gender- and age-sensitive sexual violence prevalence study in Belgium. The results will be made available to you in 5 pre-recorded capsules to be watched online during the week prior to the seminar:

  • Capsule 1: Methodology of the UN-MENAMAIS quantitative & qualitative studies
  • Capsule 2: Sexual violence in the Belgian population aged 16-69
  • Capsule 3: Sexual violence in older adults in Belgium aged 70+
  • Capsule 4: Sexual violence in minority groups in Belgium (LGBT+ & AIPs)
  • Capsule 5: Forensic responses to victims of sexual violence

On the 17th of June we have our online scientific seminar in English. We start at 9:00 with a welcome, some pre-recorded political opening statements and a general introduction to the UN-MENAMAIS project. We continue with in-depth Q&A sessions of each of the 5 capsules (until 12:00).

In the afternoon we host an interdisciplinary debate (13-15:00) with eminent international speakers on the implications of our results on research, practices and policies. The debate will be moderated by the Belgian TV-news anchor and radio journalist Xavier Taveirne.

At 15:30 we continue with a World Café workshop in Dutch and/or French, entirely devoted to implementing the UN-MENAMAIS results in Belgium. There are limited places available. Subscription is open until the 15th of May on a first come first serve basis.

The full programme can be found here

To subscribe click here

Deadline for subscriptions is the 15th of May (World Café) and the 14th of June (scientific seminar).

Summer School going digital – Europe: Diversity and Migration

Due to the ongoing evolution of the covid-19 pandemic, the physical version of the summer school is cancelled. We are however happy to inform you that a full-fledged digital alternative is developed, offering the same inspiring content, interdisciplinary approach and collaborative environment as the physical version does. The online course takes place from 28 June – 9 July 2021.

For more information on this online alternative, click here.

In for an online adventure along with likeminded people from all over the world? Read along and submit your application now before 1 June 2021.

Decolonize the university

On March 22, RHEA, BIRMM, the VEN network and the Race and Research network are organizing an event ‘Decolonising the university’ in which they will discuss insights on what de-colonisation of the university and VUB could look like and which ways we can move forward.

Christil Asamoah, Tunde Adefioye and Iman Lechkar will talk about their ideas on how to foster equality for marginalised groups in the university. They will discuss with staff and students from VUB, but we welcome students from other universities as well.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/…/reg…/WN_Mp7xRvkCRgikphZe1hTqxQ

lezing 24/03: Nigel Gibson – Frantz Fanon, Psychiatry and Politics

Op 24/03/2021, om 20u, organiseert Museum Dr. Guislain een online lezing (Engelstalig, gratis, iedereen welkom), Frantz Fanon, Psychiatry and Politics, door Nigel Gibson.

Waar? Online via Zoom. Je ontvangt de link na registratie.
Prijs? Gratis
De lezing heeft als voertaal Engels!

Meer informatie: https://www.museumdrguislain.be/