call for papers
Hello!
We at JMK have got the following message from Göteborg and I thought of sharing the info with you.
/merja
Feminist Media Studies
Call for Papers – „Commentary and Criticism‰ section
Scientific/ Biological Determinism:
Media Models of Genetics and Gender
Why is it that scientific discourse of male/female difference has become so prevalent
in media accounts of gendered behaviour, or of sexual difference in transnational
terms?
How does this scientific/evolutionist discourse produce Œauthentic‚ knowledge about
women, women‚s bodies, and women‚s behaviour that exonerate historical and
political causes of gender difference?
In the west, quality newspapers are eager to report on the latest scientific research,
while television documentaries call on celebrity scientists Steven Pinker or Richard
Dawkins to give legitimacy to their explanatory commentaries. Popular
entertainment in the form of magazine quizzes, reality television, talk shows and
lifestyle make-overs return again and again to the same message, that the reason
men and women behave as they do is Œhard wired‚ into their genes through
evolutionary selection for reproductive fitness.
Meanwhile, news coverage of the Œthird world‚ woman reveals her body as the
subject of uncontrollable fertility, malnutrition, and disease. If scientific ideologies
have been an integral part of population control campaigns in India and China, for
example, the same science diagnoses media images of the bodies of women of
African nations as victims of malnutrition and sexually transmitted diseases.
None of this is new but a return to these issues is timely given the role that scientific
and evolutionary explanations now play as a counter-discourse to religious
fundamentalism.
We invite you to submit a short essay of up to 2,000 words to the „Commentary and
Criticism‰ section of the journal Feminist Media Studies that address such questions
as:
How might feminist interventions disrupt the gendered assumptions on which these
scientific discourses are founded? Are there feminist alternatives in circulation and
how might these be promoted?
What strategic uses are there for scientific accounts of gender in the context of
resurgent religious fundamentalisms?
What features of evolutionary discourse make it attractive to media professionals? Is
it the weight of popular belief with which these theories conform? Is it the utility of a
binary model that allows for relative simplicity in the telling? Is there an economic
incentive to promote sexual differentiation in a media market structured by gender?
What relevance do evolutionary explanations have in a global context? How
widespread is the circulation and acceptance of these Western scientific discourses
of gender? How do they translate into diverse cultural and political contexts?
All contributors should follow the Harvard style of reference and guidelines for
submission of manuscripts outlined on our website. The title page of the manuscript
should contain your complete mailing address, institutional affiliation, and full
contact information including phone and fax numbers.
Submissions must be e-mailed and saved as a Word attachment to both jane.arthurs@blueyonder.co.uk
and to usha.zacharias@gmail.com.
Deadline -- January 10th 2006.
Monika Djerf-Pierre
Docent / Associate professor
Institutionen för journalistik och masskommunikation / Department of journalism and mass communication
Göteborgs universitet
Box 710
SE-405 30 Göteborg
Sweden
Tel: 46 (0)31 773 12 08
Mobil: 0708-60 62 66
Fax: 46 (0)31 773 45 54
We at JMK have got the following message from Göteborg and I thought of sharing the info with you.
/merja
Feminist Media Studies
Call for Papers – „Commentary and Criticism‰ section
Scientific/ Biological Determinism:
Media Models of Genetics and Gender
Why is it that scientific discourse of male/female difference has become so prevalent
in media accounts of gendered behaviour, or of sexual difference in transnational
terms?
How does this scientific/evolutionist discourse produce Œauthentic‚ knowledge about
women, women‚s bodies, and women‚s behaviour that exonerate historical and
political causes of gender difference?
In the west, quality newspapers are eager to report on the latest scientific research,
while television documentaries call on celebrity scientists Steven Pinker or Richard
Dawkins to give legitimacy to their explanatory commentaries. Popular
entertainment in the form of magazine quizzes, reality television, talk shows and
lifestyle make-overs return again and again to the same message, that the reason
men and women behave as they do is Œhard wired‚ into their genes through
evolutionary selection for reproductive fitness.
Meanwhile, news coverage of the Œthird world‚ woman reveals her body as the
subject of uncontrollable fertility, malnutrition, and disease. If scientific ideologies
have been an integral part of population control campaigns in India and China, for
example, the same science diagnoses media images of the bodies of women of
African nations as victims of malnutrition and sexually transmitted diseases.
None of this is new but a return to these issues is timely given the role that scientific
and evolutionary explanations now play as a counter-discourse to religious
fundamentalism.
We invite you to submit a short essay of up to 2,000 words to the „Commentary and
Criticism‰ section of the journal Feminist Media Studies that address such questions
as:
How might feminist interventions disrupt the gendered assumptions on which these
scientific discourses are founded? Are there feminist alternatives in circulation and
how might these be promoted?
What strategic uses are there for scientific accounts of gender in the context of
resurgent religious fundamentalisms?
What features of evolutionary discourse make it attractive to media professionals? Is
it the weight of popular belief with which these theories conform? Is it the utility of a
binary model that allows for relative simplicity in the telling? Is there an economic
incentive to promote sexual differentiation in a media market structured by gender?
What relevance do evolutionary explanations have in a global context? How
widespread is the circulation and acceptance of these Western scientific discourses
of gender? How do they translate into diverse cultural and political contexts?
All contributors should follow the Harvard style of reference and guidelines for
submission of manuscripts outlined on our website. The title page of the manuscript
should contain your complete mailing address, institutional affiliation, and full
contact information including phone and fax numbers.
Submissions must be e-mailed and saved as a Word attachment to both jane.arthurs@blueyonder.co.uk
and to usha.zacharias@gmail.com.
Deadline -- January 10th 2006.
Monika Djerf-Pierre
Docent / Associate professor
Institutionen för journalistik och masskommunikation / Department of journalism and mass communication
Göteborgs universitet
Box 710
SE-405 30 Göteborg
Sweden
Tel: 46 (0)31 773 12 08
Mobil: 0708-60 62 66
Fax: 46 (0)31 773 45 54
posted by merja e at 9:39 AM
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