Gender, Youth, Masculinities and Islam: Recent Developments

10 et 11 novembre 2016

Fenneke Reysoo

Prof. Fenneke Reysoo; Dre Sophie Schrago, IHEID

Dre José van Santen, Leiden University; Dre Karin Willemse, ESHCC, Erasmus University Rotterdam; Dre Marloes Janson, SOAS, University of London.

PROGRAMME

Gender, Youth, Masculinities and Islam : Recent Developments

Module CUSO, 10-11 November 2016

Place: The Graduate Institute, Geneva (IHEID)

Maison de la Paix, Chemin Eugène-Rigot 2, 1211 Geneva (from CFF railway station Cornavin, tram 15 direction Nations, tram-stop Maison de la Paix)

Room: S7

Contact: or Fenneke Reysoo ( [email protected] // )

Subscription: gender.cuso.ch

Programme

Thursday, November 10^th, 2016

MORNING Theorizing Globalization, Masculinities and Islam

9:00-9:30 Mot de bienvenue and introductory round

Fenneke Reysoo, director CUSO doctoral programme Gender Studies

9:30-10:15 "Moving Frontiers: Islam and Globalization in Africa", Karin Willemse, (Assistant Professor of History of Africa and of Gender and Islam at the Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication (Erasmus University, Rotterdam). A session on the articulation of "globalization, violence and social mobilizations" with emphasis on how concepts of agency and negotiating dominant/moral discourses play out in daily life.

10:15-10:30 Coffee Break

10:30-11:15 "Moving Frontiers: Islam and Globalization in Africa" (continued), Karin Willemse (EUR, Rotterdam)

11:15-12:30 Discussion of Theoretical Texts on "Globalization, Violence and Social Mobilizations", by PhD Students and Presenters

12:30-14:00 Lunch

AFTERNOON Fusing Beliefs and Practices

14:00-15:15 "Tablighi Jama'at: Gender and Youth in the Gambia", Marloes Janson (SOAS, London). A session on the dynamics of belief systems and practices of conversion (to Islam or to Christianity) in everyday life with special emphasis on the concepts of gender and masculinity.

15:15-15:30 Coffee Break

15:30-17:30 PhD students' presentations and discussions (3 à 4)

17:30-18:30 Break

Friday, November 11^th, 2016

MORNING Feminist Social Sciences from Below

9:15-10:15 "Daily Life and Islamic Identities in a Region under Terror", José van Santen (University of Leiden). This session focuses on knowledge production "from below" and the strengths of ethnography as a research design.

10:15-10:30 Coffee Break

10:30-12:30 PhD students' presentations and discussions (3 à 4)

12:30-14:00 Lunch

AFTERNOON Advancing the Interpretation of Narratives: Con/text Analysis

14:00-15:15 "Con/text analysis against the grain", Karin Willemse (EUR), epistemological and methodological issues in intersubjective knowledge production. discussions based on selected texts and PhD students' own research projects.

15:15-15:30 Coffee Break

15:30-16:30 "Con/text analysis against the grain" (continued), Karin Willemse (EUR) and presenters. Epistemological and methodological issues in intersubjective knowledge production, textual and visual analyses and discussions based on selected texts and PhD students' own research projects.

16:30-17:00 Plenary Discussion "Practicing Feminist Social Sciences against the Grain : Epistemological Challenges, Methodological Implications, Outreach Endeavours"

 PhD Students and Presenters, lead Marloes Janson (SOAS, London)

17:00-17:15 Round-off

IHEID (Genève)

Plan

(texte français après le texte anglais)

This module will bring together three generations of Dutch feminist anthropologists with a long-standing experience of fieldwork among Muslims in Africa.

During the module doctoral students are exposed to contemporary feminist anthropological theories and pioneering analytical methods useful to understand new discourses and practices of masculinities and femininities that emerge among youth in various African Muslim countries. What are their daily life conditions and how do Islamic identity processes express themselves in a region under terror?

The Arab spring was emblematic of social transformation in societies where Islam is dominant. Youth expressed their dissatisfaction and sufferings due to dehumanizing social exclusion. The role of young men filled with feelings of rage and anxiety and who took up arms are often represented as being protagonists of an essentialized "violent Islamic masculinity". However, these aggressions and use of violence cannot be understood at local level without taking into account broader political, economic and cultural processes.

The long-lasting and excellent ethnographic fieldwork conducted by the three presenters sheds an original and new light on the stereotypes transmitted by (western) media, which are accepted as "normal" by common sense discourse. Unexpected forms of femininity and masculinity do emerge in the regions they have studied (North Cameroon, Gambia, Senegal, Nigeria, Sudan).

The objective of the module is that the presenters share their critical analytical methods with all doctoral students interested in social transformation, and studying emerging masculinities and femininities in regions struck by conflict and terror.

Pedagogics:

The theoretical presentations of the presenters will be grounded in empirical ethnographic data and aim to question 'idées reçues' on the intrinsic link between masculinity and violence in Islam. It builds on a long tradition of feminist anthropology of the Muslim world. The module stimulates critical thinking in an interactive exchange.

The discussions will be based on a selection of the presenters' publications.

CUSO members who work on these themes or related questions are invited to submit a text in advance to be discussed with all participants (peer and expert exchange). The students will present their own work and are asked to discuss a colleague's paper. The objective is to deepen knowledge on emerging masculinities and femininities among young Muslims and to develop a critical stance on media representations, stereotypes and common sense to be seen and heard in daily life.

The presenters

José van Santen (University of Leiden; honorary member of LOVA network (Netherlands Association for Gender and Feminist Anthropology)) has specialized over a period of almost thirty-five years in the topic of conversion to Islam; especially among Mafa women in North-Cameroon. More recently she has written about the emergence and influence of Boko Haram in the region. During our module she will give a presentation inspired by her public address pronounced at her retirement ceremony: "If we would only know the ideology of these Boko Haram attackers…". Daily life and Islamic identities in a region under terror, (Leiden University, June, 2015).

Karin Willemse is Assistant Professor of History of Africa and of Gender and Islam at the Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication (Rotterdam). She has conducted fieldwork for almost twinty-five years in Darfur (Sudan). Currently, she is co-applicant of a large research project on 'Moving Frontiers: Islam and Globalization in Africa'. Methodologically she has specialized in a pioneering form of narrative analysis, which she calls 'con/text analysis against the grain'. During our module she will give a presentation in which she deconstructs images of violent manhood among the Janjaweed.

Marloes Janson (SOAS, London) has conducted ethnographic research in the Gambia since 1996 on various research projects relating to popular culture, oral history, Islamic reform, gender and youth. In 2010 she switched her research field to Lagos, Nigeria, where she is exploring the emergence of Chrislam, a religious movement that fuses Christian and Muslim beliefs and practices. In our module she will elaborate on feminine masculinities among the Tablighi Jama'at, a salafist missionary movement in the Gambia.

Objectifs du module et méthode pédagogique

Ce module réunit trois générations d'anthropologues féministes néerlandaises qui ont une longue expérience de terrain ethnographique auprès de musulmans en Afrique.

La thématique du module concerne les développements récents dans certains pays musulmans et les formes de masculinités et de féminités qui émergent parmi les jeunes. Quelles sont les conditions de vie quotidiennes et comment les processus identitaires islamiques se manifestent dans une région marquée par la terreur?

Contenu thématique:

Le printemps arabe était l'emblème le plus visible des transformations sociales dans les sociétés à dominance islamique et du rôle des jeunes dans l'expression des mécontentements et des souffrances d'une exclusion sociale déshumanisante. Le rôle des jeunes hommes en colère qui recourent aux armes est souvent représenté comme un trait inhérent de la masculinité dite 'islamique'. Toutefois, les agressions et le recours à la violence et leur retombée au niveau local ne peuvent être compris sans tenir compte des processus politiques, économiques et culturels plus larges.

Les spécialistes invitées ont conduit des recherches ethnographiques sur le terrain sur une longue durée. Leurs données empiriques originales remettent en question des stéréotypes véhiculés par les médias et le sens commun. Des formes inattendues de masculinités et féminités émergent dans les régions qu'elles ont étudiées.

Ce module se compose de trois éléments complémentaires répartis sur deux jours: cours, présentations de doctorant-es, et discussions. L'objectif du module est de partager leurs analyses innovatrices tout en transférant des outils analytiques et critiques aux doctorant-es qui travaillent sur les transformations sociales, les masculinités et féminités émergentes et les régions marquées par des conflits ou la terreur.

Mode pédagogique:

Les exposés axés sur la théorie et le terrain seront mis en perspective des idées reçues sur le lien entre masculinités et violence dans le monde à dominance islamique. L'ensemble du module se veut critique et interactif, et s'inscrit dans la longue tradition de l'anthropologie féministe du monde musulman. Chaque intervenante invitée a publié des articles importants sur le sujet. Une sélection sera envoyée à l'avance aux doctorant-es et constituera les bases de discussion. Les doctorant-es travaillant sur la thématique ou des questionnements apparentés sont invité-es à soumettre un texte à l'avance afin de pouvoir échanger avec les spécialistes invitées. Chacun-e aura une plage horaire pour présenter son travail. L'objectif est d'approfondir les connaissances des masculinités et féminités émergentes dans cette partie du monde et de développer un sens critique par rapport aux images stéréotypes auxquelles nous sommes quotidiennement exposées.

Les frais de voyage en train sont remboursés sur la base du demi-tarif en 2ème classe entre l'Université d'attache et le lieu de cours. Pour les ateliers d'une ou deux journée-s entière-s, les repas de midi sont organisés.

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