Call for Abstracts: Gender and the Politics of Shame

London School of Economics and Political Science

14^th November 2015

Recent decades have seen unprecedented scholarly interest in affect and the politics of emotion, particularly in feminist and queer theoretical frames. At the same time, activists outside the academy have drawn attention to the role emotions, particularly the self-conscious emotion of shame, have played in mobilisations against marginalised groups, and have suggested ways of countering the shaming of said groups. While significant advances have been made in the development of shame theory and in the further theorisation of affect and political emotions, scholars and activists are now invited to take stock of contemporary theoretical work on shame, and to present new and promising ways of thinking about and engaging the conference theme of gender and the politics of shame.

To this end, papers might address, without being limited to, the following topics:

• -       Shame and masculinities and femininities

• -       Shame and LGBTQI experiences

• -       Shame and class

• -       Racialized shame

• -       Shame and theories of emotion and affect

• -       Shame and related self-conscious emotions (embarrassment, guilt, pride)

• -       Shame and agency/subverting shame

• -       Body shame

• -       Shame and the nation-state

• -       Shame and aesthetics

• -       Shame and social movements/activism

Given the interdisciplinary interest in shame and the politics of emotion, papers from a variety of disciplines, including gender studies, philosophy, politics, sociology, cultural studies, and history, are welcome.

Confirmed keynoted address: Professor Bonnie Mann (University of Oregon). 

Please submit abstracts of not more than 500 words by September 1, 2015 to [log in to unmask]. Successful applicants will be contacted by 14^th September.

This conference is supported by an award from the British Academy.