1st GCRP Annual Conference on
Gendered Ceremony and Ritual in Parliament
Radcliffe House
University of Warwick
23rd-24th October 2008
October 23rd 2008
1.45pm - WELCOME
2:00 – 3:00pm
Plenary: EXPERIENCING CEREMONY AND RITUAL IN PARLIAMENT
Baroness Haleh Afshar, OBE
Mrs. Margaret Alva, Secretary General of the Indian National Congress and Advisor to
the Bureau of Parliamentary Research and Training, India
Q&A
3:00 – 4:30pm
Roundtable 1: Researching Ceremony and Ritual in Parliament
Outlining how ceremony and ritual provide us with another prism through which to
understand political institutions.
Chair: Dr Georgina Waylen (GCRP, University of Sheffield)
Dr Georgina Waylen
GCRP, Sheffield
Prof. Shirin M Rai
GCRP, University of Warwick
Dr Faith Armitage
GCRP, Birkbeck College
Dr Carole Spary
GCRP, Warwick
6:30pm Drinks Reception – Lounge
7:00pm Conference Dinner – Private Dining Room
Plenary: EXPERIENCING CEREMONY AND RITUAL IN PARLIAMENT
Prof Lord Anthony Giddens
October 24th 2008
9:30 am – 11:00am
Roundtable 2: Identity and Representation in Parliament
How does identity play out in parliament? How is identity mobilised in terms of
representation and representativeness within and for parliament?
Chair: Dr. Sarah Childs
Prof. Shireen Hassim
Prof. Niraja Gopal Jayal
Dr Fiona Mackay
Dr Surya Monro
11.00am – 11.30am
University Witwatersrand
Jawaharlal Nehru University
University of Edinburgh
University of Sheffield
TEA & COFFEE BREAK
11:30 am – 1.00pm
Roundtable 3: Politics of Performance –Rhetoric and Political Speech
What does rhetoric tell us about the political culture of institutions? How does
parliamentary rhetoric create reputations of MPs as well as of institutions?
Chair: Prof. Diana Coole (Birkbeck College, London University)
Dr Sylvia Shaw
Middlesex University
Dr Rochana Bajpai
SOAS
Dr. Alan Finlayson
Swansea University
1.00pm – 2.00pm
2.00pm – 3.30pm
LUNCH
Roundtable 4: Politics of Performance: Performativity and Spectacle
How are identities performed in parliament and how does parliament frame the
performances of MPs? How and why are spectacles important in politics? What do they
tell us about institutions and those who work within these?
Chair: Prof. Shirin Rai (GCRP, Warwick)
Dr. Alastair Mann
University of Stirling
Bairavee Balasubramaniam
University of Warwick
Victoria Hasson
University of Sheffield
3.30pm – 4.00pm
TEA & COFFEE BREAK
4.00pm – 4.45pm
Open Roundtable
Discussion, Comments and Review
Closing Remarks – Prof. Shirin Rai