Report on Activities 2008-2012
Commission on Gender and Geography
1. Membership
A: List of Commission’s Steering Committee Members
Chair: Prof Robyn Longhurst
Department of Geography
University of Waikato
Private Bag 3105
Hamilton NEW ZEALAND
Phone +64 7 838 4046
Fax +64 7 838 4633
E-mail robynl@waikato.ac.nz
Treasurer: Prof Holly M. Hapke
Department of Geography
East Carolina University
Greenville, NC 27858
UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA
Phone +1 252 328 1041
Fax +1 252 328 6054
E-mail hapke@ecu.edu
Steering Committee Members:
Dr Mariama Awumbila
Department of Geography and
Resource Development
University of Ghana
PO Box 59
Legon GHANA
Phone +233 21 500 394/20 813
6035
Fax +233 21 500 382
Email: mawumbila@hotmail.com
or mailto:mawumbil@ug.edu.gh
Dr Mireia Baylina
Departament de Geografia
Facultat de Lletres, Edifici B
Universitat Autonoma de
Barcelona
08193 Bellaterra SPAIN
Phone +34 93 586 8060
Fax + 34 93 581 2001
Email: Mireia.Baylina@uab.es
Dr Elisabeth Buehler
Department of Geography
University of Zurich - Irchel
Winterthurerstr. 190 CH-8057
Zurich SWITZERLAND
Phone +41 1 635 5247
Fax +41 1 635 6845
Email:
elisabeth.buehler@geo.uzh.ch
Dr Claire Dwyer
Department of Geography
University College London
26 Bedford Way
London WC1H 0AP,
UNITED KINGDOM
Phone +44 20 7679 5526
Fax +44 20 7679 7565
Email: claire.dwyer@ucl.ac.uk
Assoc Prof Shirlena Huang
Department of Geography
National University of
Singapore
Kent Ridge Crescent
SINGAPORE
Phone +65 6516-3851
Fax +65 6777-3091
Email: geoslena@nus.edu.sg
Dr Shahnaz Huq-Hussain
Department of Geography and
Environment
University of Dhaka
Ramna Dhaka 1000
BANGLADESH
Phone +99 02 988 6849
Email:
shuqhussain@gmail.com
Prof Susana Maria Veleda de Silva
Núcleo de Analises
Urbanas/NAU/ICHI Universidade Federal do Rio
Grande (FURG)
Av. Itália km 8 – Pav. 6 – sala 25
H - Campus Carreiros
Rio Grande RS BRAZIL
Email: sucasilva@yahoo.com.br
Dr Sorina Voiculescu
Department of Geography
University of the West
Timisoara
Blv. V. Parvan 4 300223
Timisoara ROMANIA
Phone +40 256 494068
Fax +40 256 490333
Email: vsorina@cbg.uvt.ro
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B: Number of Commission members in total and by country
As of January 2012, the Commission’s listserv includes 554 subscribers representing 45 countries, though
some subscribers cannot be identified by national origin since they use addresses such as yahoo.com. List
members receive the twice annual newsletter and also information about Commission meetings, and calls
for papers for publications and other relevant conferences.
The largest numbers of listserv subscribers are in the US, the UK and India (over 40 each), participation
in India having grown rapidly over the last two years. Other notable strengths are in Spain, Canada,
Australia, Italy, New Zealand, and Switzerland (11). Low participation is most evident in east and southeast Asian countries (other than Japan) and from African countries. Also notable is the low participation
from eastern Europe and the Middle East (other than Israel), though the 2009 meeting in
Hungary/Romania generated growth in those countries and several subscribers from Portugal have
recently been added. Latin American membership is limited to Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, with
notable additions in Brazil over the last year. In Brazil, several edited books have also been published
recently on gender themes, and an electronic journal devoted to gender and geography has been created.
In western Europe, participation is modest in Belgium, Germany, Austria and France, though French
participation is growing modestly. Material from the Commission’s newsletter is excerpted into a separate
the German-language newsletter issued several times per year under rotating editorship in Germany and
Switzerland.
In addition to the above, the newsletter is also mailed to the Home of Geography, IGU officers, geogfem
(a US-based listserv of 525 members which has some overlap with the Commission’s list, membership
predominantly in the US but also international subscribers; and to the British Women and Geography
Study Group list.
The newsletter includes reports of meetings, research activities, and an extensive multilingual
bibliography of articles on gender themes in geography. It is issued in English, French, and Spanish
editions. Selected messages are further distributed through the US-based geogfem listserv which has 589
subscribers, including people from outside the US (there will be some overlap of subscribers to the
listservs) and the listserv of the Women and Geography Study Group of the RGS/IBG. An archive of
Newsletters (since 1988) is posted on the Commission’s website http://igugender.socsci.uva.nl/).
2. Meetings
A. The meetings your Commission organized during the period 2008 through 2012 with information on
their locations, dates, and numbers of participants.
During this period the Commission organized some meetings independently and some meetings with
other Commissions such as the Commission on the Dynamics of Economic Spaces (5-8 August 2008,
Barcelona, Spain), the Commission on Geographical Education (19-22 January 2010, Hamilton, New
Zealand).
Meetings 2008
Location and date: Tunis, Tunisia, 12-15 August 2008
Number of presentations/participants: 30 paper presentations, 50 participants
Meetings 2009
Location and date: Szeged, Hungary and Timisoara, Romania, 22-24 May 2009
Number of presentations/participants: 30 paper presentations, 50 participants
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Meetings 2010
Location and date: Dehli, India, 3-5 March 2010
Number of presentations/participants: 45 paper presentations, 70 participants
Location and date: Ein-Karem (Jerusalem), Israel, 8-9 July 2010
Number of presentations/participants: 24 paper presentations, group discussions, 40 participants
Location and date: Tel Aviv, Israel, 12-15 July 2010
Number of presentations/participants: 5 paper presentations, 20 participants
Meetings 2011
Location and date: Singapore, 22-26 July 2011
Number of presentations/participants: 12 paper presentations, 35participants
Location and date: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 8-10 November 2011
Number of presentations/participants: 25 paper presentations, 50 participants
Location and Date: Santiago, Chile, 12-14 November 2011
Number of presentations/participants: 4 paper presentations, 15 participants
B: A brief summary of the questions addressed at each meeting and the findings or conclusions resulting
from the discussions. Please highlight the new ideas and insights identified at each meeting and their
immediate and long-term theoretical and practical implications.
In various ways, at all of the meetings, participants addressed the theme of ‘Gendered Perspectives:
Connecting Across Difference’. Not only gender but also other axes of embodied difference such as race,
class, caste, educational attainment, cultural capital, sexuality, nationality and migrant status were
discussed in-depth and at length at all events. This was also evident at joint meetings, for example, at the
2008, Barcelona meeting where economic and class concerns were the focus but gender was also seen as
important in understanding ‘the new worlds of work and multiscalar dynamics of new economic spaces’.
Similarly, at the meeting on ‘Geographical Education’ in 2010 in Hamilton gender was recognized as an
important factor in understanding teaching and learning.
At the meeting in Dehli in 2010 ‘Contextualizing Geographical Approaches to Studying Gender in Asia’
co-organised by Anindita Datta participants aimed at initiating a dialogue between geographers and other
social scientists working with gender and issues of class, educational attainment and caste. Also in 2010
at the meeting in Ein-Karem (Jerusalem) ‘Bridging Gendered Diversity in a Globalizing World’ organised
by Tovi Fenster, Orna Blum and Chen Misgav, and at the congress in Tel Aviv, gender was seen as
intersecting with other important dimensions of identity such as religion and culture. Also, in Tel Aviv a
discussion of sexuality emerged as approximately 40 delegates participated in a guided tour of ‘Queer and
Cultural Diversity in Tel Aviv.’
In 2011 at the seminar in Singapore on ‘Householding in Transition: Emerging Dynamics in
“Developing” East and Southeast Asia’ co-organised by Shirlena Huang participants aimed to examine
how in recent decades, the ‘developing’ East and Southeast Asian region has experienced profound social
and economic change which has affected household structures and their members’ everyday lives.
Transnationalism, migration, urban and rural spaces, home, the internet, and gender were key themes at
this meeting.
Later in 2011 at the Pontificia Universidade Católica (PUC) in Rio de Janeiro at a meeting titled
‘Connecting differences through spatial borders’ organized by Joseli Maria Silva and Augusto Cesar
gender was a central focus combined with other themes such as power, education, and sexuality.
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Productive discussions of ‘queer geographies’ emerged as participants from the region and beyond
‘connected across’ language differences (with the aid of Portugese/English interpreters) to discuss issues
such as sexual orientations in schools, heteronormativity, and transvestite prostitution.
Another issue that emerged in many of the meetings over the past four years is the dominance of AngloAmerican feminist and gender geography. Many discussions about the challenges faced by those who do
not work ‘in the centre’ (e.g. the challenge of having papers in English accepted for publication, gaining
promotion, and connecting in various ways across language differences) have unfolded indicating this is
an important area for further consideration. Our Commission is deeply interested in finding strategies that
might help foster communication and work in gender geography across international boundaries (this is
reflected in a panel discussion titled ‘International Practices in Gender Geography: Bridges and Barriers’
planned for upcoming Cologne meeting in August 2012).
Finally, I would like to report that during this four year period the Gender and Geography Commission
has introduced a new initiative, the Best Student Paper Award. The entrant must present original research
conducted primarily by her or him. The research must have been carried out while the entrant was a
student. In evaluating papers, preference was given to theoretically informed primary research that
addressed topics such as gender and its intersections with class, race, ethnicity, age (dis)ability, sexuality,
and culture; feminist, anti-racist and other critical geographies of space, place, nature and the environment;
feminist geographies of difference and resistance, and critical methodologies. Presenting style was also
taken into consideration. The award carries with it a prize of US$250 but perhaps more importantly if the
paper has not already been published and the applicant wishes to submit it for publication; she or he was
offered assistance to develop the paper by the Commission Chair, a Steering Committee member, or
conference organiser.
The inaugural award was presented at the meeting in Ein Karem to Onma Berick-Aharony for her
presentation on ‘The Bare Truth’. Onma’s paper was based on her PhD research and focused on the ways
in which secular Jewish women’s bodies are sexually objectified and used as a signifier in the
construction of national-ethnic belonging in contemporary Israeli society. At the meeting in Rio de
Janeiro, at the organizers’ request, the award was split into three separate categories: education; gender
and power; and sexuality and recipients each received $100 and a certificate. The awards went to Ana
Paula Tatagiba, (education), Emmanuele Ribeiro (gender and power), and Fernando Arcos (sexuality).
Conference organizers are currently working with each of these three participants to publish their
presentations.
C. The meetings or other events you plan to hold in 2012 or later years, including locations, dates, and the
topics to be addressed. Highlight your plans for participation in the Cologne International Geographical
Congress.
23-25 August 2012, University of Hamburg, Germany. Pre-congress ‘Down to earth: identities, bodies
and spatial scales’. This is being organized by Anke Strüver and Sybille Bauriedl.
26-30 August 2012, IGU Congress, Cologne, Germany. Approximately 20 papers and a panel discussion
titled ‘International Practices in Gender Geography: Bridges and Barriers’ have been submitted for
consideration to the Gender and Geography Commission. The general theme is ‘Gender and Geography’.
More specific themes are ‘Gendered Work’, ‘Gendered Mobilities’, ‘Gender, Planning and Development’,
and ‘Gendering the Everyday’.
4-9 August 2013, IGU Congress, Kyoto, Japan. Initial discussions have taken place with Professor Keichi
Kumagai from Ochanomizu University, Tokyo who visited Waikato University in November 2011 to
discuss contacts and plans for sessions on gender at this meeting.
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2013/14 There is a possibility that the Gender and Geography Commission will host future meetings in
UK (organized by Steering Committee member Claire Dwyer) and in Norway (organized by Steering
Committee member Ragnhild Lund). Further discussions are yet to take place.
3. Networking
A. Ways your Commission has collaborated with other IGU Commissions and Task Forces in the 2008
through 2012 period.
At the meeting 5-8 August 2008, Barcelona, Spain the Gender and Geography Commission collaborated
with the Commission on the Dynamics of Economic Spaces which included two sessions on gender
themes in the symposium ‘The new worlds of work: multiscalar dynamics of new economic spaces.’
On 13-16 September 2009 ‘Borderscapes II’ Sicily, Italy the Gender and Geography Commission
collaborated with the Political Geography Commission (who hosted the meeting). The organizers invited
two long-term members of the Gender and Geography Commission to offer presentations (including an
opening session presentation on gender topics and a number of other gender-focused papers were
included in working sessions.
In Hamilton, New Zealand on 19-22 January 2010 the Gender and Geography Commission collaborated
with the Commission on Geographical Education to offer papers sessions at the conference ‘Positioning
geography’. We also collaborated with the Geography of Tourism, Leisure, and Global Change
Commission to offer a field trip to Rotorua and a walking tour of Hamilton.
On 12-15 July 2010 at the IGU conference in Tel Aviv our Commission offered a joint session with the
Mediterranean Renaissance Program on Geographies of Gender in the Mediterranean.
B. Collaboration with other international, intergovernmental, and inter- and multi-disciplinary groups
from 2008 through 2012.
On 16-18 July 2009 the Gender and Geography Commission collaborated with the Royal Geographical
Society/Institute of British Geographers at the Second International Conference on Geographies of
Children, Youth and Families, ‘Diverse Childhoods in International Contexts: Gender and Other Social
and Cultural Differences’, organized by the research group on Geography and Gender of the Autonomous
University of Barcelona.
On 3-5 March 2010, Dehli, India at the meeting ‘Contextualizing Geographical Approaches to Studying
Gender in Asia’ the Gender and Geography Commission collaborated with the Department of Geography
University of Delhi and the College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University.
On 25-26 July 2011 the Commission collaborated with Asia Research Institute, National University of
Singapore; Centre for Developing Areas Research, Department of Geography, Royal Holloway,
University of London to host a seminar on ‘Householding in Transition: Emerging Dynamics in
“Developing” East and Southeast Asia’.
C. Cooperative efforts with ISSC (International Social Science Council) and with ICSU (the International
Council for Science) programs.
Robyn Longhurst, Chair of the Gender and Geography Commission, is a member of the Steering
Committee of the International Year of Understanding (IYGU) and head the IYGU continental secretariat
for Oceania.
4. Publications
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A. Newsletters, special journal issues, and books published or anticipated during the 2008 to 2012 period
(provide complete citations for all publications).
Twice a year the Commission on Gender and Geography’s newsletter is edited by Professor Janice Monk
and sent to over 500 members of the Commission. The newsletters form an important worldwide
communication medium. The newsletters contain at least ten pages with information on past and future
meetings of the Commission, on meetings organised by national and regional groups of feminist
geographers, on personal and institutional events and on research activities and publications of
Commission members. The newsletter’s reach is broader than the number of corresponding members, as
it is uploaded onto Geogfem and the British Women in Geography Study Group list, while part of the
newsletters is translated in German and uploaded to GeoRundbrief and the news section is translated into
Spanish and French so that it reaches our Spanish and French speaking colleagues. Thus people outside
the IGU’s usual communication channels and outside the geography community read the information of
the newsletter.
All issues of the IGU Gender Commission’s newsletters, beginning with No. 1, November 1988, are now
available on the Commission’s web site, http://ww2.fmg.uva.nl/igu/gender (click on newsletters). Future
newsletters will continue to be posted.
Datta, Anindita (2008) Claiming the Dawn Sky: The Growth of the Geography of Gender in India.
Reproduced with permission from: Debendra Kuamr Nayak (editor) 2008. Country Report: Progress in
Indian Geography, 2004-2008. New Delhi: India National Science Foundation, pp 77-79 (available on
Commission’s website http://igugender.socsci.uva.nl/documents/GeographyofGenderinIndia_000.pdf).
Geographica Helvetica (2009) Vol 1 has a special issue entitled: “Public spaces and social diversity”
guest edited by Elisabeth Buehler which includes selected papers presented at the IGU Seminar in Zurich,
June 2007. Papers of Elisabeth Buehler and Heidi Kasper, Dina Vaiou and Ares Kalandides, Frank
Ostermann and Sabine Timpf, Joos Droogleever Fortuijn, and LaDona Knigge deal with the gendered
nature of urban public spaces: planning and design, use and appropriation of space, everyday practices,
observations as a teaching tool, and intersections between public and private.
Chiang, Nora and Monk, Janice (editors) (2009) The Journal of Geographical Science 57 (Taiwan) on
‘Asian Women: Gender, Migration and Work’ (in English).
Veleda da Silva, Susana (2009) Report on representations of gender research at the 12th Encuentro de
Geógrafos de América Latina (EGAL) held in Montevideo, Uruguay, 3-7 April 2009.
Voiculescu, Sorina and Longhurst, Robyn (editors) (2011) Annals of West University of Timisoara, Series
GEOGRAPHY, Vol XIX. Special Issue dedicated to ‘(Re)thinking gender, post-socialism and neoliberalism: an introduction’. Introduced by Sorina Voiculescu and Robyn Longhurst. Contributions by
Sebastian Jucu; Éva G. Fekete; Antònia Casellas, Marta Pallares-Blanch and Antoni F. Tulla; Madhushree
Das and Harendra Nath Sharma; Parijat Borgohain and Harendra Nath Sharma; Matej Blazek and Fiona
M. Smith; Margareta Lelea; Lajos Olasz; Szóró Ilona; and Maria Dolors Garcia-Ramon, Anna Ortiz and
Hermínia Pujol (issue available
http://www.geografie.uvt.ro/en/research/publications/annals/annals2009.htm).
Monk, Janice (editor) (2011) International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education Vol.
20 (3) August. Special Issue entitled: “Perspectives on teaching geography and gender in a postsocialist,
neo-liberal dominated world”. Papers presented at the IGU Commission on Gender and Geography
meeting in Szeged, Hungary and Timisoara, Romania, May 2009 with articles of Janice Monk, Joos
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Droogleever Fortuijn, Robyn Longhurst, Maria-Dolors Garcia-Ramon, Sorina Voiculescu and Tovi
Fenster.
Silva, Joseli Maria and Augusto, Cesar Pinheiro da Silva (2011) (editors) Espaço, gênero e poder:
conectando fronteiras. Todapalavra Editora (edited collection of conference papers presented in Rio de
Janeiro – published in Portugese).
Fenster, Tovi, Blum, Orna. and Misgav, Chen (forthcoming) selected papers presented in gender sessions
at 2010 IGU meeting in Ein Karem and in Tel Aviv currently under review for special issue of Hagar Studies in Politics, Culture and Identities.
B: Salient insights or conclusions
The theme of the Commission on Gender and Geography in the period between 2008-2012 was:
‘Gendered perspectives: Connecting across difference’. This theme allowed members at a variety of
meetings to focus on gendered differences and the theoretical and practical meanings and implications of
the connections that can be made to bridge such differences. We explored this theme on various scales, in
a range of diverse locations and through multiple identities such as ethnicity, nationality, class and
economic status, age, body size, ability/disability. It seems that as a dimension of identity gender is just as
salient now as it was a decade ago.
C: URL of Commissions’s website
http://igugender.socsci.uva.nl/
5. Archival Contributions
Materials and publications transmitted to the IGU archives to the IGU by your Commission. Copies of all
newsletters, monographs, special journal issues, etc. should be sent to me at mmeadows@mweb.co.za as
they become available.
Janice Monk produced a 27 page report ‘Connecting people, places, and idea: reflections of the history of
the IGU Commission on Gender and Geography.’ It is posted on the Commission’s website
(http://igugender.socsci.uva.nl/documents/IGUGenderCommissionHistoryJune2008.pdf)
6. Continuation
Assuming you and your colleagues in Commission wish to continue your work, the final section of your
report for 2008-2012 should include a proposal that specifically addresses:
A. The new name of the Commission, if it is to be changed. No change
B. A concise (100-200 words) statement of the Commission’s mission.
The central theme of the Commission on Gender and Geography in the period between 2012-2016 will be
‘Scaling gender: from the body to the globe’. This theme allows Commission members to focus on
gender, both theoretically and empirically, at a range of geographical scales. We aim to pursue questions
about the relevance of scale in geography today, the politics of focusing on various scales, what it means
to move between scales, and the way in which scales exist simultaneously in relation to gender but also
race, ethnicity, class, caste, sexuality, culture, age, disability and other forms of difference. The theme
‘Scaling gender: from the body to the globe’ will enable members to think about spaces such as the body,
home, workplaces, educational spaces, communities, institutions, towns, cities, rural spaces, nations,
continents, virtual space, and the globe, and people’s gendered experiences of moving between and
connecting across these various spaces.
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C. A list of the individuals who will comprise the new Commission’s steering committee. Provide
complete contact information for all proposed steering committee members.
A: List of Commission’s Steering Committee Members
Chair: Assoc Prof Shirlena
Huang
Department of Geography
National University of Singapore
Kent Ridge Crescent
SINGAPORE
Phone +65 6516-3851
Fax +65 6777-3091
Email: geoslena@nus.edu.sg
Treasurer: Prof Holly M. Hapke
Department of Geography
East Carolina University
Greenville, NC 27858
UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA
Phone +1 252 328 1041
Fax +1 252 328 6054
E-mail hapke@ecu.edu
Steering Committee Members:
Dr Mireia Baylina
Departament de Geografia
Facultat de Lletres, Edifici B
Universitat Autonoma de
Barcelona
08193 Bellaterra
SPAIN
Phone +34 93 586 8060
Fax + 34 93 581 2001
Email: Mireia.Baylina@uab.es
Dr Orna Blumen
Faculty of Social Welfare and
Health Sciences
University of Haifa
Mount Carmel, 31905
ISRAEL
Phone: + 972 4 8240155
Fax: + 972 4 8249282
Email:
ornab@researach.haifa.ac.il
Dr Anindita Datta
Department of Geography
Delhi School of Economics
University of Delhi
Delhi-110007
INDIA
Phone +9810633776
Email:
anindita.dse@gmail.com
Dr Claire Dwyer
Department of Geography
University College London
26 Bedford Way
London WC1H 0AP,
UNITED KINGDOM
Phone +44 20 7679 5526
Fax +44 20 7679 7565
Email: c.dwyer@geog.ucl.ac.uk
Professor Lynda Johnston
Geography Programme
University of Waikato
Private Bag 3105
Hamilton
NEW ZEALAND
Phone +64 7 838 4046
Fax +64 7 838 4633
E-mail lyndaj@waikato.ac.nz
Professor Ragnhild Lund
Department of Geography
Norwegian University of
Science and Technology
Trondheim, 7491 Dragvoll
NORWAY
Phone +47 3591923/10.
Fax +47 73591878
Email:
ragnhild.lund@sut.ntnu.no
Professor Ann Oberhauser
Women’s Studies/Geography
West Virginia University
218 Eiesland Hall
PO Box 6450
Morgantown, WV 26506-6450
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Phone: +1 304 293-2339
Fax: +1 304 293-3041
Dra. Joseli Maria Silva
State University of Ponta
Grossa
Department of Geography
Avenida General Carlos
Cavalcanti, 4748.
Bloco L . Campus Uvaranas
Ponta Grossa, Paraná
BRAZIL
Prof. Dr. Anke Strüver
Institut für Geographie
Universität Hamburg
Bundesstraße 55
D-20146 Hamburg
GERMANY
Tel: 0049(0)40 / 42838 - 5210
Fax: 0049(0)40 / 42838 – 4967
Email: struever@geowiss.uni-
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Email:
ann.oberhauser@mail.wvu.edu
CP: 84030-900
Phone 55 42 3220-3046 (work)
or 55 42 91011378 (cell)
Email:
joseli.genero@gmail.com
hamburg.de
D. The work plan envisaged for the new Commission, including a description of the results to be achieved
during the 2012-2016 period.
The Commission plans to participate in all upcoming IGU Conferences including Cologne 26-30 August
2012 and Kyoto 2013 and will co-sponsor and organize joint meetings with other organisations within
and outside the IGU. Also prior to the meeting in Cologne are having a meeting ‘Down to earth: identities,
bodies and spatial scales’, 23-25 August 2012, at University of Hamburg, Germany, the Commission
plans to publish several books and special issue and we will continue to publish a newsletter twice a year.
In addition to these activities we will continue the website in order to stimulate communication. A main
ambition of the Commission is to continue to bring new conceptual and empirical insights, in particular
with respect to multiple identities and scale, reflected in our theme ‘Scaling gender: from the body to the
globe’ for the upcoming four years. We want to continue to prompt discussions between geographers and
others, both experienced and new emerging scholars, from different geographical regions all over the
world to participate in the Commission’s activities.
E. A description of the scholarly importance of the anticipated results of the Commission’s work.
The continuation of existing Commissions and establishment of new Commissions normally result from
recommendations by the IGU Executive Committee to the General Assembly.
The Commission’s work brings together scholars from various backgrounds and countries and provides a
useful platform for comparing and assessing the cultural, political, social and economic implications of
gender relations in geographical research. It pays particular attention to the significance of context and
spatiality for gender relations. Additionally, the Commission engages many women geographers
providing a forum for their deliberations and communication. This role played by the Commission is very
important especially for women from countries where women geographers and geographers examining
gender express concerns about their isolation and ongoing marginalization of their work. In addition, the
fact that the Commission had its meetings in Israel, India, Singapore, Brazil and Chile helps promote
feminist studies in these places and perhaps more importantly, helps empower local women’s initiatives
and activities. A consistent feature of meetings over the past four years has been the inclusion of
excursions to local community organizations in addition to the presentation of scholarly paper sessions
and panels. Another important result of these meetings is the opportunity to meet across regions and
cultures and to establish new academic collaborations that stretch beyond the Anglo-American world.
Robyn Longhurst for the
2008-2012 Commission on Gender and Geography
31 January 2012
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