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DESCRIPTION
WHERE ARE THE WO(MEN)?
1st Annual Conference on Gender and Global Change
Western University, London Ontario, Canada, March 1st 2014
Though academics have been reasonably successful in delineating the ways by which the
“universal” gains of globalization are concentrated along the identifying markers of geography, race, and gender, considerably less credence has been given to literature that explores these intersections alongside readings of colonial and imperial power.
Problematizing transnational issues in this way, however, is a necessary precedent to displacing the hollow promise of “global sisterhood” with a solidarity that recognizes the agency of marginalized identities. In particular, it is our vision to further a transnational feminism whose praxis will be informed by an understanding of the way by which micrological textures of power—such as subject formation—congeal the macrological structures of globalization and nation-state alliances. This conference seeks to provide students, scholars, and community stakeholders with a contemporary survey of the socioeconomic and political issues facing women, with a particular focus on indigenous women and women of the Global South. Though the primary purpose of the conference is to invoke critical education and innovative thought, we also hope to use this initiative as a way to advocate for much needed—yet currently inadequate—interdepartmental collaboration to center gender analysis in discussions of transnational politics, media, and health studies.
AGENDA
9:30-10:00 Registration
10:00-10:30 Opening Remarks
10:30-10:50 Panel — Transnational Feminism
• Coming to terms with the “F” word
Dr. Erika Lawson, Women’s Studies, UWO
11:00-12:40 Panel — Globalization and Gendered Work
• Global Labour Relations: Locating Gender
Dr. Dan Bousfield, Political Science, UWO
• The Sex Trafficking Industry
Dr. Treena Orchid, Women’s Studies, UWO

12:40-1:40 Lunch/Community Outreach
1:40-2:10 Keynote Speaker — Dr. Abigail Bakan, Chair of the Department of Humanities,
U of T
2:20-2:50 Panel — Feminism in Conflict
• Gender and International Criminal Justice
Dr. Valerie Oosterveld, Western Law
• From Intervention to Assassinations: Women in the The War on Terror
Dr. Nandita Biswas Mellamphy, Political Science, UWO
3:00-3:30 Panel — Indigenous Feminisms & Social Movements
• Latin American Social Movements and Indigenous Women
Dr. Veronica Schild, Political Science, UWO
• Women and Property in Urban India
Dr. Bipasha Baruah, Women’s Studies, UWO

CONFERENCE STEERING COMMITTEE
Rishita Apsani, Political Science — Conference Co-Chair
Allison Taylor, Women’s Studies — Conference Co-Chair
Danika Kimberly So, Political Science — Conference Logistics Coordinator
Gregory Rogers, Media and Information Studies — VP Media Outreach
Amy Wang, English Literature — VP Finance
Hardeep Dhaliwal, Political Science — Logistics Assistant
Kylie Smith, Political Science — Communications Assistant
PARTNERS
Political Science Department, Western University
Faculty of Information and Media Studies, Western University
The Centre for Global Studies, Huron College
Women’s Studies and Feminist Research Department, Western University
School of Health Studies, Western University
The Centre for Social Justice and Peace Studies, King’s College
The Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women, Western University
Social Science Student’s Council, Western University
The Political Science Association, Western University