Confronting Gender Polarity and Nationalism

Interdisciplinary conference on Feminist Theologies, Religion and Sustainable Democracy in the Nordic countries and Europe.

August 26, 2022, online

Conference theme

Europe and the Nordic countries are experiencing a reemergence of polarizing discourses. As this conference will critically discuss, the ideologies that fuel these discourses often reference conservative Christian or Neopagan faith traditions for legitimation, thus linking religion with the growing far-right movements. Central to the movements is a new acceptance for polarized and racialized gender discourse. Male supremacy and the patriarchal family are reclaimed as foundational to both church and nation, thus putting the rights of women, queer and non-white people under new pressure. New analytics have evolved where climate change is denied, populist conspiracy theories accepted, civic polarities endorsed, and Anti-Islam and Anti-Semitism are revived. The reentry of these 'new-old' discourses was made visible to the Norwegian and Nordic publics with the brutal July 22 terrorist attacks on Oslo and Utøya in 2011, which still represent a main case for comparative analysis. The desire for a new cultural war reaches from the US to Eastern Europe, and the war on Ukraine warns of its dangers. When core understandings and respect of human rights are challenged, so is sustainable democracy.

Due to a variety of unforeseen reasons it is impossible for the conference to take place on location in Oslo. Instead, the conference “Confronting Gender Polarity and Nationalism” will take place online on August 26^th, via Zoom, with a shortened program and free of charge. All registrations made so far remain valid.

The organizing committee

The conference is hosted by the Chair for Exegesis and Hermeneutics of the New Testament at the Theological Faculty of the University of Regensburg / Germany and the European Society of Women in Theological Research (ESWTR).

Organizing committee: Judith König, Gertraud Ladner, Sofia Nikitaki, Jone Salomonsen.

For the support with translations we thank: Magdalena Huerten, Montserrat Escribano-Cárcel, DeepL.

Program

Detailed information on the conference program.

Parallel Paper Sessions will be announced soon.

See the full program

Online registration

The conference is open for registration.

Final deadline for registration: July 28, 2022.