Gender Equality, Religious Diversity and Multiculturalism Conference

Published: Wednesday, September 01, 2010

A one-day international conference on Gender Equality, Religious Diversity and Multiculturalism, will be held at UCC on Friday, September 10th 2010, hosted by the Faculty of Law and the Institute of Social Sciences for the 21st century.

The conference will address the potential conflicts that arise between religious and cultural claims and the pursuit of gender equality.

Religious and cultural claims frequently touch on questions of gender, sexuality and the family, as recent debates on new family forms in Ireland have shown. Recently in Europe, we have seen a shift away from the policies and politics of multiculturalism that dominated debates in the '90s. Today, there is a greater concern with integration of new communities and social cohesion. Cultural and religious difference is frequently viewed as a threat, as potentially leading to fragmentation and division. This conference will explore what this shift away from the politics of multiculturalism means for women and for the pursuit of gender equality. Topics to be addressed include: secularism, education and religious choice; citizenship and minority women in Ireland; religious women's citizenship; Muslim family law in multicultural societies; harmful tradition practices, including female genital mutilation; the wearing and display of religious symbols and dress in public spaces; reproductive rights. The conference will bring together leading scholars and practitioners on migration, gender and integration in Europe and North America. Dr Siobhan Mullally, conference organiser, comments: "It is particularly timely, given the recent publication of the Immigration Residence and Protection Bill 2010, and debates on religious minorities, secularism and gendered identities in Ireland. The conference will offer the opportunity to learn from the experiences and debates ongoing in other parts of Europe, and will contribute to new policy initiatives on integration and citizenship here in Ireland."

Speakers include:

• Professor Anne Phillips, (Gender Institute, London School of Economics),
• Prof Audrey Macklin, (University of Toronto),
• Salome Mbugua, (AkiDwA, The African & Migrant Women's Network, Ireland),
• Marieme Heli-Lucas, (Women Living Under Muslim Laws),
• Catherine Cosgrave, (Immigrant Council of Ireland),
• Prof Penny Andrews (City University of New York),
• Prof Javaid Rehman (Brunel University, London).

For further details, please contact, Dr Siobhan Mullally, Faculty of Law, UCC, or click here..