Conference: Religion Revisisted
Heinrich Böll Foundation Conference, 5-6 June 2009, Berlin, Germany
Religions worldwide still affect state structures and public opinion. Strict separation of religion, on the one hand, and the state, politics and civil society, on the other, exists in only a minority of countries. For women and their right to equality, there is much at stake in how religion and politics intertwine. Religious and political leaders often mobilize religious beliefs in political interventions to constrain women’s rights and gender equality. However, religions also play an important role in the lives of many people. They often open up new spaces for women’s societal participation, and religiously grounded claims about the fundamental equality of all human beings have provided important inspiration to emancipatory movements for human rights and democracy.
Allies or threat in the struggle for women's rights?
Is the strict separation of religion and politics a requirement for women’s rights and gender equality? Or can they be realized in the context of public religions? Are religious movements allies or threat in the struggle for women’s rights? The Heinrich Boell Foundation has invited scholars and feminist activists from Germany, India, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, UK, and the U.S. to discuss the question of how to deal with religions in the fight for women’s rights and gender equality.
The conference is part of the research project "Religion, Politics and Gender Equality", conducted by the Heinrich Böll Foundation in collaboration with the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD).
Date: Friday and Saturday, June 5 - 6, 2009
Venue: Heinrich Böll Foundation, Schumannstraße 8, 10117 Berlin (location plan)
You are cordially invited to attend this international conference! Please register until May 15, 2009 by using the registration form.
Child-care can be provided if necessary.
Conference language is English, simultaneous translation to German will be provided.
Further information, including preliminary agenda, available here.