Identity and Difference: Confrontation, Response and Resistance
A graduate student symposium on the Middle East and North Africa
Saturday, October 18, 2003
University of Texas at Austin

Students of Middle East Studies at the University of Texas at Austin are pleased to announce a national graduate student symposium to be held on Saturday, October 18, 2003 on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin:

Identity and Difference: Confrontation, Response and Resistance

When faced with difference, individuals, ethnic/cultural groups and polities employ varying responses, from assimilation/acculturation, to moves to co-opt or politically/socially isolate the “Other(s)” (and resistance to these moves), to violent repression and violent responses to repression – or any combination of these. Whether these responses are motivated by fear and a sense of threat, the urge for self-preservation and the (re)establishment of social boundaries, a quest for power or a desire for reconciliation, they have in common the necessity of confrontation of difference.

Recognizing the plurality of the Middle East and North Africa, even within the same nation-state –- in terms of identities, ethnicities, religions, political orientations, languages, economic and social circumstances -– the organizers of this symposium invite papers from graduate students nationwide to explore the processes involved in these confrontations and their outcomes. We seek contributions from a range of disciplines, including and not limited to:

• gender studies or women’s studies
• anthropology or sociology
• political science
• history
• geography, urban studies, or architecture
• journalism, film theory, or media studies
• comparative literature and literary theory
• sociolinguistics or language studies
• art history or ethnomusicology
• education
• religious studies

We welcome both theoretical papers and case studies. We will give preference to papers that clearly address the theme of Identity and Difference, as indicated in your abstract, and we will consider proposals on the basis of the following criteria: relevance, clarity, and theoretical/ evidential soundness.

Focal questions include:

1. To what extent is this model of “confrontation of difference” useful for explaining events in these regions? Who or what is excluded (processes, ideologies, groups, individuals, etc.) from this kind of model? How do different disciplines (political science, anthropology, history, etc.) approach this question of “identity and difference” and what insights can they give us?
2. What are the effects of third parties on confrontations of difference in these regions? How does the involvement of outsiders constrict, expand, or transform processes of and options for responding to difference? Examples of paper topics with this focus include:
   • The effects of European Union conditions for Turkey’s admission to the EU on Kurdish struggles for language rights and political rights;
   • The effects of the ‘War on Terrorism’ and the immanent war on Iraq on discourses of identity within Jordan.
3. How are identities expressed and differences foregrounded, confronted, or erased through various cultural forms: print journalism, television production, film, literature, music, architecture, etc.? Examples of paper topics with this focus include:
4. A comparison of the concepts of peace and resolution in the writings of Amos Oz and Emile Habiby;
5. Exclusionary practices in the social construction of space and spatial practices in Jerusalem.
6. What kinds of moves have states made to consolidate authority/ power by homogenizing populations, denying plurality or excluding alterity from public view and political processes? To what extent have state responses to difference been successful or backfired (according to their own goals), and what has contributed to that success or lack thereof? How have individuals and groups resisted such state programs, and have their efforts been successful? What particular historical and cultural conditions influence a particular state’s definition of difference and responses to it? Examples of paper topics with this focus include:
   • Institutionalized discrimination against South Asian guest workers in Saudi Arabia;
   • The interaction of urbanization, globalization, and state attempts to sedentarize nomadic and semi-nomadic populations.
7. How are narratives of self and Other, of nation and home, or of citizenship gendered? What insights does scholarship in masculinity, women’s studies, or queer studies offer into the processes of “gendering the nation?” What are the consequences (intended or unintended) of these processes in terms of reconciling differences or divergences from dominant narratives of the ‘ideal citizen?’ How are these narratives alternately contested, negotiated, or reinforced through the use of gendered metaphors?

Abstracts should be 500 words or less. Abstracts should explain the relevance of the paper to the theme of ‘Identity and Difference’ and major theoretical influences/ frameworks to be employed in the paper, as well as providing a concise summary of the substance of the paper. Please attach a cover letter with your contact information, name, university affiliation, and degrees. Also include A/V requests (overhead projector, slide projector, audio equipment, etc.) in the cover letter, if applicable.

The deadline for abstract submissions is May 31, 2003. Accepted papers are due August 1, 2003. Please send abstracts with a cover letter to the address below.

Inquiries should be directed to Afra Al-Mussawir at the address below or by email.