University of Helsinki
Call for Papers: “Voices from the Margin(s) – Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Diverse Nordic Experiences”
Please find bellow a call for papers for a paper panel “Voices from the Margin(s) – Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Diverse Nordic Experiences” taking place at the 3rd Nordic Challenges Conference, 6.-8.3.2019 in Copenhagen, Denmark. You can submit your proposal for the paper panel by sending an abstract of 150-250 words including your name, title, organization and e-mail address to Merle Weβel merle.wessel@uni-greifswald.de and Tuire Liimatainen tuire.liimatainen@helsinki.fi by 25.11.2018.
For more information, please see https://www.tilmeld.dk/thirdnordicchallenges/
Description
Nordic countries are often depicted as homogenous nations – view reified in recent years by the rise of right-wing political ideologies, often emphasizing an understanding of Nordic countries as ethnically and culturally similar ethno-national states. At the same time, movements such as #metoo, have increasingly brought historical and contemporary experiences of gender inequality into the daylight also in Nordic countries.
While Nordic countries often position themselves as forerunners of human rights, historical legacies and contemporary practices of exclusion are still today visible in a wide range of social attitudes and cultural practices. However, these challenges are at the same time met increasingly with aims to build genuinely inclusive societies accommodating diversity. These inclusive views are gaining ground both due to globalization and diversification of Nordic societies, but also due to growing awareness of historical diversity previously overshadowed by normative identity politics. While some marginal experiences are increasingly gaining voice, other experiences, both historical and contemporary, continue to stay marginalized.
This paper panel explores both historical and contemporary experiences of marginality in the Nordic context. We are interested in papers examining various marginal experiences in relation to, for example, ethnicity, gender, class and/or religion, which problematize the understanding of the Nordic countries as exceptional examples of inclusive, modern nation-states and their relation to the global world. We welcome especially papers examining these diverse experiences from bottom-up perspective, for example in the context of colonization, whiteness, migration and minorities, but also papers examining how specific experiences are positioned as marginal.