 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
THE UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER SCHOOL OF LAW
CONFERENCE: CALL FOR PAPERS & CONTRIBUTIONS
Thirty Years On: Sexuality, Law & Policy on the Island of Ireland
Friday November 28 - Saturday 29 November 2003, at the Wellington Park
Hotel, Belfast
Co-ordinator: Dermot Feenan, The University of Ulster School of Law
CONFIRMED SPEAKERS
- Professor Carl Stychin, Professor Law & Social Theory, University of Reading, whose latest book is 'Governing Sexuality'
- Ailbhe Smyth, Director, Women's Education, Research & Resource Centre, University College Dublin
- Kieran Rose, Gay & Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN), Ireland.
In order to mark the 30th anniversary of the first conference on sexuality on the island of Ireland at the New University of Ulster at Coleraine, as it then was, the University of Ulster School of Law is pleased to host a mini-conference to enable reflection on developments since 1973, current positions and future pathways at the intersections of law, policy and sexuality. In Ireland, North and South, there has been significant change over these thirty years in relation to sexual orientation, censorship, HIV and AIDS, control of desire, abortion, sex education, criminal law, gay, lesbian and bisexual identities, and 'transsexuality'. The radical sexual politics of the late 1960s and early 1970s was followed by liberal reform strategies and, later, the emergence of queer identity and praxis. The silences around sexuality in Ireland have been disrupted by the pervasive spread of the media and the failing grip of the churches.
The entry of Ireland and the UK into the EU has shifted policy and law,
including issue of the directive that requires member states to
prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in
employment etc. Human rights laws enabled effective challenges
before the European Court of Human Rights in Dudgeon v. UK and
Norris v. Ireland, which gains are still being contested. Moreover,
introduction of equality laws has given way to increasing critique of
notions of 'equality', while also grounding calls by activists and
scholars for implementation and change in policy and culture.
Some of these developments are being analysed but less attention
has been given to other issues, such as the implications of
substantial economic and social change in the South in the 1990s
or the effect of the political conflict and transition in the North.
Further attention needs to be paid to the unique strategies for
engaging with law and policy in Ireland, the localised political
economy of sexuality in an era of globalisation, the links between
gender and sexuality, and the intersections between different forms
of 'othering' and oppression that adequately engage with the
distinctive history of the island.
The conference will be an opportunity to examine these, and other, issues
through the prism of law and policy. This 'call' also invites contributions
from those working in audio-visual, verbal, performing or other media
to contribute to the theme of the conference.
REGISTRATION: For information on registration orfor any other queries,
contact Dermot Feenan by e-mail or telephone: 028-9036 6374.
Dermot Feenan LLB MA LLM Barrister-at-Law
Lecturer in Law
School of Law
University of Ulster
Newtownabbey BT37 0QB, U.K.
Tel: +44 (0)28 9036 6374(Direct)/9036 6339 (School)
Fax: +44 (0)28 9036 6847