Call for Papers: Feminist Ethics and the Question of Gender / Feministische Ethik und die Frage nach dem Geschlecht
Societas Ethica’s 55th Annual Conference
Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium — 23-26 August 2018

Why should feminist ethics and gender be a central focus in the work of philosophical and theological ethics? While this question has been discussed within the fields of feminist and gender theory, philosophers and theologians have often overlooked the category of gender in their work.

Is feminist ethics a distinct ethical theory, or rather a category of inquiry in any approach to ethics? How does the feminist perspective enrich our ability to address such subjects as power, social, cultural, and political participation, poverty, racism, misogyny, homo/transphobia, economic inequality, and healthcare? And how does this lens sharpen the reinterpretation of normative understandings of moral, ethical, and religious traditions? To what degree is the rise of nationalism connected with normative imageries of masculinity and femininity, which now require ethical interrogation, especially against the backdrop of social disintegration?

At our conference, we want to strike a balance between theoretical inquiries and historical or contemporary case studies.

We welcome contributions from philosophical, theological, and applied ethics, as well as from political and social theory, history, psychology, and the sciences. The conference languages will be English, French and German. The deadline for submitting proposals is 03 April 2018.

Proposals may be submitted for concurrent sessions addressing the following areas:

- Feminist ethics, gender, and the traditions of ethics
- Gender roles, gender identity, and gender justice
- Concepts of autonomy and care
- Concepts of masculinity, femininity, and gender fluidity
- Gendered representations of the Divine
- Embodiment and gender
- Nature and freedom in relation to gender
- The pandemic of sexual violence
- Responses to sexual violence, such as #MeToo
- Poverty, racism, structural injustice
- Faces of misogyny and homo/transphobia
- Sexual difference and “gender ideology”
- Political, economic and healthcare inequalities
- Aging and ageism
- Nationalism and populism in relation to gender

Paper proposals should contain no more than 800 words (excluding bibliography), and clearly present a moral question or argument addressing one of the aforementioned topics. The deadline is 03 April 2018.
Please send in the following two documents as Word attachments to Dr. Silas Morgan at smorgan2@luc.edu, using the subject line “Societas Ethica 2018 Conference.”

Document 1: Your name, first name, email address, institutional address, the title of your abstract, the topic under which your paper proposal falls, and, if eligible, your application to participate in the Young Scholars’ Award competition.

Document 2: Your paper proposal including bibliography (max. 10 references), keywords and title with all identifying references removed. Please use Times New Roman 12 pt for body, references and keywords, and Ariel (bold) 16 pt for headline.

The abstract of the conference papers will be published in the conference proceedings. Selected papers (voluntary) will be published in a special issue of the journal De Ethica. A Journal of Philosophical, Theological and Applied Ethics.
Societas Ethica Young Scholars’ Award is awarded to the best presentation by a young scholar. Young scholars for the purpose of this competition are doctoral students and researchers who earned their degree less than two years ago and do not have a tenure-track academic position. For more information about Societas Ethica Young Scholars’ Award, please visit the website at www.societasethica.info

Societas Ethica – the European Society for Research in Ethics – has more than 270 members from approximately 35 countries. Led by the current president Dr. Hille Haker (Loyola University Chicago), Societas Ethica endeavors to stimulate contacts between scholars in different countries, surpassing political, ideological and religious curtains. We welcome papers from non-members and members. Members, please remember to renew your membership every year: http://www.societasethica.info/annual-membership-fee/

Prof. Dr. Hille Haker, President
Prof. Dr. Arne Manzeschke, Vice President