Your body is a battleground
Ultra-conservative strategies to restore a “natural order”
18.09.2021 — 19.09.2021
Two-day public forum at Frankfurter Kunstverein
Just fifty years after the women’s movement, we are now seeing achievements we took for granted come under enormous attack. Around the world, political actors are on the rise who want to restore a supposedly “natural order”. Women and LGBTQI+ are acutely threatened by this. Among other things, the right to decide about your own body, the right to protection from domestic violence, access to safe abortions, and to modern reproductive technologies are being weakened or abolished. There is also a lack of gender equality in the labor market, in politics and in culture, and in many places the representation of women is declining again.
Responsible for this global backlash are ultra-conservatives and right-wing extremists from all over the world: academics, religious groups, activists, aristocrats and oligarchs. They join together in transnational, cross-border, alliances. Politics concerning women and family also have a more general purpose: ultraconservatives expand their networks and their power worldwide along these themes. By changing terminology, language, images, and communicative and operational strategies, they succeed in presenting fundamentalist positions as normal and thus anchoring them in the mainstream. This shift of public debate to the right has serious implications for democratic, pluralistic societies and everyday coexistence. Values long thought to be outdated have been insidiously made acceptable again.
Journalists, activists and researchers from all over the world have been observing these ultra-conservative strategies and practices for years. Their findings and experiences will be made visible and debated for a broader public during the two-day forum Your body is a battleground. All interested people are welcome to attend free of charge and without pre-registration, on site or online.
Curator: Asia Leofreddi
ON-SITE AT FRANKFURTER KUNSTVEREIN:
Participation is free of charge.
Advance registration at post(at)fkv.de is recommended.
The event will be held in German and in English, simultaneous translation will be provided.
Access only with a current negative certificate or an official proof of full vaccination or recovery. The mask requirement, which applies in the rooms of the Frankfurter Kunstverein, is suspended during the seating in the conference room.
ON-LINE ON YOUTUBE:
All events of the forum will be live-streamed on Youtube.
Livestream on Saturday, 18.09.2021
http://bit.ly/your-body-is-a-battleground-18-09
Livestream on Sunday, 19.09.2021
http://bit.ly/your-body-is-a-battleground-19-09
PROGRAM:
Saturday, 18.09.2021
11 am
WE MUST STRENGTHEN WOMEN’S RIGHTS TOGETHER
Opening speech by Rosemarie Heilig and Prof. Franziska Nori
11:45 am
ULTRA-CONSERVATIVE STRATEGIES TO RESTORE A “NATURAL ORDER”: THE AGENDA EUROPE NETWORKS
Keynote by Neil Datta in Conversation with Asia Leofreddi
1:45 pm
WHAT IS RADICAL CONSERVATISM AND WHY IS IT SO DANGEROUS? THE NORMATIVE ORDERS OF RADICAL CONSERVATISM
Panel with Prof. Dr. Thomas Biebricher, Natascha Strobl, Prof. Dr. Sarah Speck and Rebecca Schmidt
3:15 pm
THE INSTRUMENTALIZATION AND UNDERMINING OF HUMAN RIGHTS BY ULTRA-CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENTS
Panel with Prof. Dr. Kristina Stoeckl, Prof. Dr. Susanna Mancini, Prof. Dr. Paul Blokker and Dr. Gesine Dornblueth
4:45 pm
OUR BODY, OUR POLITICS: AGAINST THE ULTRA-CONSERVATIVE AND THEIR LIBERAL ENABLERS
Lecture by Prof. Dr. Nancy Fraser (Livestream) with an introduction by Prof. Dr. Rainer Forst
Sunday, 19.09.2021
11 am
THE WORLDWIDE NETWORKS OF ULTRACONSERVATIVE MOVEMENTS
Keynote with Dr. Massimo Prearo, Dr. Katharina Hajek, Prof. Dr. Elżbieta Korolczuk and Annalisa Camilli
12:30 pm
CAUSES AND CHALLENGES OF THE CRISIS: WHAT IS THE ROLE OF PROGRESSIVE/LIBERAL MOVEMENTS?
Keynote with Eszter Kováts, Prof. Dr. Sara Farris, Judith Goetz, Prof. Dr. Ilse Lenz and Nina Horaczek
Made possible by and under the patronage of:
Department for Environment and Women and Department for Culture
Partner:
