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Middlesex at centre of thinking on gender and nationalism

01/09/2015
Gender and nationalism will be put in the spotlight by Middlesex University, as it hosts a conference tackling the relationship between these two important subjects.

The two-day event, hosted by Middlesex's School of Law, and Department of Criminology and Sociology, will take the lead in bringing together and exploring new research. This includes a new Middlesex University study (funded by the British Academy) looking at women's support for, and membership of, nationalist organisations in the UK.

Conference organiser Dr Jon Mulholland said: "Though there is increasing recognition of the inherently gendered nature of nationalism as an ideology and practice, social scientific understandings lag behind current developments in this area. This conference seeks to help change that."

The Middlesex contingent will be joined by delegates from every continent, as they unpick issues connecting gender and nationalism. Topics including war, immigration, art, sexuality, education and militarism will be discussed and debated through a number of plenary and break-out sessions.

The University of Pittsburgh's Kathleen Blee, who has previously conducted research into women in the Ku Klux Klan, will be delivering a plenary session on 'The Past, Present, and Future of Scholarship on Gender and the Far Right'. The University of East London's Professors Floya Anthias and Nira Yuval-Davis will also present on 'Beyond Gender and Nation'.

Middlesex University trio Dr Jon Mulholland, Dr Erin Sanders-McDonagh and Dr. Nicola Montagna will be showcasing their preliminary findings on women's involvement in nationalist movements in the UK. The team interviewed female supporters and members of organisations including the British National Party, the English Defence League and the UK Independence Party. The final findings are due to be published in December 2014.

Dr Mulholland said: "We have seen the rise of far right parties across Europe, and we wanted to better our understanding of the kind of activists and members these parties are attracting in the context of the UK.

"This conference will bring together new and existing thinking on gender and nationalism. This is very much an international question, and I'm delighted that we will be welcoming colleagues from across the globe. The School of Law, and the Department of Criminology and Sociology,  have a truly international perspective, so it's important to be sharing ideas across national and continental borders."

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