International and State Power in Gender and Sexual Violence Prevention in the Postsocialist "East"

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

This panel seeks relational and comparative theoretical paradigms for understanding the role of international and state political powers in advancing policies and programs dedicated to the prevention of violence against women and sexual and gender minorities. Using three case studies in Bulgaria, Croatia and China, the presentations illuminate how national, international, and intercultural political bodies such as the Chinese state, the UN, and the European Union mobilize institutional performances, as well as forms of local resistance that curb rather than propel the wellbeing of women, queer and transgender citizens in former socialist states. Together, the three case studies encapsulate a theoretical and historical postsocialist “East” from where to imagine better and more effective violence prevention approaches that privilege local and communal ways of knowing. Such prevention agendas are urgently needed amid escalating violence against women and gender and sexual minorities globally.

Sub Unit

• Gender/LGBTQ Studies

Chair

• Miglena S Todorova, U of Toronto (Canada)

Papers

• Where There is Power, There Is Resistance: Re-interpreting Bulgaria’s Response to the Istanbul Convention on Preventing Gender-based Violence - Miglena S Todorova, U of Toronto (Canada)

• Culture and Structure in Sexual Violence Prevention: Imagining New Pathways toward Gender Liberation - Nana Gulic, U of Toronto (Canada)

• Community-Based Sexual Violence Prevention Education in Digital Space: A Case Study of Sexual Violence Prevention Approaches at Sun Yat-Sen University - Qichun Zhang, U of Toronto (Canada)

Discussant

• Janet Elise Johnson, CUNY Brooklyn College