“Taking up Space”. Women at Work in Contemporary France
Call for papers for an edited volume (We have received initial interest from an academic press)
Edited by Siham Bouamer (Sam Houston State University) and Sonja Stojanovic (The University of Notre Dame)
In France, the second half of the 20th century heralds major developments for womxn’s rights: from the right to vote in 1944 to reproductive rights—birth control, 1967; abortion, 1975. France is one of the first countries to declare “à travail égal, salaire égal” [equal pay for equal work] in 1946 (International Labour Organization), and inscribes equality as a fundamental human right in the Préambule de la Constitution du 27 octobre 1946. However, more than seventy years later, there is still a lot to be achieved when it comes to matters of accessibility, diversity, inclusivity, as well as regarding issues of career advancement, equal pay, sexual harassment in the workplace, and precarious labor, to name a few.
While several recent studies have focused on historico-sociological frameworks to approach this topic (Un siècle de travail des femmes en France: 1901-2011; Categories In Context: Gender and Work in France and Germany, 1900–Present), a focus on the representations in contemporary cultural productions of womxn’s experiences at work is certainly timely and complementary. We are particularly interested in contributions which allow for a reflection on the question of space as it relates to work or the workplace, be it the factory, the boardroom or the street.
In her book Queer Phenomenology: Orientations, Objects, Others (2006), Sara Ahmed explores, in a phenomenological tradition, the positionality of the body in space, time, and the everyday life. More specifically, she questions “how we inhabit spaces as well as “who” or “what” we inhabit spaces with” (p. 1). Within that framework, she examines how non-normative bodies orient themselves towards certain objects in “spaces [that] are already occupied” (p. 62). Such dynamic, explains Ahmed “involves hard work [...] [and] painstaking labor for bodies to inhabit spaces that do not extend their shape” (p. 62). Expanding on Ahmed’s lexical use of labor, it is the aim of this volume to inquire how womxn have “take[n] up spaces” in the workplace since 1945. Contributors will examine how the depiction of womxn in cultural productions—which include, but are not limited to works in literature, cinema, and art—take on the “task [...] to recall their [womxn] histories of their arrival, and how this history opens up spaces for others that have yet to be cleared” (p. 62).
This volume will include contributions that analyze texts (broadly understood) bridging several areas of inquiry and blurring disciplinary boundaries, as well as contributions on single works of art or of fiction. We invite papers (of no more than 6000 words) from a variety of disciplines (literary studies, history, sociology, film studies, gender studies, philosophy, queer theory, art). We welcome contributions located at the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality, and on, but not limited to, any of the following topics:
- Affective/Emotional labor Activism and/at work Digital labor
- Disability
- Equal pay
- Glass ceiling / cliff
- Harassment (#MeToo / #Balancetonporc / #TimesUp) Invisibility / hypervisibility
- Immigration / migration
- Precarious labor
- Power relations
- Reproductive labor
- LGBTQIA+
- Unemployment
- Women of color and work
- Work/life balance
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Abstracts in English of no more than 250 words, along with a short biography, should be submitted to both Dr. Siham Bouamer (sbouamer@shsu.edu) and Dr. Sonja Stojanovic (sonja_stojanovic@nd.edu) by 1 March 2020.