Visibility is a social process that combines the domains of aesthetics and politics; it emerges from intersecting relations of perception and power. Social visibility is always relational – seeing and being seen simultaneously affect the observed and the beholder. The particular relations of visibility, in any context, depend on a multitude of social, cultural, technical and political arrangements. These “regimes of visibility” determine who is in/visible, in what contexts and networks, and they regulate access to participation and resources in societies. And while we might strive for ‘intervisibility’ (a reciprocity of vision) as the ideal form for social relations, relationships of in/visibility are often asymmetric. Social in/visibility is thus never free from power, yet, the relationship between power and visibility is complex: power does not rest simply either with visibility or with invisibility. Visibility is not inherently liberating, nor does it necessarily imply oppression of others. It can be empowering but also disempowering.

The ESWTR Conference 2019 aims to investigate how the categories of religion, gender and race intersect to produce social in/visibility. Some of the main questions that will be touched upon in the 2019 ESWTR conference are the following: How do religious communities and traditions function as regimes of in/visibility? How do processes of sexualization, gendering, racialization and ‘religionization’ give shape to social regimes of in/visibility? How are religious symbols used as resources to produce or contest social visibility, invisibility or hypervisibility?

We would like to receive proposals for paper presentations on the questions mentioned above, or on general topics related to the conference theme. We anticipate receiving reflections on the construction of race, gender and religion. We hope to receive papers on intersectionalist studies and on topics such as privileges, power and rights related to gender, race and religion. We also welcome papers on themes related to gender and interreligious dialogue or on minorities. Papers can deal with politics of representation, on gender, race and religion in the media and other related areas.

Scholars from across disciplines with a special interest on the above-mentioned issues are invited to submit an abstract of 300 words along with a short biography to Sofia Nikitaki by March 15, 2019. Authors will be notified by May 1st, 2019 on whether their proposal has been accepted. The selected papers are expected to last 20 minutes each, followed by 10 minutes of discussion.