Call for Papers: Celebrating 100 years of Women’s Suffrage in Germany and Austria. (German Studies Association Conference; Sept. 27-30; Pittsburgh, PA. [WiG-sponsored panel]). Abstracts due 01/10/18 (Vorträge auf Deutsch oder Englisch willkommen)

2018 marks 100 years of women's suffrage in Germany and Austria, early European adopters behind only the Scandinavian countries, and 47 years post-suffrage in Switzerland, a late adopter trailed only by Lichtenstein.

What does universal suffrage mean now, in a Germany in which the Chancellor is a woman and the Parliament includes a party that claims to be an “Alternative für Deutschland”; in a Europe that is regionalizing and bunkering; in a world in which governments are in deficit while the richest citizens and multinationals avoid taxation and finance their chosen interests?

What did the vote mean then, during the heat of the struggles; when activists risked lives and livelihoods for more voice in public decision-making and self-determination; when societies were organized around working-class women's double burdens and bourgeois women's matrimonial hearths?

This panel invites contributions on women's suffrage in the European German-speaking context from historical, cultural, and/or theoretical perspectives that may define suffrage broadly or narrowly. We welcome treatment of a variety of material including representations in the arts, social movements, and political philosophy. Ideally, these examinations will include some consideration of the relevance of women's voting rights today.

Please submit an abstract of 350-600 words (as per GSA guidelines) to both Sonja Klocke sklocke@wisc.edu and Jennifer Ruth Hosek jhosek@queensu.ca by January 10, 2018. The panel will be submitted to the GSA by February 15 and accepted panelists must pay GSA dues by that time. The GSA conference is held in English and German. Participants are responsible for funding their participation.