Resisting and Challenging Religious Fundamentalisms: Call for Proposals of Case Studies

May 08, 2008 - As part of it's initiative on "Resisting and Challenging Religious Fundamentalisms" AWID (the Association for Women's Rights in Development) is gathering insights into the contemporary workings of religious fundamentalist movements and previously undocumented strategies employed by women's rights activists to successfully challenge them. We intend to share the selected case studies with AWID members and other women's rights activists and advocates around the world.

(Picture: poster to promote Dutch helpline for Islamic LGBT people, 2006)
Are you confronting religious fundamentalisms or regressive political-religious movements in your daily life and work? Are you witnessing important links between different types of fundamentalisms (economic, national, social, cultural and religious) and seeing similarities in how these work across religions and regions? Have you or your organization been involved in actions to resist and challenge religious fundamentalisms that you would like to share more widely with women's rights advocates from around the world?

As women's movements and organizations from different regions, we can learn from each other and create new ways to cooperate and strengthen our collective efforts. We need to share strategic information on how regressive politico-religious groups and movements work and grow and affect women's rights, and how we can launch successful strategies to resist, challenge and present viable alternatives in return.

This is a call to acknowledge the diversity and wealth of information within women's organizations and movements and to share our experience and knowledge of the actions and strategies at our disposal. We are seeking proposals for case studies from a variety of contexts and regions of the world. Selected proposals will receive an honorarium of $3000 USD upon completion of the full case study in order to assist in and offset costs of documentation (expected length of the full case study will be 15 to 20 pages long). Selected contributions will also be highlighted at the 11th International AWID Forum on "The Power of Movements" which will be held on 14th-17th November, 2008, in Cape Town, South Africa. The authors of the selected case studies will be invited to present their experiences in a session at the AWID Forum and the case studies will also subsequently be published by AWID.

Acknowledging that safety may be a concern for some submitters, please note that elements of the final case studies may be made confidential and anonymous for dissemination (e.g., individual or organization names, localities, etc.). Whether or not anonymity is required, and to what degree it is necessary, will be up to the submitter to determine.

Proposal submissions

Proposal submissions may be made in English, Spanish, French or Arabic. They must be no longer than 1000 words (approximately two and a half pages).
All submissions must contain the information outlined in this section.

• Contact person:
• Country:
• Organization name (if any):
• Position in the organization (if relevant):
• Contact information (e-mail and telephone):

Please briefly address all of the following points within 1000 words:

1. What is your understanding of "religious fundamentalisms"?
2. Briefly describe the local context in which you/your organization work, outline the issue/problem that was being presented by religious fundamentalisms in that context, and summarize how it is/was affecting women's human rights.
3. Briefly describe the religious fundamentalists involved, including the name of individual party/organization/group, their local presence and strength, and any international links.
4. Briefly describe the strategy that you or your organization employed (or is currently employing) to resist or challenge religious fundamentalisms. Why did you act? What was the provocation (if any)? How was your resistance carried out? What allies did you have? What other social movements or actors are challenging religious fundamentalisms in your context? What were the intended or unintended consequences of your strategy?
5. Include in your conclusion responses to the following: What links (if any) do you see between the different types of fundamentalisms and the way they work across regions and religions? What are the root causes, motivators and appeal, as you see them, of religious fundamentalisms in your context? What can women's rights activists and women's movements learn from your strategy?

Submission Contact Information and Deadline

Proposals for case studies should be submitted to CF@awid.org by 13th June, 2008 at the latest. Any inquiries can also be directed to this address.
For more information on AWID's "Resisting and Challenging Religious Fundamentalisms" initiative, please visit http://www.awid.org/go.php?pg=challenge_fundamentalisms.