Past Event

“Beyond the Binary: Rethinking Silence, Voice and Power in a Gendered and Insecure World”

by Jane Parpart

Abstract
This collection explores the power of silence in a world where voice is too often privileged as the ultimate
sign of power. Inspired by the complex and growing literature on silence, from a number of disciplines,
Beyond the Binary challenges the assumption that silence is always a sign/symptom of disempowerment,
and explores the many ways that silence can be empowering in a complex neo-liberal world. The book
aims to contribute to on-going debates about silence, voice, gender and agency in insecure sites, with
chapters situated in many parts of the world. Parpart will present the larger debate on silence, gender and
agency in insecure sites, and draw on Susan Thomson’s chapter on the Rwandan case to discuss the
possibilities this perspective brings to reconsidering the role of silence, gender and agency in insecure
sites in Africa and elsewhere.

Biography
Jane L Parpart is Professor Emeritus and former Lester Pearson Chair in International Development at
Dalhousie University. She is currently Visiting Professor in the Department of Conflict Resolution,
Human Security and Global Governance. She has been visiting professor at Aalborg University,
Denmark; Mbarara University of Science and Technology in Mbarara, Uganda; Stellenbosch University,
South Africa; and the Gender Institute at the London School of Economics in London, UK. She is also
adjunct professor at the School of International Development and Global Studies at the University of
Ottawa and Carleton University, Sociology and Anthropology, IPE and African Studies. Professor
Parpart’s research areas are: gender and development, gender mainstreaming, masculinities, conflict
and insecurity, as well as silence, voice and power in a gendered and insecure world.

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