The conference g19 Rethinking Knowledge Regimes - Solidarities and Contestations is now closed. It was held in Folkets Hus in Gothenburg and on the last day of the conference, final remarks from five participants summarized the conference in Kongressalen.
They talked of the importance of the conference as a meeting place, and mentioned the amazing variety in subjects and issues discussed within the field of gender research. They spoke of "anti-gender" being a hot topic at this g-conference, but also of hopefulness.
They talked of the need for many kinds of different knowledge, of the importance of being open to new knowledge, and daring to share the vulnerability of not knowing.
Questions around accessibilty were brought up as a call to continously improve the conference as a meeting place. Who is present and visible in different spaces? Can there be arranged silent spaces for conversation or for a moment's rest? Can there be many ways of presenting? How do the conference as format affect the possibility of rethinking knowledge regimes?
The importance of acknowledging rather than avoiding discomfort, threats or the violence of a situation, was also raised. Emotions, embodiment, belonging and othering, anti-gender, borders and gaps, and “the pains and violence of translation”, as Lisa Karlsson Blom put it, were some of the many topics spoken of, in the closing comments of the g19 conference 2019.
Final remarks were given by Lisa Blom Karlsson, Linköping University, Nana Osei-Kofi, Oregon State University, Jonelle Twum, Lund University, Azmara Nigusse, the Hallwyl Museum and part of the network of gender and cultural heritage, who arranged the cultural heritage track of the conference, and Mathias Ericson, University of Gothenburg, and until Tuesday a member of the board of SGF, Sveriges genusforskarförbund.
In the Newsletter sent out to conference participants, Lisa Karlsson Blom were unfortunately misquoted. The right quote is “the pains and violence of translation”.
Text by Inga-Bodil Ekselius