SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS
CHALLENGING GENDER FRONTIERS: SOCIETAL, LEGAL, MEDICAL, AND ARTISTIC DISCOURSES AND PRACTICES OF EMERGING GENDER IDENTITIES
Belgrade, 5th–7th September 2025
Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade
Čika Ljubina Street, No. 18-20, Belgrade, Serbia
The Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Belgrade is pleased to announce a Call for Papers for the International Scientific Conference, Challenging Gender Frontiers: Societal, Legal, Medical, and Artistic Discourses and Practices of Emerging Gender Identities.
Contemporary understandings of gender form a vast and expanding field. Gender transformations, their convergences and polarizations, are inseparable from our personal and communal experiences. These experiences reshape social, cultural, institutional, and personal discourses and practices, while urging legal and medical systems to adapt to new societal landscapes and gender regimes.
The conference aims to open the floor for interdisciplinary exchange among scholars, raise political awareness among scientists and activists, and recognize artistic contributions to the evolving structure of the gender order, especially in terms of the recognition and inclusion of emerging gender identities. Special attention is given to the experiences of intersex persons, whose position within the existing gender order is particularly vulnerable.
Intersex individuals face social erasure and discrimination at all life stages, from birth to old age. Those born with noticeable intersex characteristics are often subjected to non-consensual medical treatments during infancy, early childhood, or adolescence in many medical systems. Despite (a) the seriousness of the often-permanent medical, psychological, and social consequences of these treatments and (b) existing international legal documents (such as European Parliament Resolutions, Council of Europe Resolutions, United Nations recommendations, etc.) advocating for the cessation of medical interventions on minors, such harmful, non-consensual, and unnecessary practices persist.
In contemporary scientific discourse, these practices raise many questions about gender, sex, and identity. The goal of this conference is to reexamine existing interpretative and disciplinary frontiers in the understanding of gender, with particular focus on intersex identities; to raise awareness of the experiences of intersex people; and to create an innovative international platform for networking and future scholarly and artistic activities.
Authors are invited to submit papers on any topic within the scope of the conference. Submissions are welcome from academics, researchers, and practitioners at any stage of their careers, including PhD students.
The organization of this conference is supported by the Council of Europe Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC) Unit and the action Combating Discrimination and Promoting Diversity in Serbia, part of the joint program of the European Union and the Council of Europe, Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye.
Conference Language: English. Presentations will be organized into panels, and the conference program will be published no later than August 4th, 2025.
Conference Topics:
Discussions at the conference will focus on the following topics:
- The construction of gender and intersex identities from historical, sociological, legal, and anthropological perspectives
- Awareness-raising, social inclusion, and support services
- Educational challenges: bullying and erasure in schools (including lack of representation in school curricula)
- The importance of bodily autonomy and human rights
- Identity and self-determination
- Stigmatization, discrimination, and resilience
- Healthcare policy and practice reforms
- (Sub)cultures, arts, and representations
- Everyday life of intersex persons
- Societal recognition and inclusion of intersex persons
- The historical construction of intersex and its medicalization
- Activist culture, resistance, and societal change
- Engaging art as a tool for gender transformation
Conference Registration
Interested authors are invited to submit an abstract (up to 250 words in length) and a brief academic CV no later than April 1st 2025 at the following e-mail address: intersexconf@f.bg.ac.rs
We also plan to publish the Conference Proceedings. All papers will be peer reviewed by an International Academic Committee of the Conference and selected papers will be published in the Conference Proceedings.
Registration fee
No participation fee applies.
Conference participants are expected to cover their expenses in relation to travel and accommodation. The organizer will provide a list of hotels with discounted rates. Lunch and coffee/tea on both days will be provided by the organizers.
Important dates:
April 1st 2025 – Abstract submission.
You can submit your abstracts (max 250 words) on the following email: intersexconf@f.bg.ac.rs
Abstracts should include the name of the author, the institutional affiliation of the author, the title, keywords (maximum five).
May 16th 2025 – Announcement of Selected Abstracts.
August 11th 2025 – Final paper submission for the Conference Proceedings.
Contact & Directions
Venue: Faculty of Philosophy University of Belgrade, Čika Ljubina Street, No. 18-20, Belgrade, Serbia, https://www.f.bg.ac.rs/en2
We are looking forward to seeing you soon at the Faculty of Philosophy University of Belgrade.
Kind regards
The Conference Organizing Committee
