Welcome to a K3 seminar with Maria Brock, Post-Doctoral Researcher in Media and Communication Studies, K3.
At the seminar, Maria will present the research project she will work on while at K3. The title of the talk is: The Child as Cipher for a Politics of “Traditional Values” in the Anti-Gender movement. A Comparative Study of Russia and Germany.
The seminar will take place at 10.15-12.00 on November 17. It will be possible to take part via Zoom (https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/65428305056), but we hope to also make it possible to attend the seminar in Niagara. More info on this next week.
Below you will find an abstract for the talk and a short biography of Maria:
Abstract
The recent rise of illiberal, conservative and right-wing populist movements poses an acute threat to democracy and equality in Europe. One pervasive but underresearched strand of these movements advocates ‘traditional family values’, in particular conservative sexual and gender politics, in the name of protecting children. l plan to fill this research gap through interdisciplinary research examining the discursive construction of the child as the ultimate site of vulnerability and risk, and hence in need of protection and policy intervention. The irrational or affective component of such discourses calls for an approach capable of accounting for their emotive force or ‘grip’. This proposal aims to develop such an approach, combining insights and methodology from political discourse theory, media studies and psychosocial studies. The research is characterised by a significant comparative dimension, analysing discourses by conservative, ‘pro-traditional family values’ actors, from politicians to activists, in Germany and Russia.
Bio
With a Phd in Psychosocial Studies from Birkbeck (University of London), and a background in Russian Studies, much of my research is preoccupied with the discursive and psychosocial dynamics of transitional and post-transitional societies, often focusing on the former Eastern Bloc. Another, connected strand of my work examines misogynist, anti-feminist and anti-LGBTQ violence. Previous and upcoming publications have for example looked at the material and psychic remains of socialism, Camp and post-Soviet pop, Pussy Riot and negative societal mobilisation, the vicissitudes of queer (in)visibility in Russia, and networked misogyny and right-wing extremism (with our own Tina Askanius!). In my presentation I will give an overview of my Horizon 2020 project, with snapshots of where I am in my research right now.