The University of Groningen Centre for Religion, Conflict and the Public Domain will celebrate it’s 5^th anniversary this September! To celebrate the Centre will host a jubilee conference from the 13^th until the 15^th of September 2017.

Reimagining difference. Being, thinking and practicing beyond essentialism’ Conference

The conference includes panels that explore ‘otherness’/’being different’ across different domains of public life, including conflict and peacebuilding, law and human rights, gender and sexuality, migration and political belonging, global institutions and development. ‘Being different’ or ‘difference’ is a fact of existence, that is neither good nor bad in or by itself, yet it is also the site where meaning emerges. Being different or difference can arguably be natural or cultivated, thus some people may belong to a particular category or identity by nature, while others choose to be different or not to conform to established and dominant creeds, tenets and conventions at various levels such as gender/class/race/religious stereotypes. However, difference can also be something that is imposed on others, through the application of labels and stigmatization resulting in the treatment of those who do not identify or are not identified with the dominant and powerful, as ‘othered’, excluded, marginalised, sanctioned and persecuted because they are perceived to violate and/or fall outside accepted boundaries of identity and belonging. Thus, difference in thought and practice involves questions of power and agency.

The conference will encompass both interdisciplinary academic reflection and societal engagement, bringing together scholars, policymakers, journalists and practitioners to engage and think together about how to be, think and practice difference across education, media, government and civil society.