Gender Institute Working Group: Coercive Control 

In the wake of intense debates about the criminalisation of coercive control, academics have sought to determine what counts as coercive control and coercive behaviour in intimate partnerships, familial relations, and friendships. Behaviours that were once deemed acceptable are increasingly labelled as dangerous and abusive.  This is in tension with the normalisation of abusive behaviour facilitated by technological advancements and social media, as well as societal and historical attitudes towards power dynamics.

But what is coercion? What do we mean by control? How do these concepts link with ideas of power, domination, injustice, and discrimination? How have these concepts changed over time? Can the concept successfully be translated across cultures or in different languages? Is there a benefit to thinking about modern terminology in relation to historical behaviours? Thinking beyond a purely legal approach, how is coercive control represented and understood in contemporary society, literature and culture? 

‘Understanding ‘Coercive Control’’ is a symposium aimed at bringing together postgraduate students and early career researchers working on coercive control and associated concepts from a range of disciplinary backgrounds. Supported by the Coercive Control working group (funded by the ANU Gender Institute), we call for HDR students and ECRs to submit paper proposals on this theme to present at a one-day symposium. We welcome contributions from scholars in any discipline across ANU. 

The symposium will be held on Friday the 21^st of July 2023 in the RSSS Auditorium, with morning tea and lunch provided. More details about the event will be made available on our events page closer to the date.

Call for Papers

If you are interested in presenting, please send your abstracts (200 words) to Zoe.Smith1@anu.edu.au by May 27^th COB. Papers, presentations or demonstrations can either be 20 minutes long with then 10 minutes for questions or 30 minutes long with 15 minutes for questions – please indicate in your submission which paper length suits your discipline best. If you have any questions, please direct them to Zoe at the above email address.