Via H-Net, we have the following Call for Papers:
“The ERA in the 21st Century: Where have we come from, and where will we go?” The conference will be held at Roger Williams University (Bristol, RI), November 15-16, 2013.
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| Alice Paul (Credit: Library of Congress) |
This conference will bring together scholars from areas of history, law,
gender studies, literature, political science, and other disciplines
that consider the cultural, political, and legal ramifications of the
failure of the Equal Rights Amendment. We invite scholars to imagine
what is next, as well as give scholars the opportunity to look back at
the ERA’s legacy in the popular and social consciousness of the 20th and
21st Centuries. While the ERA is a topic touched upon in college
courses, it has been forgotten by generations of Americans who believe
that the Fourteenth Amendment sufficiently addresses the rights of
women, and that court precedent (such as Reed v Reed in 1971) and
policies (such as Title VII, Title IX) protect their rights. Critics
consider the ERA a nuisance, when it should be a clarion call beckoning
women to a cause that was brushed aside in the age of Reagan.
The Equal Rights Amendment, originally introduced to Congress by Alice
Paul in 1923, has long served as a symbol of inequality for women in our
national heritage. The amendment is simple, and states:
Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or
abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.
The ERA continued to be introduced to every subsequent congress after
its failure in 1923, until 1972, when the amendment was passed in the
House, Senate, and was signed by President Richard Nixon. However, by
1982 the amendment was only ratified by 35 of the necessary 38 states,
and it fell into obscurity. Most people in the US today don’t know the
history of this amendment, nor do they know that women still have no
Constitutional equality in the United States.
This conference invites proposals for conference papers that examine
issues of equality in the United States of America, using the ERA as a
conduit through which to open dialogues across academic, legal, and
public spheres.
To submit your conference paper proposal, please e-mail a 250-500 word abstract and a CV or brief bio to eraconference2013@gmail.com.
Paper proposals are due by MAY 1, 2013.
For questions about the conference, please contact eraconference2013@gmail.com.
