Chia Longman
Biographic Data
| ID | 599332 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Chia Longman |
| GIVEN NAMES | Chia |
| FAMILY NAME | Longman |
| SIGNATURE | LONGMAN C |
| AFFILIATIONS | Ghent University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3919-0353 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 119 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 22 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1895 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Rest as resistance in the feminist classroom? Un/learning to teach after trauma
In this essay, I reflect on my teaching practice within gender studies from the position of a senior academic in Flanders, Belgium. In an auto-ethnographical way, I examine how personal crisis, broader institutional pressures, and pedagogical commitments have shaped my current approach to teaching. I begin by analysing the Covid-19 pandemic as a pivotal moment that affected both my personal life and my role as an educator. I then situate these ex…
Religion and Gender-Based Violence
This book takes religion as an entry point for a deeper exploration into why practices of gender-based violence continue and what possible actions might help to contribute to their eradication. International donors are committed to reducing and ending gender-related harm, particularly violence against women, but clear answers as to why harmful practices persist are often slow to emerge. Theological research struggles to find strong links, yet rel…
Religion and Gender-Based Violence
Transnational Solidarity with Which Muslim Women? The Case of the My Stealthy Freedom and World Hijab Day Campaigns
The hijab has been the subject of public and academic debates that have polarized scholars, politicians, and activists. Opinions on veiling range widely: while some view veiling as an oppressive practice, others regard veiling as an expression of women's agency and empowerment. Solidarity practices, such as movements against compulsory veiling or actions encouraging non-Muslim women to temporarily wear the hijab, are some of the ways in which act…
When my children were born, I started to love Belgium
Integration policies and citizenisation programmes tend to have narrow conceptions of 'good' citizenship and are often articulated alongside specific assumptions regarding different migrant groups. This study draws on the qualitative research of a unique citizenisation pilot programme in Flanders, Belgium. The programme offered the combination of language courses, citizenisation and education support, and specifically targeted low literate migran…
Healers, missionaries and entrepreneurs of the feminine
The focus of this chapter is the contemporary cultural ‘mainstreaming’ of women’s spirituality, by questioning the secular–spiritual distinction that often remains under-theorized with regards to women’s spirituality/subjective wellbeing culture today. I draw on ethnographic field research and an analysis of excerpts from life-story interviews across three neighbouring European countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany) with women who are p…
The female body as the bearer of national identity in Iran
The female body has been in the foreground of nation-building in Iran especially since the 1930s projects of modernization, when unveiling women and adaptation to Western clothing became a crucial factor of bolstering modern Iranian national identity as opposed to a religion-based national identity. After the 1979 Revolution, the Islamic dress code became compulsory and female imagery depicting modesty and piety became a source of national identi…
Kill Me but Make Me Beautiful’
In this paper, drawing on notions, such as harmful cultural practices and beauty, and based on semi-structured interviews with young female university students in Iran, perceptions and experiences on beauty practices and cosmetic surgery are studied. We show how despite existing criticism of the gendered aspects of beauty practices among Iranian women who practice them, they are still practiced on a large scale. In contemporary Iran, the female b…
You give the skin, I give the bones
Women's Circles and the Rise of the New Feminine
This paper draws on the results of ethnographic research on 'women's circles'; women-only spaces that celebrate sisterhood and the 'feminine', including the increasingly globally popular 'Red Tent'. Women's circles are non-institutionalized, often monthly gatherings, for women to come together and relax, meditate, share stories, partake in rituals, heal, nourish, and empower themselves. Based on fieldwork and in-depth interviews with founders and…
Working against many grains
In this article, we aim to contribute to feminist academic debates about multiculturalism and secularism/religion by drawing upon an analysis of an ethnic minority women’s organisation in Belgium that has been active since 1999: ella. The analysis focuses upon the way in which ella constructs notions of empowerment and emancipation by discussing structural inequalities, cultural-ethnic values and religious authority and identity. First, we look a…
From Happy to Critical Diversity
Mothering as a citizenship practice
In this article, a comparative analysis is presented of two ethnographic case studies on mothering practices in Belgium. Interviews with, and participant observation among, both undocumented migrant mothers from the South and Belgian white adoptive mothers of black Ethiopian-born children provide an insight into the way in which mothering plays an important role in the pursuit of citizenship. In our analysis, we draw on critical theorizations of …
Le “travail de soins” des mères de famille sans papiers, une forme de citoyenneté
Researching gender
The text of this paper is based on a lecture given at the symposium of the Ghent African Platform “Researching Gender in/on Africa” at Ghent University in December 2009. It addresses some general challenges faced by ‘gender studies’ as an autonomous field versus ‘gender research’ as an integrated topic within mainstream disciplines in academia. Gender studies have sometimes superseded ‘women’s studies’ and expanded to cover the terrain of study o…
Researching gender
The text of this paper is based on a lecture given at the symposium of the Ghent African Platform “Researching Gender in/on Africa” at Ghent University in December 2009. It addresses some general challenges faced by 'gender studies' as an autonomous field versus ‘gender research’ as an integrated topic within mainstream disciplines in academia. Gender studies have sometimes superseded ‘women’s studies’ and expanded to cover the terrain of study o…
Sacrificing the Career or the Family
This article addresses the question of women's agency in traditionalist religion, through a study of self-narratives by women in the Orthodox Jewish community of Antwerp, Belgium. Women who study or work outside the boundaries of their community were interviewed about their experiences in negotiating gender ideologies by moving in and between the `secular' and `religious' spaces of higher education, work and home. Various subject positions emerge…
Gendering the diversification of diversity
This article presents an analysis of the recent headscarf debate in Belgium, and explores in particular to what extent issues of gender equality and feminist arguments were central to the discussion. It is argued that compared to France, concerns about secularity and state-neutrality, national identity and equality, all find resonance in the Belgian context, but are articulated in a more ambiguous and less `principled' way. This partly explains t…
“Not Us, but You Have Changed!” Discourses of Difference and Belonging among Haredi Women
English Feminist research into the position and participation of women in contemporary fundamentalist and traditionalist identity movements shows how essentialist ideologies of sexual difference are often deployed in critique of western secular liberal feminism. In this article the author draws a comparison between discourses of belonging according to studies of ba'alot teshuvahin the USA (female “returnees” to an Orthodox Jewish lifestyle), and …
Empowering and engendering ‘religion’. A critical perspective on ethnographic holism
Empowering and engendering ‘religion’. A critical perspective on ethnographic holism
L'A. repond a la critique generalement adressee au holisme ethnographique en s'appuyant sur son travail dans le domaine du genre et de la religion. Plusieurs illustrations, empruntees a une etude sur la religiosite des femmes dans la communaute orthodoxe juive d'Anvers (Belgique), montrent la necessite qu'il y a d'avoir recours a une perspective holiste pour s'opposer aux vues generalement admises d'une religion sui generis, decontextualisee et d…
The Bows of the Ancient Assyrians and Egyptians
Women's Circles and the Rise of the New Feminine
This paper draws on the results of ethnographic research on 'women's circles'; women-only spaces that celebrate sisterhood and the 'feminine', including the increasingly globally popular 'Red Tent'. Women's circles are non-institutionalized, often monthly gatherings, for women to come together and relax, meditate, share stories, partake in rituals, heal, nourish, and empower themselves. Based on fieldwork and in-depth interviews with founders and…
Gendering the diversification of diversity
This article presents an analysis of the recent headscarf debate in Belgium, and explores in particular to what extent issues of gender equality and feminist arguments were central to the discussion. It is argued that compared to France, concerns about secularity and state-neutrality, national identity and equality, all find resonance in the Belgian context, but are articulated in a more ambiguous and less `principled' way. This partly explains t…
Mothering as a citizenship practice
In this article, a comparative analysis is presented of two ethnographic case studies on mothering practices in Belgium. Interviews with, and participant observation among, both undocumented migrant mothers from the South and Belgian white adoptive mothers of black Ethiopian-born children provide an insight into the way in which mothering plays an important role in the pursuit of citizenship. In our analysis, we draw on critical theorizations of …
Sacrificing the Career or the Family
This article addresses the question of women's agency in traditionalist religion, through a study of self-narratives by women in the Orthodox Jewish community of Antwerp, Belgium. Women who study or work outside the boundaries of their community were interviewed about their experiences in negotiating gender ideologies by moving in and between the `secular' and `religious' spaces of higher education, work and home. Various subject positions emerge…
The female body as the bearer of national identity in Iran
The female body has been in the foreground of nation-building in Iran especially since the 1930s projects of modernization, when unveiling women and adaptation to Western clothing became a crucial factor of bolstering modern Iranian national identity as opposed to a religion-based national identity. After the 1979 Revolution, the Islamic dress code became compulsory and female imagery depicting modesty and piety became a source of national identi…
Transnational Solidarity with Which Muslim Women? The Case of the My Stealthy Freedom and World Hijab Day Campaigns
The hijab has been the subject of public and academic debates that have polarized scholars, politicians, and activists. Opinions on veiling range widely: while some view veiling as an oppressive practice, others regard veiling as an expression of women's agency and empowerment. Solidarity practices, such as movements against compulsory veiling or actions encouraging non-Muslim women to temporarily wear the hijab, are some of the ways in which act…
From Happy to Critical Diversity
When my children were born, I started to love Belgium
Integration policies and citizenisation programmes tend to have narrow conceptions of 'good' citizenship and are often articulated alongside specific assumptions regarding different migrant groups. This study draws on the qualitative research of a unique citizenisation pilot programme in Flanders, Belgium. The programme offered the combination of language courses, citizenisation and education support, and specifically targeted low literate migran…
You give the skin, I give the bones
Kill Me but Make Me Beautiful’
In this paper, drawing on notions, such as harmful cultural practices and beauty, and based on semi-structured interviews with young female university students in Iran, perceptions and experiences on beauty practices and cosmetic surgery are studied. We show how despite existing criticism of the gendered aspects of beauty practices among Iranian women who practice them, they are still practiced on a large scale. In contemporary Iran, the female b…
The Bows of the Ancient Assyrians and Egyptians
Empowering and engendering ‘religion’. A critical perspective on ethnographic holism
L'A. repond a la critique generalement adressee au holisme ethnographique en s'appuyant sur son travail dans le domaine du genre et de la religion. Plusieurs illustrations, empruntees a une etude sur la religiosite des femmes dans la communaute orthodoxe juive d'Anvers (Belgique), montrent la necessite qu'il y a d'avoir recours a une perspective holiste pour s'opposer aux vues generalement admises d'une religion sui generis, decontextualisee et d…
“Not Us, but You Have Changed!” Discourses of Difference and Belonging among Haredi Women
English Feminist research into the position and participation of women in contemporary fundamentalist and traditionalist identity movements shows how essentialist ideologies of sexual difference are often deployed in critique of western secular liberal feminism. In this article the author draws a comparison between discourses of belonging according to studies of ba'alot teshuvahin the USA (female “returnees” to an Orthodox Jewish lifestyle), and …
Empowering and engendering ‘religion’. A critical perspective on ethnographic holism
Sacrificing the Career or the Family
This article addresses the question of women's agency in traditionalist religion, through a study of self-narratives by women in the Orthodox Jewish community of Antwerp, Belgium. Women who study or work outside the boundaries of their community were interviewed about their experiences in negotiating gender ideologies by moving in and between the `secular' and `religious' spaces of higher education, work and home. Various subject positions emerge…
Gendering the diversification of diversity
This article presents an analysis of the recent headscarf debate in Belgium, and explores in particular to what extent issues of gender equality and feminist arguments were central to the discussion. It is argued that compared to France, concerns about secularity and state-neutrality, national identity and equality, all find resonance in the Belgian context, but are articulated in a more ambiguous and less `principled' way. This partly explains t…
Researching gender
The text of this paper is based on a lecture given at the symposium of the Ghent African Platform “Researching Gender in/on Africa” at Ghent University in December 2009. It addresses some general challenges faced by ‘gender studies’ as an autonomous field versus ‘gender research’ as an integrated topic within mainstream disciplines in academia. Gender studies have sometimes superseded ‘women’s studies’ and expanded to cover the terrain of study o…
Researching gender
The text of this paper is based on a lecture given at the symposium of the Ghent African Platform “Researching Gender in/on Africa” at Ghent University in December 2009. It addresses some general challenges faced by 'gender studies' as an autonomous field versus ‘gender research’ as an integrated topic within mainstream disciplines in academia. Gender studies have sometimes superseded ‘women’s studies’ and expanded to cover the terrain of study o…
Le “travail de soins” des mères de famille sans papiers, une forme de citoyenneté
Mothering as a citizenship practice
In this article, a comparative analysis is presented of two ethnographic case studies on mothering practices in Belgium. Interviews with, and participant observation among, both undocumented migrant mothers from the South and Belgian white adoptive mothers of black Ethiopian-born children provide an insight into the way in which mothering plays an important role in the pursuit of citizenship. In our analysis, we draw on critical theorizations of …
From Happy to Critical Diversity
Working against many grains
In this article, we aim to contribute to feminist academic debates about multiculturalism and secularism/religion by drawing upon an analysis of an ethnic minority women’s organisation in Belgium that has been active since 1999: ella. The analysis focuses upon the way in which ella constructs notions of empowerment and emancipation by discussing structural inequalities, cultural-ethnic values and religious authority and identity. First, we look a…
Kill Me but Make Me Beautiful’
In this paper, drawing on notions, such as harmful cultural practices and beauty, and based on semi-structured interviews with young female university students in Iran, perceptions and experiences on beauty practices and cosmetic surgery are studied. We show how despite existing criticism of the gendered aspects of beauty practices among Iranian women who practice them, they are still practiced on a large scale. In contemporary Iran, the female b…
You give the skin, I give the bones
Women's Circles and the Rise of the New Feminine
This paper draws on the results of ethnographic research on 'women's circles'; women-only spaces that celebrate sisterhood and the 'feminine', including the increasingly globally popular 'Red Tent'. Women's circles are non-institutionalized, often monthly gatherings, for women to come together and relax, meditate, share stories, partake in rituals, heal, nourish, and empower themselves. Based on fieldwork and in-depth interviews with founders and…
The female body as the bearer of national identity in Iran
The female body has been in the foreground of nation-building in Iran especially since the 1930s projects of modernization, when unveiling women and adaptation to Western clothing became a crucial factor of bolstering modern Iranian national identity as opposed to a religion-based national identity. After the 1979 Revolution, the Islamic dress code became compulsory and female imagery depicting modesty and piety became a source of national identi…
Healers, missionaries and entrepreneurs of the feminine
The focus of this chapter is the contemporary cultural ‘mainstreaming’ of women’s spirituality, by questioning the secular–spiritual distinction that often remains under-theorized with regards to women’s spirituality/subjective wellbeing culture today. I draw on ethnographic field research and an analysis of excerpts from life-story interviews across three neighbouring European countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany) with women who are p…
Transnational Solidarity with Which Muslim Women? The Case of the My Stealthy Freedom and World Hijab Day Campaigns
The hijab has been the subject of public and academic debates that have polarized scholars, politicians, and activists. Opinions on veiling range widely: while some view veiling as an oppressive practice, others regard veiling as an expression of women's agency and empowerment. Solidarity practices, such as movements against compulsory veiling or actions encouraging non-Muslim women to temporarily wear the hijab, are some of the ways in which act…
When my children were born, I started to love Belgium
Integration policies and citizenisation programmes tend to have narrow conceptions of 'good' citizenship and are often articulated alongside specific assumptions regarding different migrant groups. This study draws on the qualitative research of a unique citizenisation pilot programme in Flanders, Belgium. The programme offered the combination of language courses, citizenisation and education support, and specifically targeted low literate migran…
Religion and Gender-Based Violence
This book takes religion as an entry point for a deeper exploration into why practices of gender-based violence continue and what possible actions might help to contribute to their eradication. International donors are committed to reducing and ending gender-related harm, particularly violence against women, but clear answers as to why harmful practices persist are often slow to emerge. Theological research struggles to find strong links, yet rel…
Religion and Gender-Based Violence
Rest as resistance in the feminist classroom? Un/learning to teach after trauma
In this essay, I reflect on my teaching practice within gender studies from the position of a senior academic in Flanders, Belgium. In an auto-ethnographical way, I examine how personal crisis, broader institutional pressures, and pedagogical commitments have shaped my current approach to teaching. I begin by analysing the Covid-19 pandemic as a pivotal moment that affected both my personal life and my role as an educator. I then situate these ex…
Sociology (17 works) · Political science (13 works) · Gender Studies (12 works) · Law (8 works) · Politics (8 works) · Gender Studies (7 works) · Migration, Refugees, and Integration (7 works) · Anthropology (6 works) · Social science (6 works) · Law (5 works)