Gendering War Talks:
Gendered Body Politics of Wars, Conflicts, and the Genocide 1
NOG Research Day 2026
Hosted by the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities,
VU Amsterdam, 10 December 2026
Keynote speaker:
Professor Dr. Afaf Jabiri
University of East London
VU Amsterdam hosts the annual NOG Research Day on December 10, 2026.
The US Secretary of War in July 2026 announced the new hormone screening program for the US war fighters to ensure they are at the ‘right testosterone level’. He described the US war machine as ‘the High-T Department of War’, which the “right” testosterone level would keep the military personnel ‘on the leading edge of lethality’. It seems, for the Secretary of War, there is a direct link between the testosterone that supposedly supplies masculinity and the ability to act lethally and kill. Meanwhile, in August 2026, the boat carrying the Dutch Armed Forces during Amsterdam Pride 2026 displayed the sign ‘Cannot spell military without T ’ at its bow, which could either indicate solidarity with trans people or maybe echo the T that the US Secretary of War deemed necessary for combat and lethality. The US Secretary of War explicitly celebrated biopolitics for warring via testosterone, and the Dutch Armed Forces sailing in the Amsterdam Pride 2026 pinkwashed the increasing Dutch militarization campaign that searches for recruits in train stations, education programs, and trade shows targeting low-income families.
From the warring heart of the US Department of War to the canals of Amsterdam, war apparatuses and warmongers are gendering their war talks with and without gender binaries. The gendered dimensions of war, and by extension, senseless violence exceed the structural, political, and macro aspects of its infrastructure and the military-industrial complex. The gendered dimensions of war also manifest at a granular, everyday, and individual level, such as male IDF soldiers posting vulgar selfies wearing lingerie looted from Palestinian houses, or female IDF soldiers posing with laughter beside the tortured elderly Palestinian hostages, or US-based Persian female activists supporting Trump and the US war on Iran in the name of celebrating life, feminism, and liberation of Iranian women.
Connecting both macro, structural, micro, and everyday, the 2026 NOG Research Day, organized at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, focuses on the gendered dimensions of war and warring beyond male, female, masculine, and feminine dualities by asking: How are wars, war machines, war talks, and, by extension, senseless violence gendered and gendering? Why are gendered worldviews historically repeatable tropes that turn biopolitics into the psychic mechanism of warring, victory, and re-staging defeat as future victory? What are ways that the gendered body and senseless violence are interlinked within feminism as a technique of warring, propaganda, and consensus building over wars? These topical questions animate the NOG Research Day, which invites researchers in gender and sexuality studies to share exciting insights from their current research and showcases the range of contemporary scholarship in these fields. NOG Research Day aims to bring together a community of academics and curious-minded researchers, foster a collective force, and build alliances.
The 2026 NOG Research Day invites abstract submissions for paper presentations and panels addressing gender, war, militarization, and senseless violence within the scope of the proposed questions, but we also welcome PhD presentations and panels not directly or indirectly connected to the event’s topic. The abstracts are not limited to any region or historical period, but organizers prioritize abstracts focusing on the genocide in Palestine. We also welcome abstracts that expand our questions and imaginatively scale them up. Those interested should submit a 300-word abstract (excluding references) by emailing the conference organizers by 15th October 2026.
The Abstract Deadline: 15th October 2026
Please email abstracts to both Dr Annemie Halsema (j.m.halsema@vu.nl) and Dr. multi. Younes Saramifar (y.saramifar@vu.nl) by putting Abstract Submission for 2026 NOG Research Day in the subject line. Please indicate whether you prefer a paper or poster presentation.
Contact & Questions: j.m.halsema@vu.nl & y.saramifar@vu.nl
Format of the NOG Research Day
The heart of the day is the presentations by PhD researchers, who share their research through panel and poster sessions and receive feedback from fellow PhDs and more experienced researchers. PhD candidates are invited to present their work in progress. These presentations may be on any topic related to gender and sexuality studies regardless of the CFP, but we encourage presentations and panels that are not directly or indirectly connected to the topic of the event. PhD researchers are encouraged to share one or two key findings or insights from their research, focusing especially on issues/questions for which they would like feedback. Paper presentations are limited to 15 minutes, and organizers group papers into panels of 2 to 3 presentations, with 15 minutes for Q&A. Depending on the number of participants, there may be parallel panels.
1. Adding the article ‘the’ is our acknowledgment of Palestinian struggles and the genocide of Palestinians. However, the CFP is not limited to Palestine or any geographical region.
