240218 VO Introduction to Gender Specific Communication and Organization Skills (2024S)

Where is the gender here? Gender between symbolic order and interaction
"The first and highest praradox of gender is that before the institution can be dismantled, it must first be made fully visible. Judith Lorber 2013, 52.
"In all societies, gender is a central, social institution that sets certain patterns of expectations for individuals, orders the social processes of everyday life and legitimises the unequal distribution of political power. The most important aspect for me is that gender is constructed and maintained through everyday interaction and that we therefore have all possibilities for defence, reform and even rebellion". Judith Lorber 2013, 34.
This course deals with the relevance of "the category gender" in different social fields and systems (society, organisation, communication, language, interaction). Does gender structure our societies? Is gender an organizing feature of our languages or of organizations or of neoliberal transformation processes, such as New Public Management and related practices like gender mainstreaming and quality assurance? Gender or gender affiliation is seen less as a property or characteristic of actors and artefacts, but rather as a concept of analysis for the investigation of those social processes "that produce and reproduce 'gender' as a socially significant distinction. Regine Gildemeister 2004:132 In this sense, the focus of the course is on analytical competence and power of action and in particular on discussing questions of strategy and tactics of gender-specific and (queer)feminist interventions. Questions of goal, meaning and purpose, as well as desire and resistance will be addressed on both micro and macro levels: Actions of institutional (state or global) actors are as much the subject of the lecture as we will ask ourselves how we shape gender in our everyday lives as actors.
Methods: Lecture elements (input and discussion), individual and small group work, text reading, participatory design

Targets: Acquisition of competence in the analysis of organizations, communication, language with the structural category of gender. Knowledge of specific technical texts. Dealing with related aspects of social theory and feminism.
Target group: students of all subjects
Coordination: Stefan Vater, Sabine Sölkner

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