Papers are invited from researchers, activists, politicians, community, business and civic leaders, and others interested in the history and future of women’s leadership in Australia.

These papers will be presented at a national conference to be held at the Museum of Australian Democracy on 1 -2 December 2011.

This national conference aims to bring together a diverse range of people interested in women’s history, Indigenous studies, gender studies, political history, political science, democracy, and industrial relations in Australia. The conference is being conducted as part of the ARC Linkage project Women and Leadership in a Century of Australian Democracy, and the proceedings will be published as part of the project’s outcomes.

The conference will showcase the diversity of research on women’s leadership in Australian society since 1900. It will reveal new understandings of women’s civic and political leadership, from the neighbourhood to the international level, and uncover the experiences of women who performed significant leadership roles at the community level including consumer, political and environmental movements, as well as in Indigenous, migrant and rural communities. It will also explore the extent to which Australian women have provided leadership in multilateral organisations concerned with global democracy, such as the League of Nations, the International Labor Organization and the United Nations, as well as through regional and international advocacy networks.

Abstracts

Please submit an abstract (maximum 500 words) including the title and scope of your 20 minute paper to Dr. Mary Tomsic at mtomsic@unimelb.edu.au by 5 MARCH 2011. Any other inquiries may also be directed to this email address.