International Gender and Language Association Conference (IGALA 14)

Founded in 1999, IGALA is the primary international scholarly organisation committed to the promotion and support of research on language, gender, and sexuality. The 2027 IGALA conference (IGALA14) will be held at York St John University in the city of York, United Kingdom from Wednesday 21 – Friday 23 July 2027.

The theme of the conference is ‘Researching Language, Gender and Sexuality in Times of Political Challenge’.

We are currently living in times of great political challenge and uncertainty. Whilst many areas of the world have witnessed increasingly progressive social attitudes towards gender and sexuality diversity and justice, as well as greater equality legislation, there has simultaneously been escalating resistance to these changes with many global contexts now characterised by deepening ideological divides around gender and sexuality. We have, for example, seen a conflation of anti-gender, anti-LGBTQ+ and nationalist rhetoric and ideologies, with and movements who espouse such position gaining increasing power and momentum in many global contexts. These kinds of political and ideological conflicts and tensions may demand a re-thinking of how the field of language, gender and sexuality research can navigate these complex and often contradictory political contexts.

The conference therefore aims to explore questions such as:

• What are the challenges in undertaking language, gender and sexuality research in hostile academic and political contexts?
• As a global community of language, gender and sexuality scholars, how can we respond to and resist such challenges?
• How does language, gender and sexuality research respond to political divisiveness around the concept of ‘gender’ itself?
• What role does language play in political contestations over gender- and sexuality-based rights, authenticity and legitimacy?

We also encourage contributions which consider how language, gender and sexuality research may address intersecting global political challenges such as the climate emergency, forced migration and widespread reconfigurations of global power.