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Mariska Jung

Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Political Sciences, Faculty Member

School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Politics and Development Studies, Graduate Student

University of Amsterdam, Social and Political Sciences, Undergraduate

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PhD candidate in Political Science at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (BE).
Affiliated to RHEA, university's Centre of Research on Gender Diversity and Intersectionality (BE): https://rhea.research.vub.be/nl/mariska-jung-1
Affiliated researcher with the Race-Religion Constellation Project (NL): https://racereligionresearch.org/research-project/researchers/mariska-jung
In 2022 visiting Fulbright researcher in the Department of Gender and Women's Studies at UC Berkeley (USA).

Academic fields of interest: political theory, political science, animal politics, animality, critical philosophy of race, critical race theory, intersectionality, feminism, ecofeminism, gender studies, queer migration, queer theory, queer of color critique, religion, secularism, postcolonial and decolonial theory.

Education: University of Amsterdam (NL) and SOAS University of London (UK).

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San Francisco State University

A. Sophie Lauwers

KU Leuven

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Trinity University, Texas

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University of Amsterdam

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University of Groningen

Deakin University

Iselin Frydenlund

Norwegian School of Theology

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Papers by Mariska Jung

Religion, Animals, and Racialization: Articulating Islamophobia through Animal Ethics in The Netherlands

Religions

In 2008, the Dutch Party for the Animals submitted a proposal to ban religious slaughter without ... more In 2008, the Dutch Party for the Animals submitted a proposal to ban religious slaughter without prior stunning. The proposal was widely supported in the Lower House but finally rejected in the Upper House in 2012, mainly on the grounds of religious freedom. Academia was keen to study the polemic, but no research has attempted to study the controversy through a lens of racialization. This is remarkable, given the well-documented increase in Islamophobia and the political use of racism since (at least) the turn of the millennium in The Netherlands (and the geopolitical “West” at large). In this article, I demonstrate that a racializing dynamic is actually part and parcel of the Dutch controversy. I apply a reflexive thematic analysis to study archival material from the Dutch Parliamentarian debate and show that the dispute foremost references Islamic slaughter. Appeals to civilization, accusations of barbarism, dystopian warnings against Islamization, and invocations of Judeo-Christi...

Religion, Animals, and Racialization: Articulating Islamophobia through Animal Ethics in The Netherlands

Religions, 2022

In 2008, the Dutch Party for the Animals submitted a proposal to ban religious slaughter without ... more In 2008, the Dutch Party for the Animals submitted a proposal to ban religious slaughter without prior stunning. The proposal was widely supported in the Lower House but finally rejected in the Upper House in 2012, mainly on the grounds of religious freedom. Academia was keen to study the polemic, but no research has attempted to study the controversy through a lens of racialization. This is remarkable, given the well-documented increase in Islamophobia and the political use of racism since (at least) the turn of the millennium in The Netherlands (and the geopolitical “West” at large). In this article, I demonstrate that a racializing dynamic is actually part and parcel of the Dutch controversy. I apply a reflexive thematic analysis to study archival material from the Dutch Parliamentarian debate and show that the dispute foremost references Islamic slaughter. Appeals to civilization, accusations of barbarism, dystopian warnings against Islamization, and invocations of Judeo-Christianity are discursive elements that feature in the debate and have racializing ramifications for Muslims. By unmasking this racializing dynamic, I offer a means to empirically explore the ways in which taxonomies of religion and race intersect with and through the politicization of animal ethics. When considering religious slaughter it is essential, I ultimately maintain, to observe the violence caused by socially constructed racial and species differences. Only if we hold both in serious regard do we have a chance to begin to imagine ourselves in relation to others differently and move towards more just futures—for humans and non-humans alike.

Connecting feminist, antiracist, and animal politics: A bridge too far?

Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies, 2021

In the past decade, animal and antiracist politics are on the rise in the Neth¬erlands and Belgiu... more In the past decade, animal and antiracist politics are on the rise in the Neth¬erlands and Belgium. Both integrate feminism into their political practice, albeit in divergent ways. Nevertheless, their core concerns are generally viewed as antithetical on a conceptual, normative, and politically practical level. This paper explores the extent to which feminist, antiracist, and animal concerns are (in)commensurable. Coupling the ecofeminist analysis of dualism developed by Val Plumwood with recent developments in black studies advanced by Claire Jean Kim and Zakiyyah Iman Jackson, processes of animalisation and dehumanisation are scrutinised. It is demonstrated that the onto-epistemological categories of gender, race, and animality connect on the level of being subjected to the logic of domination exemplary of Western thought (1), and on the level of being the abject yet constitutive Others of the normative category of ‘the human’ (2). Subsequently, to build bridges between feminist, antiracist, and animal advocacy movements, it is argued that animal advocates need to critically question the assumption of ‘human privilege’ and stop using slavery analogies, while feminists and antiracists should aspire to divest from human supremacy. A new approach to collective liberation in the Low Countries is needed, one that acknowledges the interconnectedness of gender, race, and animality alike.

The impact of Islamophobia on Muslim women in the Netherlands

This project aims to document the disproportionate effect of Islamophobia on women and develop al... more This project aims to document the disproportionate effect of Islamophobia on women and develop alliances between the anti-racism and feminist movements in order to better address the intersectional discrimination affecting Muslim women.

The project is taking place in 8 countries, chosen to get a representative picture of the situation of Muslim women in the European Union: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden and United Kingdom.

The report on the Netherlands is a detailed study to the impact of Islamophobia on Muslim women in the context of the labour market and verbal and physical violence.

Logics of Citizenship and Violence of Rights: The Queer Migrant Body and the Asylum System

Border and migration studies document how states produce migrant subjectivities via bio-political... more Border and migration studies document how states produce migrant subjectivities via bio-political practices, which are plotted against the figure of the ‘undeserving’ migrant. However, there is little research on the politics of the recent but growing tendency in Western states to include the category of ‘LGBT’ in their asylum policies. Furthermore, there has been little attention to the role of activists in border regimes. Hence academia fails to fully grasp the violence of rightsbased migration politics and to understand the dispersed sexual politics of borders.

This article examines the relationship between LGBT emancipation, border enforcement and migration activism in the United Kingdom. It appears that asylum policies construct hierarchies of migrants, currently with the LGBT asylum seeker towards the top of the pecking order. Activists contest, but simultaneously perform, the sexual and territorial border. The save-ability of the queer migrant is constructed at the same time that immigration violence is conducted, through indefinite detention and the Detained Fast Track system. Law turns out to be a violent governmental technology when gender and sexuality rights are used to further close the border.

Call for Papers by Mariska Jung

CfP: A second wave of antiracism in Europe?

by Mariska Jung and Jean Beaman

We are pleased to invite paper proposals for the two-day workshop “Antiracism in Europe”, that wi... more

Call for Papers: Challenging Anthropocentrism in Political Science: Gender, Race, Intersectionality, and the More-Than-Human (Politicologenetmaal 2021)

Political science is traditionally anthropocentric, focusing on human-related politics. Yet the c... more Political science is traditionally anthropocentric, focusing on human-related politics. Yet the challenges of our times include more-than-human topics, e.g. climate change or animal ethics. This workshop seeks to broaden the field’s scope and stimulate innovation, by combining a focus on more-than-human politics with critical social theories (e.g. feminism, CRT, intersectionality). We welcome empirical studies and theoretical or philosophical essays. Please send us an abstract of no more than 500 words and a short bio of max. 100 words and submit it through the online form on the website of Politicologenetmaal before March 31 2021 via https://politicologenetmaal.eu/workshop-list/#workshop2.

Call for Papers: Fundamental Challenges to European Politics: Gender, Race, Intersectionality, and the More-Than-Human, July #ECPG21 (cancelled due to COVID-19)

At the dawn of the Anthropocene, the category of the human (the "anthropos" of the new era) needs... more At the dawn of the Anthropocene, the category of the human (the "anthropos" of the new era) needs to be critically examined. This need goes against the dominant tendencies in political theory and science that, for the better part of their history, have been founded on the exclusive right of humans to convene a polis. Despite the important enlargement of the category 'human', many feminist, queer and intersectional studies of European politics have been reluctant to also consider the more-thanhuman milieu. For example, there are increasing studies concerned with women's political representation, political debates on Islamic veiling or with the gender and sexual politics of right-wing parties and social movements. These are very important in their own right, in both an academic and political sense. They also fall short of engaging with the fact that our realities are comprised of morethan-human entities which translate into concrete non-human political urgencies, such as climate change, animal practices, animal ethics, tensions between wildlife and urbanity, and land issues.

Call for Interventions: 2nd Conference in Critical Migration and Borders Studies 'Radical interventions: re-imagining border and migration struggles within academia and activism', Sept 2015, Queen Mary University of London

by Mariska Jung and Theory LAB

We invite proposals for the next meeting of Moblab -a network of critical researchers and activis... more We invite proposals for the next meeting of Moblab -a network of critical researchers and activists working in border, migration and citizenship studies -which will take place on 1-2 September in London. What distinguishes Moblab from other networks in border, migration and citizenship studies is the explicit interest of its members in antiracist, intersectional and no border politics and the shared desire to blur the boundaries between political activism, academic knowledge production and artistic intervention. The workshop will provide a space to develop new possibilities of critique and intervention in today's border struggles and to consolidate and further develop the Moblabnetwork. This dual objective is reflected in the structure of the meeting: On the first day we will exchange knowledge and ideas on three themes in parallel day-long workshops. Rather than preparing paper-based individual presentations, we hope to engage in collaborative thought processes and reflections, and to identify common themes, questions, and concerns that unite our various works. The second day is reserved for developing the organisational structure of Moblab in order to make it a hub of counter-knowledge and a laboratory of antiracist, intersectional and no border politics.

Media Outreach by Mariska Jung

Transitioning from online to in-person academic conferences: which pandemic-induced experiences should we keep?

EDGE Blog, 2021

The pandemic has cost us a lot, but it has also given us experiences we would otherwise not have.... more The pandemic has cost us a lot, but it has also given us experiences we would otherwise not have. It has changed the format of academic conferences for the better: moving from on-site to online. With the hope of keeping what worked well during the pandemic, I reflect on my recent conference experiences.

Beeldenstorm is stem van de onderdrukten: Jan Pieterszoon Coen Must Fall

Joop.nl, 2020

Opinie: Een ‘beeldenstorm’ is geen symboolpolitiek.

Homorechten en racisme gaan bij de Dutch Gayservatives hand in hand

Vers Beton, 2018

Essay: De rechtse homobeweging Dutch Gayservatives is eind september voor de tweede keer aanwezig... more

Waar is de steun voor #tegenniqabverbod?

NieuwWij, 2018

Op-ed: Mariska Jung is teleurgesteld in de stilte rondom het ‘boerkaverbod’. Op een paar campagne... more Op-ed: Mariska Jung is teleurgesteld in de stilte rondom het ‘boerkaverbod’. Op een paar campagnes van islamitische zelforganisaties en een enkel artikel van een moslimjournalist na, kraait er geen haan naar. In tijden van opgeleefd feminisme en antiracisme vraagt zij zich af: waar blijft de solidariteit?

Het boerkaverbod is terug, maar waar is het debat?

Joop.nl, 2016

Opinie:Het boerkaverbod is terug, maar waar is het debat? Er staan belangrijke vrijheden op het s... more

2013 wordt het laatste jaar dat we over Zwarte Piet praten

Joop.nl, 2012

Opinie: Laten we de viering van '150 jaar de ketenen verbroken' aangrijpen om de complexiteit van... more

Religion, Animals, and Racialization: Articulating Islamophobia through Animal Ethics in The Netherlands

Religions

In 2008, the Dutch Party for the Animals submitted a proposal to ban religious slaughter without ... more In 2008, the Dutch Party for the Animals submitted a proposal to ban religious slaughter without prior stunning. The proposal was widely supported in the Lower House but finally rejected in the Upper House in 2012, mainly on the grounds of religious freedom. Academia was keen to study the polemic, but no research has attempted to study the controversy through a lens of racialization. This is remarkable, given the well-documented increase in Islamophobia and the political use of racism since (at least) the turn of the millennium in The Netherlands (and the geopolitical “West” at large). In this article, I demonstrate that a racializing dynamic is actually part and parcel of the Dutch controversy. I apply a reflexive thematic analysis to study archival material from the Dutch Parliamentarian debate and show that the dispute foremost references Islamic slaughter. Appeals to civilization, accusations of barbarism, dystopian warnings against Islamization, and invocations of Judeo-Christi...

Religion, Animals, and Racialization: Articulating Islamophobia through Animal Ethics in The Netherlands

Religions, 2022

In 2008, the Dutch Party for the Animals submitted a proposal to ban religious slaughter without ... more In 2008, the Dutch Party for the Animals submitted a proposal to ban religious slaughter without prior stunning. The proposal was widely supported in the Lower House but finally rejected in the Upper House in 2012, mainly on the grounds of religious freedom. Academia was keen to study the polemic, but no research has attempted to study the controversy through a lens of racialization. This is remarkable, given the well-documented increase in Islamophobia and the political use of racism since (at least) the turn of the millennium in The Netherlands (and the geopolitical “West” at large). In this article, I demonstrate that a racializing dynamic is actually part and parcel of the Dutch controversy. I apply a reflexive thematic analysis to study archival material from the Dutch Parliamentarian debate and show that the dispute foremost references Islamic slaughter. Appeals to civilization, accusations of barbarism, dystopian warnings against Islamization, and invocations of Judeo-Christianity are discursive elements that feature in the debate and have racializing ramifications for Muslims. By unmasking this racializing dynamic, I offer a means to empirically explore the ways in which taxonomies of religion and race intersect with and through the politicization of animal ethics. When considering religious slaughter it is essential, I ultimately maintain, to observe the violence caused by socially constructed racial and species differences. Only if we hold both in serious regard do we have a chance to begin to imagine ourselves in relation to others differently and move towards more just futures—for humans and non-humans alike.

Connecting feminist, antiracist, and animal politics: A bridge too far?

Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies, 2021

In the past decade, animal and antiracist politics are on the rise in the Neth¬erlands and Belgiu... more In the past decade, animal and antiracist politics are on the rise in the Neth¬erlands and Belgium. Both integrate feminism into their political practice, albeit in divergent ways. Nevertheless, their core concerns are generally viewed as antithetical on a conceptual, normative, and politically practical level. This paper explores the extent to which feminist, antiracist, and animal concerns are (in)commensurable. Coupling the ecofeminist analysis of dualism developed by Val Plumwood with recent developments in black studies advanced by Claire Jean Kim and Zakiyyah Iman Jackson, processes of animalisation and dehumanisation are scrutinised. It is demonstrated that the onto-epistemological categories of gender, race, and animality connect on the level of being subjected to the logic of domination exemplary of Western thought (1), and on the level of being the abject yet constitutive Others of the normative category of ‘the human’ (2). Subsequently, to build bridges between feminist, antiracist, and animal advocacy movements, it is argued that animal advocates need to critically question the assumption of ‘human privilege’ and stop using slavery analogies, while feminists and antiracists should aspire to divest from human supremacy. A new approach to collective liberation in the Low Countries is needed, one that acknowledges the interconnectedness of gender, race, and animality alike.

The impact of Islamophobia on Muslim women in the Netherlands

This project aims to document the disproportionate effect of Islamophobia on women and develop al... more This project aims to document the disproportionate effect of Islamophobia on women and develop alliances between the anti-racism and feminist movements in order to better address the intersectional discrimination affecting Muslim women.

The project is taking place in 8 countries, chosen to get a representative picture of the situation of Muslim women in the European Union: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden and United Kingdom.

The report on the Netherlands is a detailed study to the impact of Islamophobia on Muslim women in the context of the labour market and verbal and physical violence.

Logics of Citizenship and Violence of Rights: The Queer Migrant Body and the Asylum System

Border and migration studies document how states produce migrant subjectivities via bio-political... more Border and migration studies document how states produce migrant subjectivities via bio-political practices, which are plotted against the figure of the ‘undeserving’ migrant. However, there is little research on the politics of the recent but growing tendency in Western states to include the category of ‘LGBT’ in their asylum policies. Furthermore, there has been little attention to the role of activists in border regimes. Hence academia fails to fully grasp the violence of rightsbased migration politics and to understand the dispersed sexual politics of borders.

This article examines the relationship between LGBT emancipation, border enforcement and migration activism in the United Kingdom. It appears that asylum policies construct hierarchies of migrants, currently with the LGBT asylum seeker towards the top of the pecking order. Activists contest, but simultaneously perform, the sexual and territorial border. The save-ability of the queer migrant is constructed at the same time that immigration violence is conducted, through indefinite detention and the Detained Fast Track system. Law turns out to be a violent governmental technology when gender and sexuality rights are used to further close the border.

CfP: A second wave of antiracism in Europe?

by Mariska Jung and Jean Beaman

We are pleased to invite paper proposals for the two-day workshop “Antiracism in Europe”, that wi... more

Call for Papers: Challenging Anthropocentrism in Political Science: Gender, Race, Intersectionality, and the More-Than-Human (Politicologenetmaal 2021)

Political science is traditionally anthropocentric, focusing on human-related politics. Yet the c... more Political science is traditionally anthropocentric, focusing on human-related politics. Yet the challenges of our times include more-than-human topics, e.g. climate change or animal ethics. This workshop seeks to broaden the field’s scope and stimulate innovation, by combining a focus on more-than-human politics with critical social theories (e.g. feminism, CRT, intersectionality). We welcome empirical studies and theoretical or philosophical essays. Please send us an abstract of no more than 500 words and a short bio of max. 100 words and submit it through the online form on the website of Politicologenetmaal before March 31 2021 via https://politicologenetmaal.eu/workshop-list/#workshop2.

Call for Papers: Fundamental Challenges to European Politics: Gender, Race, Intersectionality, and the More-Than-Human, July #ECPG21 (cancelled due to COVID-19)

At the dawn of the Anthropocene, the category of the human (the "anthropos" of the new era) needs... more At the dawn of the Anthropocene, the category of the human (the "anthropos" of the new era) needs to be critically examined. This need goes against the dominant tendencies in political theory and science that, for the better part of their history, have been founded on the exclusive right of humans to convene a polis. Despite the important enlargement of the category 'human', many feminist, queer and intersectional studies of European politics have been reluctant to also consider the more-thanhuman milieu. For example, there are increasing studies concerned with women's political representation, political debates on Islamic veiling or with the gender and sexual politics of right-wing parties and social movements. These are very important in their own right, in both an academic and political sense. They also fall short of engaging with the fact that our realities are comprised of morethan-human entities which translate into concrete non-human political urgencies, such as climate change, animal practices, animal ethics, tensions between wildlife and urbanity, and land issues.

Call for Interventions: 2nd Conference in Critical Migration and Borders Studies 'Radical interventions: re-imagining border and migration struggles within academia and activism', Sept 2015, Queen Mary University of London

by Mariska Jung and Theory LAB

We invite proposals for the next meeting of Moblab -a network of critical researchers and activis... more We invite proposals for the next meeting of Moblab -a network of critical researchers and activists working in border, migration and citizenship studies -which will take place on 1-2 September in London. What distinguishes Moblab from other networks in border, migration and citizenship studies is the explicit interest of its members in antiracist, intersectional and no border politics and the shared desire to blur the boundaries between political activism, academic knowledge production and artistic intervention. The workshop will provide a space to develop new possibilities of critique and intervention in today's border struggles and to consolidate and further develop the Moblabnetwork. This dual objective is reflected in the structure of the meeting: On the first day we will exchange knowledge and ideas on three themes in parallel day-long workshops. Rather than preparing paper-based individual presentations, we hope to engage in collaborative thought processes and reflections, and to identify common themes, questions, and concerns that unite our various works. The second day is reserved for developing the organisational structure of Moblab in order to make it a hub of counter-knowledge and a laboratory of antiracist, intersectional and no border politics.

Transitioning from online to in-person academic conferences: which pandemic-induced experiences should we keep?

EDGE Blog, 2021

The pandemic has cost us a lot, but it has also given us experiences we would otherwise not have.... more The pandemic has cost us a lot, but it has also given us experiences we would otherwise not have. It has changed the format of academic conferences for the better: moving from on-site to online. With the hope of keeping what worked well during the pandemic, I reflect on my recent conference experiences.

Beeldenstorm is stem van de onderdrukten: Jan Pieterszoon Coen Must Fall

Joop.nl, 2020

Opinie: Een ‘beeldenstorm’ is geen symboolpolitiek.

Homorechten en racisme gaan bij de Dutch Gayservatives hand in hand

Vers Beton, 2018

Essay: De rechtse homobeweging Dutch Gayservatives is eind september voor de tweede keer aanwezig... more

Waar is de steun voor #tegenniqabverbod?

NieuwWij, 2018

Op-ed: Mariska Jung is teleurgesteld in de stilte rondom het ‘boerkaverbod’. Op een paar campagne... more Op-ed: Mariska Jung is teleurgesteld in de stilte rondom het ‘boerkaverbod’. Op een paar campagnes van islamitische zelforganisaties en een enkel artikel van een moslimjournalist na, kraait er geen haan naar. In tijden van opgeleefd feminisme en antiracisme vraagt zij zich af: waar blijft de solidariteit?

Het boerkaverbod is terug, maar waar is het debat?

Joop.nl, 2016

Opinie:Het boerkaverbod is terug, maar waar is het debat? Er staan belangrijke vrijheden op het s... more

2013 wordt het laatste jaar dat we over Zwarte Piet praten

Joop.nl, 2012

Opinie: Laten we de viering van '150 jaar de ketenen verbroken' aangrijpen om de complexiteit van... more