Call for Papers

Conference on the Global South, Pluralism and Political Activism

Contemporary societies are riven by moral disagreement on fundamental questions of human rights, dignity and how governments and societies deal with diversity of mores and beliefs.

The Centre de recherche en éthique (CRÉ) in Montreal, Canada, is inviting students from the Global South to take part in a colloquium aimed at exploring the ethical considerations surrounding pluralism and social and political activism, as well as strategies for achieving local and global change. The Global South, Pluralism and Political Activism colloquium aims to enable students to exchange ideas across borders and establish lasting links between participants. Participating as a speaker at this colloquium offers a good opportunity to present one’s work to an international audience, and to benefit from the diversity of viewpoints and expertise of people from different national, religious, cultural, social and economic backgrounds.

The conference will take place online via Zoom on May 26 and 27, 2025. Schedules will be chosen according to speakers’ time zones. Sessions will last 50 minutes each – 10 minute presentations, followed by a 10 minute commentary and a 30 minute discussion.

The language of the conference is French. There is no registration fee. Participation is free for speakers and the public. Speakers from low- and middle-income countries will receive an honorarium of 100 Canadian dollars each.

If you have any questions, please write to us at the following address.

To submit an abstract

To submit an abstract, please fill in the following Google Forms and attach an abstract of 300 words maximum.

The deadline to submit an abstract is February 21, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST).

Selected abstracts will undergo a second selection process. Selected students will be asked to send us a text of no more than 3,000 words by early May. Texts must be original and must not have already been published in another journal, either in French or in another language.

Possible topics

The following list of possible presentation topics is not exhaustive. We welcome all discussions on political pluralism.

I/ Forms and practices of social and political activism

• Social media and social and political activism
• Civil disobedience
• Anger and civility in political activism
• Reform or revolution
• Methods and strategies

II/ Culture, religion and human rights of minorities

• Human rights of ethnic minorities, indigenous peoples and persons with disabilities
• Human rights of sexual minorities

III/ Access to education and employment

IV/ Children’s rights

• Child labor
• Child marriage

V/ Questions about gender

• Barriers to girls’ education
• Gender equality and women’s empowerment
• Combating violence against women and girls
• Forced marriage
• Marital rape
• Female genital mutilation
• Political representation of women
• Gender stereotypes and social expectations
• Patriarchy and family life
• Discriminatory inheritance laws
• Birth control
• Access to abortion

VI/ Freedom of expression and demonstration

• Freedom of expression, censorship and access to information
• Social media bans
• Crimes of expression
• Defending the right to peaceful protest
• Freedom of the press

VII/ Religious freedoms

• Freedom from (and against) religion
• Religious discrimination and violence
• Restrictions on the free exercise of religion
• Poverty, economic inequality and quality of life
• The ethics and reality of borders, visas, asylum and migration
• Population ethics

VIII/ The right to health

• Health inequalities
• Global vaccine justice
• Mental health stigma

IX/ Animal protection

• How to effectively promote veganism
• Animal rights activism
• Strengthening and enforcing animal welfare laws
• Legal personhood for non-human animals
• Promoting the welfare of working and farm animals
• Religious animal sacrifice

X/ Environmental questions

• Human impact on the environment
• Responses to climate change
• Global environmental inequality
• Air and water pollution
• Water scarcity
• Threats to biodiversity
• Fighting poaching
• Environmental crime