The “Nazra” Award for Feminist Knowledge Production in Egypt

Throughout the past year, “Nazra for Feminist Studies”, and its Founder and Executive Director Mozn Hassan, have been facing increased targeting by the state that ended with an asset freeze order against Hassan and the NGO “Nazra for Feminist Studies”, in what is considered to be an unprecedented measure in the recent history of civil women’s rights NGOs. We, a group of Egyptian scholars and academics living abroad, have observed the crackdown on Hassan and Nazra with disbelief and worry, but also with a growing sense of responsibility regarding what we could do in such a dire situation. As believers in the work that Nazra conducts, and in the role of feminist groups in their societies, we envisioned our show of solidarity must be to sustain this work and activism.

For almost a decade, “Nazra for Feminist Studies” has produced feminist knowledge with regards to various topics such as sexual violence against women, women’s presence in the public sphere, women’s political participation, legal reforms related to women’s human rights, etc. It is exactly this kind of feminist knowledge production that we believe is important to continue, and that we wish to play a role in sustaining. This kind of research has made it possible to see that knowledge production is not exclusive to academics, but that political and social movements are also able to produce knowledge from their own lived experiences.

Subsequently, we decided to establish the “Nazra” Award for feminist knowledge production. The idea behind the award is to open the door for Egyptian women engaged with the feminist movement to produce knowledge related to feminism, or women in Egyptian society, depending on the topic decided in the annual call for submissions. We believe that the establishment of this award is a concrete way to support what Nazra stands for; an active and viable young local community of women who have the chance to engage critically and produce different forms of knowledge on women from a feminist perspective. It also contributes in ensuring a certain continuity of feminist knowledge production, written by women, and about women. Despite the different tools of targeting that aim to restrict Nazra’s work, the core values of this work cannot be restricted or banned. Today, there is an international community supporting this kind of feminist production of knowledge and activism.

The “Nazra” Award for feminist knowledge will be an annual one, and it will consist of three different prizes. The three recipients of the award will also have their essays translated and a panel will be held for them to discuss their work. The inaugural award will be launched the current year, 2017, and will be sustained for at least the next three years. Although there were only be three recipients of the award, all submitted research will be published on Nazra’s website. The winners will be announced every year on the 28th of December, which marks the day on which Nazra was founded.  

Within the current context of crackdown on civil society in Egypt, the first call of submissions will be on the topic of the Egyptian feminist movement. Eligible applicants are invited to reflect on the feminist movement in the past years, the possibilities of its continuity, how they perceive their experience within it, how they foresee its future… 

Call For Submissions

We are pleased to invite submissions for the ”Nazra’’ Award for Feminist Knowledge Production. This year, we invite applicants to write research papers and articles tackling the Egyptian feminist movement, whether they are contemplating the movement’s path in the past years, reflecting on its continuity, or critically analyzing the engagement of women of different generations with the feminist movement. This topic comes within the increased targeting of the Egyptian feminist movement and civil society organizations, as well as the closure of the public sphere.

The ‘’Nazra Award for feminist knowledge production’’ is an annual one worth 3000 EGP for each winner. It is given and managed by the group of academics who launched the award and ‘’Nazra’’ has no relation to the monetary award or its management. Three winners will be announced each year. The three recipients of the award will also have their essays translated and a panel will be held for them to discuss their work. The inaugural award will be launched during the current year, 2017, and will be sustained for at least the next three years. Although there will only be three recipients of the award, all submitted research will be published on Nazra’s website.

The selection and evaluation process will happen as follows: an initial screening will make sure applicants comply by the below requirements, then eligible papers will be evaluated by the jury anonymously. A shortlist will be created by the jury from the evaluated anonymous papers, after which the winners will be selected according to the quality of submitted papers as well as their biographies (to take into consideration age, feminist activism, etc. )  

Requirements:

• Only Egyptian women living in Egypt can apply

• There are no age restrictions to apply, but priority will be given to young feminists up to 35 

• The applicant must be part, or have previously taken part of, any feminist activity 

• A brief biography containing the applicant’s name, her age, current job, and the ways in which she engaged with feminist activism.  

• Essays must be submitted in Arabic

• Essays must be original, unpublished before in any other outlet and not part of any previous work (dissertation, book, etc.)

• Essays must be between 7000 - 10000 words

• Deadline for submissions is 15 October 2017 (deadline extended to 30 November 2017)

• Please submit your paper to [email protected]