Engendering liminality : the experience of re-enchantment in wild woman workshops

According to Paul Heelas, new spiritualities radicalize the expressivist strand in modernity and, hence, not only affirm modern values but also react against them. In particular, they challenge the 'bounded self' as foundational for the modern being and progress. Charles Taylor, in discussing the emergence in modern times of 'the buffered self', points to three important changes: disenchantment, the loss of the complementary play between structure and anti-structure, and the replacement of the idea of cosmos with that of a neutral, mechanical universe. This article, through a detailed ethnographic study, explores how these changes are temporally counteracted in spiritual women workshops in North-West Europe focused on the trope of the 'wild woman'. Moreover, it shows that these retreats bring into being ritual spaces of liminality, which have the potential to engender experiences of re-enchantment and/or give a new sense of interpersonal and cosmic connection

Reframing Gender Complementarity: Dance and Women’s Empowerment in Post-Genocide Rwanda

Post-genocide politics in Rwanda aim to construct a new, modern and developed nation. Gender equality is one of the issues highlighted to this end. However, in order to defend current reforms, politicians and feminist lobbyists generally refer to women’s traditional position as wives and mothers, embedded in the sacred value attributed to fertility. This article explores Rwandan dance to examine the evolution of views on feminine specificity and gender complementarity within the socio-political context of the promotion of gender equality. Through examining a government-supported youth troupe, founded by Tutsi returnee students, and contrasting it with a female drum troupe, which brings together mostly uneducated, middle-aged Rwandan-born women, the article interrogates the widely held view of a linear evolution from tradition, gender complementarity and women’s subordination to modernity, gender equality and women’s emancipation. Instead, it explores the degree to which divergent views on feminine difference in Rwanda foster women’s empowerment

Disposal strategy to create ecological valuable habitats in the Western Scheldt estuary

To guarantee optimal accessibility to the port of Antwerp, a deepening of the navigation channel was proposed within the Long Term Vision for the Scheldt estuary. An environmental impact assessment and an appropriate assessment were carried out for this project. From these studies it was concluded that the most preferred scenario for the enlargement of the navigation channel includes a strategy aiming at disposing dredged material near 3 sandbars in the Western Scheldt, creating opportunities for nature. To determine the optimal disposal strategy on a detailed and more practical level, research was performed by Flanders Hydraulics Research. The main objective of this study was to determine a detailed disposal strategy in order to maximize the ecological benefits, i.e. maximizing the potential creation of low dynamic intertidal and shallow water area. This paper describes the studies undertaken by Flanders Hydraulics Research to determine the most optimal disposal strategy. In a next part the most optimal disposal strategy resulting from the research will also be presented, as well as the strategy being used to evaluate this new disposal strategy