Virtuous Orient – Sinful Occident? Pornography and Sexuality in the Eastern and Western World.

12 December 2013, 7pm
Frankfurter Kunstverein, Steinernes Haus am Römerberg, Markt 44, Frankfurt am Main

Free entrance

Presented by:
Cluster of Excellence "The Formation of Normative Orders" in cooperation with Frankfurter Kunstverein





Historically speaking, the relation of the Eastern and Western world, orient and occident, has been characterized by reciprocal accusations of sinfulness and permissiveness. Until the beginning of the 20^th century, European artists associated the orient with the notion of seduction. On the contrary, today, many Muslims regard the Western world as being deeply immoral. Such stereotypes conceal the facts that the issues of sexuality and moral are controversially discussed both in the Eastern and Western world.

Rigid norms provoke breaking them: a new “Libertinage” establishes. Issues that religious guardians of virtue regard as threats to young adults and families is also criticised by others. Referring to sexual abuse, feminists have pointed out that Libertinage can easily lead to the abuse of power. In the Frankfurt Lecture, publicist Hoda Salah, publicist and political scientist, and Susanne Schröter, Professor for the ethnology of colonial and postcolonial orders at the Goethe-University, will discuss sexual liberty and its limits, pornography, women’s rights, and talk about whether these issues are discussed differently in Kairo than in Frankfurt.

The acclaimed and popular lecture series is presented by the Cluster of Excellence and the Frankfurter Kunstverein and aims to involve the public in discussions of recent social issues. The discussion will be chaired by Thomas Biebricher.


Hoda Salah is a freelance political consultant and publicist. Since the revolution she has been living in both, Berlin and Cairo. Previously, the German-Egyptian political scientist held a Post-Doc position at the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin. Her research interests include Islamism, culture and politics of the Middle East, and women’s rights.

Susanne Schröter holds a position as Professor for the ethnology of colonial and postcolonial orders at the Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main. Up until 2008, she was a lecturer for Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Passau. Her research interests include: cultural and political transformations in the Islamic world, Islamic Feminism, and challenges of multiple modernities. Recent publications: „Gender and Islam in Southeast Asia. Women’s Rights Movements, Religious Resurgence and Local Traditions“. Leiden: Brill, 2013; “Geschlechtergerechtigkeit durch Demokratisierung? Transformationen und Restaurationen von Genderverhältnissen in der islamischen Welt.” Bielefeld: Transcript, 2013; „Tunesien. Vom Staatsfeminismus zum revolutionären Islamismus“. In: Schröter, Susanne (Hg.): „Geschlechtergerechtigkeit durch Demokratisierung? Transformationen und Restaurationen von Genderverhältnissen in der islamischen Welt“. Bielefeld: Transcript, S. 17-44, 2013, (zusammen mit Sonia Zayed)

Thomas Biebricher led a research group investigating „Variations of neoliberalism and their transformations” at the Cluster of Excellence “The Formation of Normative Orders” in Frankfurt from 2009 to 2012. He held several professorships since. From January 2014, he will be DAAD Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. His dissertation, submitted to the University of Freiburg in 2003, was published by Campus Verlag in 2005 under the title 'Selbstkritik der Moderne. Habermas und Foucault im Vergleich'. His latest publication is an introduction to neoliberalism (“Neoliberalismus zur Einführung“) published by Junius Verlag. Currently he is working on a new book entitled “The Political Theory of Neoliberalism”.


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