Gender studies belongs to the family of transdisciplinary research fields that have developed out of the critical examination of traditional fields of research – especially the examination of the blanks and the tendency towards one-sidedness of those fields. Since the 1970s, when these fields began to be pursued, researchers in many different countries have engaged in a vigorous, theoretical and empirical research that has developed into fruitful, independent fields.
In the German-speaking world in the 1990s, some of these research areas were bundled together and institutionalized as gender-studies working groups, programs of study or so-called “gender centers.” A conference in June 2003 at at Humboldt University first offered these groups the chance to share experiences and to network between organizations. The meeting was a huge success and members of the various participating organizations were interested in further networking opportunities. Our network was further strengthened by meeting once a year at a different location to address a different gender studies topic. The success – as well as the continuing necessity of our efforts – are demonstrated by the founding of our umbrella organization, the KEG, which was officially founded at our 2006 meeting in Frankfurt am Main.
The KEG supports the 2010 founding of the German and Swiss academic society
for gender studies. We cooperate closely with each of the national academic
societies for gender studies. Because of this close team work, the KEG always
meets just before the yearly meetings of the German, Swiss and (perspectively)
Austrian academic society for gender studies.