‘Feminist Politics and Activism in Reactionary Eras’
The Dutch Journal of Feminist Studies seeks submissions for a special issue on feminist politics and activism for Spring 2018. In this issue, we want to consider the historical and contemporary effects of feminism as a global force. Is feminism past its time, or is it rising from the ashes as a unifying discourse amidst the rise of reactionary forces across the globe? Are feminisms infused within State governance, or marginal to it? What can we learn from the contemporary moment by looking to the political scenarios of previous decades? We invite papers that provide different evaluations on the state of feminist movements cross nationally, including theoretical essays, empirical or archival research. Themes may include:
1. The place of feminist movements amid the growth of right-wing movements – are feminist movements unifying forces across divides of race, class, caste, nationality or religion, or do they prioritize gender as the primary problem? Will they be rejuvenated, or transformed, by the fierce opposition they encounter?
2. Feminism in the era of neoliberalism: can feminist movements thrive within neoliberal regimes? To what extent is neoliberalism contributing to the institutionalization and cooptation of feminism How do feminisms respond to the growing inequalities of class, region, race and indigeneity generated by neoliberal governance? What kinds of alternatives to neo-liberalism have feminist movements imagined?
3. What is the relationship between global, national and local feminisms? How do we map the connections and contradictions between global, national and local issues? To what extent have local feminist campaigns called upon global norms and engaged in transnational advocacy?
4. What forms of women’s movements are excluded by using the term feminism? What are alternate discourses through which notions of gender equality are expressed, and what is their relationship to feminist politics?
5. What is feminist movements’ relationships to the category women, and to the category gender? What are the contradictions in mobilizing around these two terms?
Papers should be 8000 to 9000 words in length, and are due by June 30 2017.
Please direct inquiries to the Special Issue Editors, Srimati Basu (srimati.basu@uky.edu) and Akiko Takenaka (akiko.takenaka@uky.edu)
