Women, Gender, and Politics

N18 - Feminist Perspectives on Justice Movements

Date: Jun 5 | Time: 12:00pm to 01:30pm | Location:

Chair/Président/Présidente : Sandra Biskupski-Mujanovic (University of Waterloo)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Deborah Stienstra (University of Guelph)

The Intellectual History of the International Women's Strike in Brazil and Argentina: Social Reproduction Theory and Feminist Political Strategy in Dispute: Lucely Ginani Bordon (York University)
Abstract: The International Women’s Strike (IWS) movement on March 8 (International Women’s Day) arose in 2017 with an unprecedented wave of feminist transnational solidarity. The movement's reach found expression not only in the concrete organizing of feminist collective action but also through the organic intellectual production of strategic political theory. Thus far, social scientific inquiry into the IWS has focused mainly on sociological investigation into the varieties of feminist collective action that have emerged in particular national contexts around specific demands. The effervescence of theoretical production on strategic political questions by organic intellectuals of the movement has been comparatively neglected. My research will make two interventions in this regard: 1) by filling the gap in understanding the translation of SRT’s insights into a political strategy through a concrete analysis of the organizing of the IWS in Brazil and Argentina and the particular theoretical production around strategy that grew out of such organizing; 2) by adopting a methodology capable not only of creating a map of the theoretical productions of the IWS in Argentina and Brazil but also of outlining the connections and distinctions to be made between these countries to better grasp the tendencies of the history of this movement in Latin America more generally. Therefore, my research is not primarily a social history of these movements or a case of empirical comparison. It is an intellectual history that aims to generate a new understanding of the IWS movement in Latin America by focusing on the theoretical contribution of its organic intellectuals.

Reflexivity, Epistemic Justice and Decolonizing Feminist Research: Comparative Feminist Governance in Canada and Mexico: Tammy Findlay (Mount Saint Vincent University), Alexandra Dobrowolsky (Saint Mary's University), Hepzibah Munoz-Martinez (University of New Brunswick, Saint John)
Abstract: In a series of papers, we have explored the politics, policy and power dynamics of “governance feminism” in Canada and Mexico. “Governance feminism,” emerging in a variety of contexts, promises an inclusionary politics while reinscribing neoliberal values and practices (Paterson & Scala 2020; Dobrowolsky, 2020; Dobrowolsky & Findlay, 2023). While useful, the concept of governance feminism has been critiqued for insufficiently comprehending multidimensional feminist struggles that are not merely “top down” state practices (Restrepo Sanin 2020) or co-optation by incorporation, and for minimizing the politico-economic contingencies at play in the Global South (Mackay and Chappell 202?). Feminist movements in and outside the state in the Global South, when viewed under “western eyes” (Mohanty 1986), can be misconstrued when the analysis is externally imposed. With this project, we have sought to apply a comparative, feminist political economy, intersectional, and decolonial lens, but in this paper, we reflect on our learning and unlearning about challenging colonial epistemologies, including our own. We argue that working towards a decolonial feminist analysis and epistemic justice requires interrogating our own assumptions, positionality, and methodological accountability through dialogue across borders rather than in isolation.

Caring to Listen: Girls with Disabilities and Climate Justice Activism: Lindsay Robinson (Carleton University)
Abstract: While previously undervalued and overlooked in global politics, girls and young women are now popularly celebrated as the long-awaited saviours for a range of pressing global problems – notable among these being the climate crisis. Well-known activists such as Greta Thunberg, Vanessa Nakate, and Xiye Bastida have gained global recognition for spearheading global climate justice movements, although scholarly research has only begun to focus on and explore their political arguments. Though certain girls (like those listed above) have gained popularity and attention for their climate justice activism, many girls and their politics remain overlooked. This paper uses feminist care ethics, complemented by feminist discourse-theoretical analysis, to unpack the political contributions of girl and young women climate justice activists with disabilities. Appealing to literatures in feminist disability studies, as well as girlhood studies, the paper challenges the tendency for feminist and girlhood literatures to unwittingly uphold the ableist erasure of disabled girls’ agency and activism within social movement politics. At the same time, it troubles the ableist logics about girls with disabilities common in global climate change politics – those which suggest that these girls are exclusively vulnerable victims in need of protection from worsening climate effects. In using a feminist ethics of care to listen to girls and young women with disabilities in the climate justice movement, this paper finds that they are always already agential subjects shaping global justice movements; indeed, girls with disabilities, while often ignored, are advancing transformative political arguments on intersectional ideas of climate, gender, and disability justice.