Talk:Feminism and Activism
International Meeting on Feminisms and Activisms
Barcelona, 8-9 or 9-10 July 2006
Is feminism obsolete or is it being re-invented? Today, feminist engagements and gender-sensitive approaches have proliferated across a broad spectrum of disciplines and movements. The de-territorialization and re-location of feminist practices and discourses in multiple and heterogeneous fields and contexts calls for a re-evaluation of the (visible and invisible) impact of feminism on different areas of social praxis and the possibilities for re-imagining feminist politics as an emergent moment in the dynamics of social change.
We would like to propose a two-day meeting of discussion and debate among feminist activists, academics and researchers to address some of the current issues we are facing and focusing on in our work and life. The meeting will be organized around different workshops, discussion groups and themes, the purpose of which will be to explore in depth and across the diverse fields of activity we are engaged in, the theoretical and practical challenges and possibilities that are presenting themselves today, the possibilities for further action within and outside academic institutions and activist groups, and the broadening of international networks. Our idea, so as not to reproduce a congress with many short papers and little time for discussion, is to organize the space in order to have plenty of time for debates and very few presentations. We hope this will help create networks among people who are doing similar work.
The basic idea is for interested people to define a few broader themes of discussion. The space/time for discussing specific topics will be organized by those interested in the theme (individually or collectively) and the overall program coordination will be mediated by Femact. So please feel free to propose yourself (your group) as organizer/coordinator of a specific topic, please let us know before the 16th January.
Just to give a first idea of what we are thinking we would like to present a possible schedule of discussion:
1 day 9.00-11.00 Short presentation of the participants and of the different topics of discussion 11.00-14.00 Topic 1 Topic 2 14.00-15.00 Lunch 15.00-18.00 Topic 3 Topic 4 18.00-19.00 Plenary: call for action-networking and important information Night Eating together, informal discussion 2 day 10.00-13.00 Topic 5 Topic 6 13.00- 13.30 Break 13.30-14.30 Small group discussion (Topic 1 to 6 and spontaneous group) 14.30-15.30 Lunch 15.30-19.00 Plenary: organization, networking, call for action etc.. Night Informal debate and some fiesta
FEMACT Femact is a transnational group of women from Catalunya, Italy, Greece, Germany, UK, Brazil and South Africa. The group began its life two years ago around the collective editing of the 4th issue of The Annual Review of Critical Psychology, dedicated to the exploration of ‘Feminisms and Activisms’ (for further information on how to purchase the journal ‘Feminisms and Activisms’, please see: http://www.criticalpsychology.com/info/arcpcurrent.htm) in different countries and disciplines. After the successful publication of the journal we have held two workshops at international conferences and meetings in South Africa and the UK, pursuing the questions raised by our feminist and activist engagements with women and feminists from various different activist and academic backgrounds.
Seminari multidisciplinar de investigacio-accio feminista (Asociació LIMES): We are a small group of feminist researchers that meets to interchange information of our work and organize some ‘feminist research’ debates within social centers. We are part of an association born in 2004 to promote action research and to facilitate research processes within social movements.
Would your group or network like to be involved in the organization? Let us know.
Do you want to be involved in the organization?:
If you are interested in this project there are plenty of things you could do to be involved. For example we are looking for: · Someone that would like to do a web page (possibly with open source program and with possibility of interaction). · Funding, would you like to help us looking for funding? · Someone that would like to moderate the communication process · Translators · …..
For further information and to offer yourself for any help, please contact:
[femact@investigaccio.org]
Warm wishes to all and have a good holiday!