Feminist Dissent: Theory, Practice and Resistance
Description
This module is designed as a direct intervention into and contribution towards deepening our understanding around two key issues of our time—a worldwide proliferation of fundamentalist religious movements and the global rise of conservative and racist populist movements in the context of the ongoing crises of capitalism and resources. Feminist Dissent draws its inspiration from the journal that is based at Warwick. The module’s main goal is to introduce learners to the everyday lived experiences, struggles and forms of dissent against fundamentalism and racism in a new global capitalist order where gender is increasingly instrumentalised to sustain power. The module foregrounds women’s movements and various forms of resistance that are challenging these political formations, particularly because those voices of resistance are often not heard in the media and in public policy. It thus opens up new ways of thinking about secularism, religious freedom, civil liberties and human rights, nationalism and identity politics, anti-racism and multiculturalism, neoliberalism, and feminist resistance.
Modelled on the idea of a public pedagogy as piloted in the two seminars in 2018-19, learners have the opportunity to be taught by an international collective of feminist activists, academics, and writers who are committed not just to writing about justice but also fighting for it. This module endeavours to open up a dialogue with audiences beyond the Higher Education academy, inviting learners from outside of the university to participate in the discussion, in order to help bridge the divide between real lived experiences, activists, and academic theoretical thinking, in order to create a different kind of critique and analyses that is absent from academic and popular discourse at the moment. We hope to encourage learners to uncover new ways of looking at the intersection between gender, racism and fundamentalism, and to underscore the importance of dissent as a crucial feminist strategy.
Structure
Week 1 (Oct 5)
Introduction to Feminist Dissent: Gender and Fundamentalism (R Bibizadeh and R Varma)
Primary Reading:
Secondary optional preparation:
Please watch one or both of the pilot seminars.
Pilot Seminar 1: Racism, Feminism and the politics of fundamentalism in Britain - Pragna Patel
Week 2 (Oct 12)
Universal Human Rights and Women’s Rights (Gita Sahgal, author, film-maker and human rights activist, Centre for Secular Space, and Editorial Collective Member of Feminist Dissent)
Week 3 (Oct 19)
Universalism, Iran, Gender (Alison Assiter, Professor of Philosophy, University of the West of England, Bristol, and Editorial Collective Member of Feminist Dissent)
Week 4 (Oct 26)
Gender and Fundamentalism in Modi’s India (Dr Rashmi Varma, Reader, Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies, University of Warwick)
Week 5 (Nov 2)
The Right to Write: Gender and Fundamentalism in Turkey (Prof. Maureen Freely, University of Warwick; writer, translator and former Director of English PEN)
Week 6 (Nov 9)
Reading Week—No Class
Week 7 (Nov 16)
Gender/Sexuality, State, and Fundamentalism in Nigeria (Chitra Nagarajan, writer, feminist and human rights activist based in Nigeria)
Week 8 (Nov 23)
Freedom of Expression, Gender and Fundamentalism: the case of Gurpreet Bhatti’s Behzti (Dr Sukhwant Dhaliwal, London Metropolitan University)
Week 9 (Nov 30)
Sexuality and the Politics of Fundamentalism in Britain (Dr Stephen Cowden, Ruskin College Oxford)
Week 10 (Dec 7)
Scholarship and Activism in Practice (Roxanne Bibizadeh and Rashmi Varma)
Assessment
Assessments will consist of two elements: a) Activist/Creative Portfolio and b) Research Essay. Each will be worth 50% of the final mark.
A. Design a campaign, conference or an organisation with a view towards enacting social change in line with the theoretical and activist concerns of Feminist Dissent.
Students will be encouraged to develop an innovative way of presenting this work, whether it is through an interactive blog, podcast, study, a Mahara page, journal, website, or commonplace book. The portfolio must include a critical reflection on the project.
B. Research Essay
The final essay should consist of original research, which could include (but should not be limited to): interviews, archival study, literary or cultural criticism, and/or field visits. It should demonstrate awareness of methodology as well as reference one or more issues central to the module.
Module Convenors
Dr Rashmi Varma
Dr Roxanne Bibizadeh
Any questions about the module? You are welcome to email us!
When & Where
Module not running in 2021-22
Assessment
Assessments will consist of two elements, each will be worth 50% of the final mark.
For 15 CATS
Design a campaign, conference or an organisation with a view towards enacting social change in line with the theoretical and activist concerns of Feminist Dissent.
Students will be encouraged to develop an innovative way of presenting this work, whether it is through an interactive blog, podcast, study, a Mahara page, journal, website, or commonplace book. The portfolio must include a critical reflection on the project.
Word Limit: 2500
Research Essay
The final essay should consist of original research, which could include (but should not be limited to): interviews, archival study, literary or cultural criticism, and/or field visits. It should demonstrate awareness of methodology as well as reference one or more issues central to the module.
Word Limit: 2500
For 12 CATS
Design a campaign, conference or an organisation with a view towards enacting social change in line with the theoretical and activist concerns of Feminist Dissent.
Students will be encouraged to develop an innovative way of presenting this work, whether it is through an interactive blog, podcast, study, a Mahara page, journal, website, or commonplace book. The portfolio must include a critical reflection on the project.
Word Limit: 2000
Research Essay
The final essay should consist of original research, which could include (but should not be limited to): interviews, archival study, literary or cultural criticism, and/or field visits. It should demonstrate awareness of methodology as well as reference one or more issues central to the module.
Word Limit: 2000