Feminist articulations

Gender, Sexuality and Nationalism in a New Feminist Landscape

On 15 February 2017 the lecture Feminist articulations: Gender, Sexuality and Nationalism in a New Feminist Landscape, by Clare Hemmings, professor of feminist theory at the London School of Economics, took place. It was organized by Radboud Gender & Diversity Studies in collaboration with the Graduate School for Humanities, as part of the Radboud Gender & Diversity Lectures.

The lecture was based on a paper by Hemmings, which she describes as follows:

“This paper explores some current contexts of 'feminist articulation' in an increasingly nation-bound yet globalised Europe. I track some of the changing fates of feminist discourse within and outside the academy with a focus on the 'problem' of feminism's increasing popularity, particularly in its mainstream guises. I argue that the increasing visibility of what I term 'sexual violence feminism' allows national and international actors to take it up as both universal, and as a 'relic' from a more misogynist past. Thus feminism and gender equality can be claimed as an unqualified good to the extent that they are uncoupled from 'other' political concerns such as classism or racism. In a contemporary Europe that is increasingly marked by racial and economic divisions, what work does the invocation of 'feminism' do to enhance rather than decrease inequality? What kinds of intervention are open to feminists who want to critique feminism's circulation as a calcified object in a contemporary European context?”