The election of an overtly sexist man as President and the defeat of the first female Presidential candidate in the U.S., coupled with misogynistic characterisations of Australia’s first woman Prime Minister have cast a shadow over the prospect of feminist advances in public life. At the same time sluggish progress in closing the gender pay gap, from AFL fields to CEO salaries, and persistently high rates of violence against women make it difficult to muster hope.

In this dystopic climate, how can we refocus feminist visions of transforming society across the divides of gender, race, class, ability, and global region? What types of utopias have been conjured in the past? Which promising ones are under construction? Which previous notions might be reconceived and new ones imagined? Feminist philosopher Clare Hemmings (Gender Institute, London School of Economics and author of Why stories matter: the political grammar of feminist theory (Duke, 2011) and ‘Sexual freedom and the promise of revolution: Emma Goldman’s passion’ (Feminist Studies, 2014) will provide the keynote address.

 

Presenters at this academic, artististic and community forum will also be asked to respond to these questions from many points of view. We intend to include artists, musicians, playwrites, and poets. Political activists who have turned, are turning or envision turning feminist utopian dreams into reality are also welcome. And academics – particularly HDR students and ECR’s – are also strongly urged to pitch an idea for a short presentation.

Please confine your pitch to 200 words, and specify the genre of presentation you would like to offer, as well as any technical or venue requirements you might require.

 

Contact: carolyn.strange@anu.edu.au or (02) 6125-2613