Dear all,
Your final semester at Uni should not just be about assignments and work. I hope you may also be able to enjoy this time and further expand our knowledge on specific topics you find particularly interesting.
For this reason, I have compiled a short list of events at Queen Mary and LSE, and around London to discover more about the themes and authors covered in our module POL361 Gender and Politics.
Tomorrow, 22 February, is an especially eventful day as Raewyn Connell will be speaking by videolink at a Governing Masculinities conference held at QMUL, while Judith Butler is in conversation at LSE in the evening for a conference on Transnational 'Anti-Gender' Politics and Resistance.
If you would like to attend Raewyn Connell’s keynote lecture on Masculinities tomorrow, 22 February, at 9:30am, please head to The Octagon (People’s Building on QMUL campus). The organisers have kindly made a few extra chairs available for students. I’ve also attached a copy of the conference programme for more details. Please note that Connell’s chapter on Imperialism, Globalisation and Masculinities is one of your core readings for our next topic (Empire and Decolonial Feminism). So, if you can face an early start to the day, this is a talk not to be missed.
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Those of you who would like to hear Judith Butler discuss her latest work on anti-gender politics, then here’s all you need to know about the conference hosted by the Department of Gender Studies at LSE.
Keynote Panel: Transnational anti-gender politics and resistance, Judith Butler in conversation with feminist activist Tooba Syed on Thursday 22 February 2024 5.30pm to 7.30pm
While tickets have sold out, you can listen to this keynote on the LSE podcast or watch in real time on LSE Live. Full details of the event can be found here, where you can also register to watch the event online: https://www.lse.ac.uk/Events/2024/02/202402221730/politics
More info about the talk: As 'anti-gender' movements become more prominent globally, we ask Judith Butler and feminist activist Tooba Syed to share histories and forms of resistance. What might feminist, queer and decolonial forms of resistance teach us about diverse forms of 'anti-gender' backlash? How can we generate political solidarity to counter 'anti-gender' mobilisations across different contexts? Our keynote speakers will reflect on political, epistemic and ethical interventions and open up for discussion with the audience.
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If you enjoyed The Cult of Beauty exhibition at the Wellcome Collection, then I would recommend you head over to Tate Britain to see WOMEN IN REVOLT! ART AND ACTIVISM IN THE UK 1970-1990. This exhibition is running until 7 April 2024 and I cannot recommend it enough. Unfortunately, it isn’t free but, if you are fortunate enough to be under the age of 25, then you can register for a Tate Collective card, which means you can access all paid exhibitions at the various Tate venues for a mere £5! It’s totally worth it.
More info about the exhibition: The first of its kind, this exhibition is a wide-ranging exploration of feminist art by over 100 women artists working in the UK. It shines a spotlight on how networks of women used radical ideas and rebellious methods to make an invaluable contribution to British culture. Their art helped fuel the women’s liberation movement during a period of significant social, economic and political change.
In the 1970s and 1980s a new wave of feminism erupted. Women used their lived experiences to create art, from painting and photography to film and performance, to fight against injustice. This included taking a stand for reproductive rights, equal pay and race equality. This creativity helped shape a period of pivotal change for women in Britain, including the opening of the first women's refuge and the formation of the British Black Arts Movement.
Despite long careers, these artists were often left out of the artistic narratives of the time. This will be the first time many of their works have been on display since the 1970s.
Through their urgent and powerful art visitors will encounter a productive, politically engaged set of communities, who changed the face of British culture and paved the way for future generations of artists.
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Finally, the following book launch at QMUL in March is also highly relevant to our topic on Production and Reproduction.
Book Launch: Paid to Care: Domestic Workers in Contemporary Latin American Culture
Date: Wednesday 20 March, 5:30pm-6:30pm
Venue: Graduate Centre, GC114, Mile End Campus, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL)
More info about the event: Paid domestic work in Latin America has often been undervalued, underpaid, and underregulated. Exploring a wave of Latin American cultural texts since the 1980s that draw on the personal experiences of paid domestic workers or intimate ties to domestic employees, Paid to Care offers insights into the struggles these workers have faced through an analysis of literary testimonials, documentary and fiction films, and works of digital media. From domestic workers’ experiences of unionization in the 1980s to calls for their rights to be respected today, the cultural texts analyzed in Paid to Care provide additional insight into public debates about paid domestic work. The author, Rachel Randall, examines works made in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay. The most recent of these texts respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, which put many domestic workers’ health and livelihoods at risk. Engaging with the legal histories of domestic work in multiple distinct national contexts, Randall demonstrates how Latin America’s legacy of colonialism and slavery continues to shape the profession even today. Focusing on personal or coproduced cultural representations of domestic workers, Paid to Care also explores complex ethical issues relating to consent, mediation, and appropriation.
The author, Rachel Randall (School of Languages, Linguistics and Film, QMUL), will be discussing the book with Holly Eva Ryan (School of Politics and International Relations, QMUL). Refreshments will be served after the event, which is supported by Queen Mary’s Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CRoLAC). All are welcome and no registration is required.
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There's so much more going on, so I'll probably highlight some more event later in the Semester. For now, just remember to enjoy what London has to offer!
All the best,
Alaya
P.S. Btw, had you ever heard of “looksmaxxing”? As a latest article on The Guardian shows, plastic surgery is increasingly accessed by younger men too!
