Feminism and Social Movements: Notes on hope and despair

Smolović-Jones, Nela; Johansson, Marjana; Pullen, Alison and Giritli-Nygren, Katarina (2024). Feminism and Social Movements: Notes on hope and despair. Gender, Work and Organization (early access).

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.13121

Abstract

More than ever the democratic promise of freedom and equality are under threat (Brown, 2019). This threat extends to the liberatory possibilities of the feminist project (Verloo and Patternote, 2018) as well as to the democratic underpinnings of universities (Prasad and Śliwa, 2024; Connell, 2019). Hope is not lost, however, as social movements continue to rally against oppressive and violent political currents, following the trailblazing global impact of the #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter movements, and women’s movements throughout time. Amidst the human tragedy thousands of people walk the street in protest. The political and ethical assembly of bodies has become a routine feature of the resistance against fascist governments, antidemocratic politics and apolitical knowledge. Feminists and feminist social movements have been central to such resistance, even when they are unnamed.