DHIS 27A33 - Women in Movement: history of feminisms from the late 19th century to this day

This seminar will trace the history of pro-women activism and feminist thinking from the late 19th century to this day. The course will be organized thematically with respect to the chronological progression and will be based on a critical intersectional and decolonial approach, which presupposes a reevaluation of the history of feminism organized around the wave metaphor and centered on white middle-class feminisms in West Europe and North America. Throughout the course, we will conduct a decentralized analysis of world feminisms in various local, national, and transnational contexts, such as in colonial and postcolonial settings, within transnational women’s networks during the Cold War, under dictatorships in Latin America and in post-World War II Asia, etc. The seminar will enable students to learn more about the history of various kinds of women’s activism such as Black, Chicana, Third World, Indigenous and Muslim feminisms. Each session will be organized around the discussion of a secondary source (scientific article, book chapter) and the analysis of a primary source (historical document, such as an excerpt of a speech, photo, video, etc.).

• In-class written exercise (week 7) 20%
• Short critical summary of an article or a book chapter from weeks 2-12 (5,000 to 7,000 characters, spaces included) to be submitted before the session: 20%
• Research paper (10,000 to 25,000 characters, spaces included): 50% • Class participation: 10%