AVIVA-BERLIN.de im November 2024 - Beitrag vom 15.04.2014


Call For Papers - Digital Feminisms: Transnational Activism in German Protest Cultures - bis zum 1. Juli 2014
AVIVA-Redaktion

Pussy Riot, Lady Bitch Ray und die Twitter-Kampagne Aufschrei: Die Zeitschrift Feminist Media Studies sucht nach Beiträgen, die sich mit gegenwärtigen feministischen Aktionsformen beschäftigen.

The relative rise or decline of feminist movements across the globe has been debated by feminist scholars and activists for a long time. In recent years, however, these debates have gained renewed momentum. Rapid technological change and increased use of digital media have raised questions about how digital technologies change, influence, and shape feminist politics. These questions are particularly pertinent in the context of transnational flows of feminist ideas, politics and protesters, giving rise to a range of research questions: How do local centers for feminist political activism engage with the digital transfer of transnational protest movements, and how has this incorporation changed local activism? How does feminist activism travel and translate in the age of digital proliferation? How do other, often nationally inflected art forms such as literature, film, and theater engage in the notion of digital protest? And does feminist activism have the potential to transform discourses around the digital economy, equity, and democracy, such as those related to open access?

This special issue interrogates the digital interface of transnational protest movements and local activism in feminist politics. Examining how global feminist politics is articulated at the nexus of the transnational/national, we take contemporary German protest culture as a case study for the manner in which transnational feminist activism intersects with the national configuration of feminist political work. The special issue will explore how movements and actions from outside Germany´s borders circulate digitally and resonate differently in new local contexts, and further, how these border-crossings transform grass-roots activism as it goes digital.

Germany provides a useful case study for exploring these issues for several key reasons. As Myra Marx Ferree has noted in her recent book "Varieties of Feminism: German Gender Politics in Global Perspective", the specific history of German feminism, tied to but markedly distinct from Anglo-American feminism, provides a significant counterpoint for considering the transnational flow and the local contexts of feminist theories and actions. Furthermore, Germany has witnessed a resurgence of interest in and debate about feminism over the past decade, including a proliferation of feminist activism driven by digital media. This resurgence of feminism has derived from a variety of factors, including nativist debates about Germany´s declining birth rate; increasing economic precarity, especially for women and minorities; debates over migration and multiculturalism; and the rise of Islamophobic discourse. Finally, because of its unique history and its crucial role within Europe today, Germany represents a key site for considering the intersection of feminist activism with questions of sexuality, citizenship, race, ethnicity, religion, and economic disenfranchisement. The special issue will thus consider Germany as a point of confluence for the urgent questions facing global feminisms today. Its conclusions will thus shed light on the potential impact of global feminist activism on other national, transnational, and digital contexts.

We seek manuscripts that emphasize the interplay between the transnational reach of feminist campaigns and the nationally specific contexts in which they are taken to the street, discussed in the media, or prosecuted in court. Contributions which highlight the intersections and tensions that emerge between feminist activism, racialized and sexualized bodies, neoliberal strategies of co-optation, and economic precarity will be of particular interest.

Topics in relation to digital feminisms in a German/transnational context include but are not limited to: