WS: Posthumanist Feminism and Xenofeminism

WS: Posthumanist Feminism and Xenofeminism

The relationship between (the concepts of) nature and culture, woman’s socio-political and economic place within this binary as well as technologies of reproduction have long been at the center of feminist inquiry. Continuing these conversations in our globalized, digitalized, and technologized present, the Laboria Cuboniks Collective shared their “Xenofeminism Manifesto” online in 2015; and in March 2018, Helen Hester (a founding member of the collective) published her book-length discussion of xenofeminism and its potential for activist work—this offers a welcome opportunity for us to dedicate one of our workshops on feminist theory to this new development of feminist activist criticism:

“If nature is unjust, change nature” – thus ends the acclaimed “Xenofeminist Manifesto – A Politics of Alienation” by the Laboria Cuboniks collective. Building upon the pillars of anti-naturalism, techno-materialism, and gender-abolitionism, xenofeminism seeks to reimagine the emancipatory potential of feminism in today’s world. Xenofeminism seeks to “strategically deploy existing technologies to re-engineer the world” through providing a “mutable platform” that remains dynamic and available for ever new modification. Nodding to the technophile accelerationist movement, the Laboria Cuboniks Collective envisages political change through boosting the alienating forces of late capitalism.

With the ideas of xenofeminism as a vantage point, we will hold a new workshop on “Posthumanist Feminism” that critically engages with recent strands of feminist thinking. We will explore the scholarly and activist force of the concept of “the alien” that xenofeminism evokes: how can the power of alienation contribute to ‘living a feminist life’? What is the relationship of xenofeminism to Marxist materialist and new materialist feminisms? What perspectives on feminist activism and practice counter the techno-dreams of xenofeminism (e.g., decolonial approaches)?

Readings we will discuss during the workshop will be announced soon.
Please register via stud.ip until January 18.