--- CANCELLED --- WS: Posthumanist Feminism and Xenofeminism --- CANCELLED ---
- https://www.uni-giessen.de/en/faculties/ggkgcsc/events/semester-overview/previous/archive/Summer%20Term%202018/research-seminars/ws-posthumanist-feminism-and-xenofeminism
- --- CANCELLED --- WS: Posthumanist Feminism and Xenofeminism --- CANCELLED ---
- 2018-06-07T10:00:00+02:00
- 2018-06-07T16:00:00+02:00
Jun 07, 2018 from 10:00 to 04:00 (Europe/Berlin / UTC200)
Phil I, GCSC, R.001
***The workshop has been cancelled. Reschedulded for winter semester 2018/19***
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; this March, 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 organize 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)?
// Structure of Workshop
We will select three to four key texts from reading suggestions we receive. The participants who suggested the reading will briefly introduce and contextualize the material before we will discuss the texts thoroughly in an open seminar format. The aim of the workshop is to understand the basic ideas of these critical perspectives, to compare different theoretical approaches, and to critically reflect on the unspoken premises of the arguments under discussion.
To register for the workshop and/or the Posthumanist Feminism mailing list, please send an
email to hannah.klaubert@gcsc.uni-giessen.de.
Image source: www.laboriacuboniks.net
// Initiators:
Prof. Greta Olson (JLU Gießen)
Prof. Carmen Birkle (Phillips-Universität Marburg)
Dr. Johanna Heil (Phillips-Universität Marburg)
Dr. Sonja Schillings (GCSC)
Liza Bauer (GCSC, Oikos Emerging Topics Group)
Hannah Klaubert(GCSC, Oikos Emerging Topics Group)