“What is Feminist Politics Now? Local and Global”

19-20 September, 2008
Columbia University in the City of New York

The conference will explore:

• The changing meanings of feminism, and its goals (intellectual, social and political) in a global context: to examine whether these meanings can any longer be contained within the rubric of common social agendas.
• Emerging social movements within the United States and beyond, including those that foster the collective interests of women across national, class, religious, and racial borders; the common interests of women and men; and those that call for greater individual autonomy.
• Questions about how women within the post-industrial west can effectively relate to, and remain engaged with, issues that arise from diverse locations and affect differently situated women in different ways.

Schedule

Friday, 19 September, 2008
Columbia Law School, 104 Jerome Greene Hall

8:30-9:30: Breakfast

9:30-10:00: Welcome and Introduction to Conference

Lee C. Bollinger, President, Columbia University in the City of New York
Alice Kessler-Harris, Conference Coordinator
Elizabeth Povinelli, Director, Institute for Research on Women and Gender

10:00-12:30: Genealogies of Feminist Politics (Farah Griffin, Columbia University, Moderator)

What does feminism mean to you? What constitutes a feminist politics? How does feminism matter today?

Ai Xiaoming, Zhongshan University
Katie Cannon, Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Va
Janet Halley, Harvard Law School
Luisa Passerini, University of Turin

12:30-2:00: Lunch, please see list of local eateries in the program

2:00-4:30: Who is the subject of Feminism? (Marianne Hirsch, Columbia University, Moderator)

What is the place of ‘women’ in feminist work? In local and global contexts, can feminism bridge divides?  To whom does Feminism matter?

Dorothy Allison, Writer
Judith Jack Halberstam, University of Southern California
Uma Narayan, Vassar College
Sara Ruddick, The New School

4:30-6:00 PM Keynote Address by

Radhika Balakrishnan, Marymount Manhattan College

speaking on

"Sex, Struggle and Daily Bread"

with introduction by Alice Kessler-Harris, Columbia University

A copy of her report on "Why MES with HUMAN RIGHTS? Integrating Macro Economic Strategies with Human Rights" can be found here.

Saturday, 20 September, 2008
Columbia Low Library, Faculty Room

8:30-9:30: Breakfast

9:30-12:00: Is Feminism Translatable? (Dorothy Ko, Barnard College, Moderator)

How is feminism understood across cultural space and time – as a social movement and/or as a set of understandings about women’s experiences? Are models for achieving feminist aims movable across cultures?

Madhu Kishwar, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies
Lydia Liu, Columbia University
Afsaneh Najmabadi, Harvard University
Obioma Nnaemeka, Indiana University

12:15-1:45: Lunch with break-out sessions, arranged by graduate fellows

2:00-4:30: Liberalism and its Others

A World Leaders Forum Event

(Lila Abu-Lughod, Columbia University, Moderator)

How do problems and solutions within feminism get their meaning? Is liberalism the best (or the only) guarantee of women’s rights? Are there other political paths to gender equality?

Lara Deeb, University of California, Irvine
Inderpal Grewal, University of California, Irvine
Yvonne Hirdman, Stockholm University
Wang Zheng, University of Michigan
Teresa Valdes, Centro de Estudios para el Desarrollo de la Mujer (Santiago, Chile) and Stanford University

4:30-6:00: Closing Session: Linkages (Katherine Franke, Columbia University School of Law, Moderator)

Temma Kaplan, Rutgers University
Juana María Rodríguez, University of California, Berkeley
Neferti Tadiar, Barnard College

6:00: Closing Reception

To register for the conference please visit https://calendar.columbia.edu/sundial/webapi/register.php?eventID=23763