Organised by Edge Hill University, this year’s FWSA conference saw feminist academics and activists from 12 different countries converge on Liverpool’s most historic city centre building – the Bluecoat Arts Centre. The international three-day event combined a series of lectures, papers and workshops on a variety of transitions in feminist research and teaching. Led by keynote addresses from Lucie Armitt (University of Salford), Diane Negra (University College Dublin) and Gillian Howie (University of Liverpool), over 100 delegates and speakers discussed a wide range of feminist issues, from (among many others) postcolonial and global feminisms to third wave and post-feminism; the teaching of women’s writing to current research on men and/in feminism. Many of the animated discussions that ensued during and after the panels and workshops – and that were continued late into the night over a glass of wine – revolved around the state of 21st-century feminisms and the social, cultural, theoretical and global transformations that have affected feminism’s identity, representation, activism, politics and teaching.
At the heart of the proceedings on day two of the conference were workshops led by Gina Wisker (University of Brighton) and Gabriele Griffin (University of York). Gina Wisker’s workshop provided an interactive forum for delegates to get in touch with innovative teaching practices and thorny pedagogical issues around the teaching of Women’s Writing. Through a series of exercises and group tasks, participants engaged in reflective practice and examined where the teaching of contemporary Women’s Writing has come from and where it might go in the future. Considering the developments in teaching practice, pedagogy and approaches to teaching women’s literature over the past 40 years, the workshop was extremely valuable for early career academics. In Gabriele Griffin’s workshop, participants delved into the current state of Women’s Studies in the UK. Moving from pedagogy to employment, the workshop provided advice for those scholars seeking a career in Women’s Studies and highlighted the interrelationship between women’s employment, the institutionalisation of equal opportunities and Women’s Studies training. In the context of the decline and closure of Women’s Studies Centres throughout the UK, the workshop underlined the impact of Women’s Studies on the women (and men) who have experienced it and proved the continuing importance of the subject area for teachers and students alike.
The energy and enthusiasm in both workshops and the quality of the papers throughout the conference left no doubt that feminism remains a vibrant force that continues to shape research and teaching across the globe.
Stéphanie Genz and Benjamin Brabon,
Edge Hill University
