Beyond Revolution or Behind It? The Politics and Practice of Contemporary Feminism across Academic and Activist Communities

This cutting edge conference grows out of our interest as academics and activists to understand the relationship between practice, experience, and theory. Theories of race, multiculturalism, Marxism, postcolonialism, and feminism ground work in Women's and Gender Studies – we will consider what realities these theories address (or ignore), what praxis they strengthen (or fail to), what communities they reach, and which they may leave behind. Is the grassroots and activist sentiment inspiring these concepts trumped by the theoretical vocabulary used to describe them? Do the pressures of academies and institutions limit the execution of diverse expressions of feminism in the classroom and on the ground? 

In dynamic conversations and strategy sessions we will confront the multiple ways our identities as community members, academics, activists, and/or researchers inform the ways in which we conduct our work and share our knowledge. From here, we will address and question the real and imagined boundaries between activism and academia, reflecting positive collaboration and empowering relationships across multiple fields.

This conference will showcase investigations into and models of cross-disciplinary and cross-community collaboration. Bringing together alternative activist scholarly and community work, we will represent a new vision of radical pedagogy and integrative practice.

In an effort to model the alternative methodology addressed in the conference abstract, this conference will follow a non-traditional structural and organizational format. Presentations took the form of open dialogues; panels were followed by topic-based, hands-on workshops; and other opportunities were included for attendees to share their knowledge, experience, and opinions equally with topic presenters.