Transatlantic Conversations Feminism as Travelling Theory

The second wave of feminism which challenged and changed many assumptions about the world in which we live was a product of various western cultures, with no single country possessing a monopoly on the writing of the texts that became the canonical statements of the 'new' feminism. Though many of the contributions to feminist scholarship that went on to become internationally significant hailed from Europe and the United States, these works were often formed within the context of local debates and framed within traditions of feminism and other political engagements specific to these nations.  Transatlantic Conversations explores the differences yielded by such conditions and their consequences for the meaning of feminism. Examining the meaning and implications of the different ways in which various shared categories have been treated on both sides of the Atlantic, this volume both analyses differences within feminism and provides a framework for the wider discussion of what is sometimes assumed to be the homogeneity of The West.  With leading scholars from either side of the Atlantic presenting brand new work, Transatlantic Conversations suggests directions for future research which will be of interest to scholars of feminism, gender studies, sociology, political science and international relations, geography and cultural studies, as well as anyone concerned with the ways in which the different political and intellectual traditions of Europe and the US have shaped current political and intellectual debates.

Contents: Introduction - transatlantic conversations: feminism as travelling theory, Kathy Davis and Mary Evans; Part I Becoming a Feminist in a Transatlantic Context: A feminist transatlantic education, Sarah Franklin; Crossings, Clare Hemmings; My father, an agent of state feminism and other unrelatable conversations, Gul Ozyegin; Bridging different gaps: East, West, Europe and the USA?, Andrea Petö. Part II Activism Inside and Outside the Academy: Re-narrating feminist stories: black British women and transatlantic feminisms, Ann Phoenix; Floating signifiers and fluid identities: feminist and other queer travels, renée c. hoogland; Writing in the dark: reflections on becoming a feminist, Kelly Coate; Is there a feminist in this class? Academic feminisms and its generations across the Atlantic, Veronica Pravadelli; Chronos and knowledge: a target of the feminist agenda today, Maria Antonieta Garcia de Léon; Passages to feminism: encounters and rearticulations, Christina Scharff. Part III Theoretical Engagements: There are many transatlantics: homonationalism, homotransnationalism and feminist-queer-trans of colour theories and practices, Paola Bacchetta and Jin Haritaworn; 'Often what's not said is just as important as what is': transnational feminist encounters, Carolyn Pedwell; On not engaging with what's right in front of us: or race, ethnicity and gender in reading women's writing, Gabriele Griffin; Visions of legacy: legacies of vision, Gail Lewis; Feminist travels: a historical and textual journey, Nancy A. Naples; Constellations - conversations: three stories, Gudrun-Axeli Knapp; Epilogue; Index.

Kathy Davis is Senior Research Fellow at the Vrije University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Mary Evans is a Visiting Professor at the Gender Institute, London School of Economics, UK.