Call for rapid responses to Trump and Women’s March

The Women’s March on 21 January 2017 was conceived and initiated in the time between the US election result of 8 November 2016 and the 20 January presidential inauguration of Donald Trump. US-centred, it also saw global impact with over 600 marches in dozens of countries. Estimates of participation number as high as 4.5 million people. Trump, his close advisors and cabinet are regarded by many commentators to reflect a new far-right or illiberal leadership previously unknown in the US, with potentially radical national and international effects. The cabinet is currently the least diverse in terms of ‘race’ and gender of recent times, and has rapidly instituted a growing list of measures targeting marginalised groups such as The Global Gag Rule, the removal of the Affordable Care Act and bans on refugees from predominately Muslim countries.

We welcome submissions which address the Women’s March and the Trump administration. We have provided a list of questions which may inspire commentary, but broader analyses are also welcome.

Submissions may include blog posts, research agendas, activist perspectives, creative writing, policy analyses or position pieces. We expect submissions to range from 1500 to 8000 words. Submissions may be in English, French, Greek, Spanish, German, BSL, American Sign Language or International Sign Language (for sign language submissions please contact the editors first, so we can ensure appropriate support). We ask that all submissions include a title and abstract in English as well as the original language. Submissions will be reviewed by the editorial team, and where appropriate subject to a rapid peer review. IPED is fully open access with authors retaining full copyright of their work. To submit please visit this link http://journals.hw.ac.uk/index.php/IPED/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions

In your covering email please note that your submission is for the Call for rapid responses to Trump and Women’s March.

Deadline – 27th February. Planned publication end of March 2017.

Please direct queries to: Christopher Lyon c.lyon@dundee.ac.uk or Kate Sang k.sang@hw.ac.uk

Questions:

1. What is the potential for intersectional approaches to scholarship and feminist activism to provide a robust and effective response to the rise of autocratic leaders such as President Donald Trump?
2. Can the Women’s March of 21 January 2017 act as a catalyst for progressive and inclusive social change, and in what ways?
3. How can intersectionality be used to provide a basis for social change and resistance to encroaching attacks on human rights? Where are the pitfalls and limits of intersectionality both as a theoretical construct and a basis for social change?
4. Does the Women’s March reflect a different form of protest or action beyond normative activism? How can we understand the Women’s March in the context of broader debates around violent and non-violent protest?
5. What can the Women’s March learn from previous social justice protests, for example, the Civil Rights movement, the women’s Suffrage movement?
6. What role did technology play in organising this march? What might this mean for its potential?
7. Where does The Women’s March sit with other forms of protest, for example, Black Lives Matter and the North Dakota Pipeline?
8. What are the lessons for efforts outside of the US, for example, responses to Brexit and the rise of far-right politics in France and other parts of Europe and Australasia?
9. The massive scale and global nature of the protest meant that it likely included many people who would not normally identify with or participate in protest activism. What does this level of participation mean for intersectional discourses and practices that normally define participation in this form of activism?
10. How does the social justice focus of the Women’s March connect with other highly controversial Trump administration policies such as those related to climate change, international trade, and toward Russia and China?

Photography courtesy of Danielle Eiseman (Chicago March) and Kate Sang (Edinburgh March)