Diana Mulinari, Lund University

2010-2016

The aim of the project was to explore the contribution of feminist scholarship from the Global South. I had already in my early report submitted to RJ in 2014, argued for a number of (minor) shifts in the project. The first shift challenged the research project´s point of departure that located gender scholars within the Academia. Many of the scholars I met during field work where located within state institutions or worked in collaboration with civil societies and NGOs. The second shift, of a more theoretical matter is the inclusion in the definitions of the margins, through the contribution of postcolonial feminist scholars in Europe. This shift grasps the extensive forms of transnational dialogue that takes place within the field of Gender Studies and in which Diaspora intellectuals play a central role.

The project's three central results
1) "Bending" theories:

The systematic bending ("torciendo" to borrow from one feminist scholars I interviewed) of theories evolving from the Global North is illustrated in the solid and original production of new topics, as well as through creative ways of re-inscribing established ones.

a) The Western roots of feminism continue to be a central topic and a very sensitive one among feminist's scholars from the Global South. The conceptualization of women´s autonomy inscribed within a modernity/secularism paradigm is often confronted with a search of alternative forms of defining the relationship between self, gender, nature and society (Mulinari and Medina. Is indigenous feminism... Feminist? Work in progress)

b) How is gender and sexuality done within gender cultures that create vulnerable women but demand powerful mothers? These are core discussions among feminist scholars, particularly regarding the central role of mothering, community and kinship within many local cultures, creating a tension between strong mothers and weak (female) citizens (Mulinari, Machismo.The Historical Materialist dictionary)

c) The connection between women and the informal economy evolves as a central priority for feminist activists and scholars in the Global South. This topic was already present in my early research on women´s workers in South Africa and Latin America but evolves as a fundamental topic in conversations with feminist scholars. The topic both reflects different global realities, but also relevant theoretical contributions of how the concept of the economy is understood and how the connection between live-hoods and family are analytically defined. (See Mulinari, Introduktionen Jag älskar Pretty Women i Giulia Garofalo Geymonat's book: Köpa och sälja sex: Mellan njutning, arbete och utnyttjande Bokförlaget Daidalos 2016. See also Rätzhel, N; Mulinari, D and A.Tollefson (2015) Placing Globalisation Thrown together but working apart: Workers in a transnational corporations in Mexico, South Africa, India and Sweden. Macmillan. London.)

2) Feminism as a theory of hope.

Feminist scholarship in the Global South share similar theoretical and methodological points of departures and scholarly debates with feminist scholarship in the Global North. There are however relevant differences regarding how the production of knowledge is conceptualized and acted upon. The boundaries between academia, scholarship and activism are more flexible and elastic than the ones regulating relations in the Global North. For these scholars, feminist theory is a normative theory of social justice and an instrument of critical thinking and social transformation and as such a vital tool to challenge resistance to women´s rights in the name of conservative interpretations of Panafricanism, "tradition" or "La Patria" (Mulinari, D Theories of Hope. Feminist intellectuals from the Global South. Work in progress).

3) Translocations
At least for the last three decades, the notion of space has undergone profound transformations, particularly in the context of globalisation. The significance of the local in relation to translocal spaces has been more explored. There is an everyday transformation of the very experience of place and space, where diasporic identities are at the core. Feminist scholars and feminist knowledge move back and forth between localities, both historically situated and culturally specific, across multiple borders, and not just between nation states of the Global North or the Global South (Mulinari et al: Decolonizing the rainbow flag. Cultural Unbound. Forthcoming 2017).


NEW RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The secular/religious divide.
Contrary to feminist scholars in the Global North that have in the last decade been engaged in debates that increasingly conceptualise secularism as an ideology, most feminist scholars identified with the Global South position themselves as secular. Even those with strong religious identities and even those that may argue for the contributions of communal law argue for the need of a secular state. In a context where religious institutions threatens the lives of women, secularism or rather laicism, is a very present feminist agenda (Mulinari, Feministiska och Postkoloniala reflektioner. Religionens offentlighet: Om religionens plats i samhället. Stenström H and A Bäckström (ed) Skellefteå: Artos, 2013).

The mythical power of the "Nordic model

Despite different and even antagonistic positions, the most realistic utopia expressed was a struggle for a women friendly welfare state. The Swedish model was very present in discussions identified as the most gender-equal country in the world and held up as a model to follow. This identification with a historic specific model (and with little knowledge of its shortcomings) creates a need to explore the changing meanings and parameters of gender equality against the country's social-democratic tradition and its multicultural present and future. (See Lundqvist A and D Mulinar. Invisible, Burdensome and Threatening: the Location of Migrant Women in the Swedish Welfare State. Schierup et al. Peter Lang Publications. forthcoming 2016

The research project international edge.

One of the project´s central results is the establishment of dialogue between the Centre of Gender Studies and scholars from the Global South that will continue after the project is finished. Since 2012, the Global Gender Matters network (co-organised together with Prof. Helle Rydström) hosts workshops, lectures and seminars on the topic of Gender and the Global South. Prof. Monica Tarducci. Facultad de Filosofia y Letras. Universidad de Buenos Aires and?Dr. Florencia Partenio on popular feminism in Latin America visited Sweden in 2013 and 2014. I have also organized workshop on Feminism, New Global Movements and Social Justice (2014. 16/17 June, together with Mia Linnarsson and Marta Cuesta).
Together with Prof. Nora Rätzhel I am organizing the second conference on Marxism Feminist with a special focus on the Global South. (Vienna 6-8 October 2016.) and a workshop on Southern Theory with Prof. Ramón Grossfoguel (Lund 28 October 2016.).


Together with Prof. Nora Rätzhel I am organizing the second conference on Marxism Feminist with a special focus on the Global South. (Vienna 6-8 October 2016.) and a workshop on Southern Theory with Prof. Ramón Grossfoguel (Lund 28 October 2016.).

I have been invited as key note speaker at the following conferences:
2013. Feminism and the Nordic Model. Institute of Anthropology. UBA: University of Buenos Aires. Argentina. (4 April).
2014 Resistance, Subjects, Representations, Contexts. 6-8 November.
Kulturzentrum PFL, Oldenburg. In conversation with G. Spivak.
2015 Feminism Reloaded Contested Terrains in Times of Antifeminism, Racism and Austerity. Justus-Liebig Univeristy Giessen. The Women and Gender Studies Association of the German Sociological Association.
The research project interaction with civil society
I have presented the results of the project for diverse groups within civil society (Kvinnofolkhögskolan.Göteborg. Feministisk Festival Malmö, Solidaritet med Aborträtten, Stockholm among many others).
I have also been active in the media: http://www.sydsvenskan.se/taggar/bergoglio/Bromssklossar är ingen att hylla. http://www.sydsvenskan.se/sverige/ideologin-blev-viktigare-an-valdet/ https://www.facebook.com/events/1426952750900549/NordiskForum.
På spaning efter den fjärde feministiska vågen. http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=503&artikel=6016571
https://feministisktperspektiv.se/2015/05/15/bedrovande-nidbild-av-kvinnokampen-i-latinamerika-i-sveriges-radio/
http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/suplementos/las12/13-9749-2015-05-

TWO IMPORTANT PUBLICATIONS
Mulinari, D Human Rights in Argentina: Between Family Memories and Political Identities. Journal of Civil Society. Vol 11. Issue 2.123-13, 2015. Although trauma analysis of conflicted and post-conflict societies remains limited, it is suggested that experiences of trauma are gendered. The doing of feminist theory is in this context highly embedded in societies that have just emerged from violent conflict, making the balance between feminist agendas and human rights agendas difficult to grasp.

Mulinari, D och I Molina .Från hemmet till en arbetsplats, från krav till intimitet till arbetskontrakt. Bortom horisonten: Fackens vägval i globaliseringens tid. Lindberg, I and A Neergaard. Premiss. 229-255, 2013. Care work continues to be a both theorised and highly politicised issue, While debates on domestic workers have been central to feminist debates on intersectionality in Europe, the location of migrant (non-white) indigenous women within national gender regimes need further theorisation among feminist scholarship in the Global South. A well illustration of this was the lack of active mainstream feminism support for the struggle of migrant domestic care workers in Chile and Argentina.

Publication strategies

The publication strategies has been successful: 2 articles in international publications, 1 more submitted and two in progress. An international anthology (submitted to Routledge, Series on Gender and Intersectionality) and four chapters published in Swedish anthologies. I have achieved a post-print version of the international article published and will continue to publish in journals where post-print versions are available. Two of the Swedish articles are available (with permission of the editors) through the Lund University Library.

Publications

Publications

Mulinari , D (2016). Inledning Jag älskar Pretty Women i Giulia Garofalo Geymonat's Köpa och sälja sex: Mellan njutning, arbete och utnyttjande  Bokförlaget Daidalos

Mulinari, D (2015) Human Rights in Argentina : Between Family Memories and Political Identities. Journal of Civil Society. Vol 11. Issue 2.123-136.

Esseveld, J och D. Mulinari (2015) Kön och genus som analytiska begrepp. Feministisk Tänkande och Sociologi. Hedenus, A ; Björk, S och  Green Shmulyar O. Lund: Studentlitteratur.

Mulinari D och J Esseveld (2015) Feministisk teoretisk arbete. Feministisk Tänkande och Sociologi. Hedenus, A ; Björk, S och  Green Shmulyar O. Lund: Studentlitteratur.

Mulinari, D (2015) Machismo. Historical Critical Dictionary of Marxism. 

Rätzhel, N, D Mulinari and A Tollefson (2014) Placing Globalisation Thrown together but working apart: Workers in a transnational corporations in Mexico, South Africa, India and Sweden. Macmillan. London

Mulinari, D (2013) Feministiska och Postkoloniala reflektioner. Religionens offentlighet: Om religionens plats i samhället. Stenström H and A Bäckström (ed) Skellefteå: Artos.

Mulinari, D (2013) Från hemmet till en arbetsplats, från krav till intimitet till arbetskontrakt. Bortom horisonten: Fackens vägval i globaliseringens tid. Lindberg, I and A Neergaard. Premiss . 229-255.

Mulinari , D and A Neergaard (2012) Racismo, clase social y genero en el espacio urbano. NOMADIAS Revista del Centro de Genero y Cultura de America Latina.Vol.2: 57-84.

Forthcoming

See Lundqvist A and D Mulinari (2016)  Invisible, Burdensome and Threatening: the Location of Migrant Women in the Swedish Welfare State. .Schierup et al. Peter L

Mulinari, D; Johannes A and P. Laskar (2016) Decolinizing the Rainbow Flag. (submitted Cultural Unbound.  Cultural Products).

Martinsson L and D Mulinari (ed) (2017) Transnational Feminism.  Local Challenges. Global Dilemmas.  (submitted to Routledge Advances in Feminist Studies and Intersectionality).

Work in progress

Mulinari, D and M. C Medina (2017) Indigenous feminism ….”Is that feminism?”

Mulinari, D (2017) Theories of Hope.  Feminist intellectuals from the Global South.