A critical introduction to feminism with Lola Olufemi
This course is perfect for anyone looking for an introduction to feminism which helps untangle the wide variety of feminist thinking and the pitfalls of liberal feminism.
Revolutionary Feminism
In five lectures, Lola Olufemi helps us think together about what feminism is, who it's for and what it should do in the world. Rather than an abstract set of ideals, we’ll think about feminism as a political movement and as a method for analysing and resisting capitalism. We'll also think about feminism as imagining and creating a world anchored in freedom for all, democracy and justice.
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Lola Olufemi is a black feminist, writer and researcher from London, and the author of the acclaimed book Feminism, Interrupted.
The course is accessible to everyone, whether you're already familiar with feminist thought, or just beginning to approach it for the first time.
What you'll learn:
Lecture 1: Who is Feminism For?
This lecture will focus on the question of who and what feminism pertains to. Is feminism centered around a specific kind of person? When we say we are making “feminist” demands, what exactly do we mean by this? Is feminism for everyone?
Lecture 2: Brief Histories of Feminist Resistance Across the World
This lecture will trace instances of feminist resistance, solidarity and action across the globe thinking about the historic work of feminist and liberationist movements in the former British Colonies, the Kurdish Women’s Movement and Latin America. It will reflect on what we can learn from these events as well as their historic significance.
Lecture 3: Traditions, Strategies and Methods
What are the methods and strategies that feminist scholars and organisers and revolutionaries use to explain the operation of capitalism, race and gender? How does feminist thinking happen, what are the debates internal to feminist scholarship regarding capitalism and ideas like “social reproduction” and how are they relevant to political organising?
Lecture 4: Feminist Creativity and Social Relations: Art, Literature and Collectivity
What is feminist creativity and how does it aid liberation movements? What is the role of creativity in anti-capitalist struggle? How is the imagination related to the fight for a better world? Drawing on the work of Black feminist artists and writers, it will use examples from literature, visual art and other artistic mediums to demonstrate that culture is an integral part of political struggle.
Lecture 5: What now? Contemporary Feminist Debates and Political Demands in Britain
In Britain, we find ourselves at a moment of crisis. This lecture will examine the analysis and political demands of present-day feminist organisations in the United Kingdom such as Sisters Uncut, Feminist Fightback and The Feminist Anti-Fascist Assembly as well as organisations who do not explicitly define themselves as ‘feminist’ but nonetheless employ feminist strategies and methods. How are present-day feminist movements returning to materialist analysis of the state, prisons and policing; how are they fighting back against transphobia and what is their response to the growing wave of contemporary fascism? In other words, how do we synthesise what we have learnt in this course into practical action, what now?