Sumários
12 Abril 2023, 14:00
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Chiara Nifosi
During today's class, we completed our theoretical introduction to intersectionality. In particular, we discussed the birth of ecofeminism in France with Françoise d'Eaubonne's theories on women's self-management in relation to the demographic growth. After that, we considered the notion of speciesism and discussed examples of how non-human animals are exploited by human animals in the present economic system. To this end, we took into account Derrida's definition of the animot, a neologism that accounts for the arbitrary labeling to which animals have been subject, from an essentialist perspective that reduces them to the same category, regardless of the obvious differences that exist in the animal world. Language is thus seen as a form of violence that justifies and/or replicates an exploitative system.
Finally, we introduced Olivia Rosenthal's work and we commented some passages drawn from the first part of the novel, namely those where the protagonist (a female "vous") and non-human animals are associated with the notion of property.
10 Abril 2023, 14:00
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Chiara Nifosi
During the first part of the class, I gave back the midterm exams and I provided feedback on the three open questions. After that, I introduced the guidelines for the final assignment (submission of abstract + peer review exercise + essay). We discussed the main feature of the genre of the abstract and I provided three examples drawn from scientific journals. The class was divided in three groups, each group analyzed the content and form of one of these abstracts and shared their findings with their peers.
After this activity, we continued our discussion on intersectionality by discussing Carolyn Merchant's theories in the volume The Death of Nature.
29 Março 2023, 14:00
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Chiara Nifosi
Today's class was meant to introduce a new theoretical component in view of Olivia Rosenthal's reading, that is to say intersectionality.
We discussed the birth of intersectional studies in the legal field (Kimberlé Crenshaw and the demarginalization of Black women in the US legal system) and the definition of a particular intersection between two forms of oppression - oppression of women and oppression of nature. This led to the introduction of the notion of ecofeminism. Most of the class consisted in the discussion of concrete examples of this intersection (UN report on natural catastrophes and Green Belt Movement in Kenya).
27 Março 2023, 14:00
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Chiara Nifosi
The students took the midterm written exam during today's class.
22 Março 2023, 14:00
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Chiara Nifosi
Today's class was the final one on Lola Lafon's novel.
We commented some passages drawn from the book (please see the slides in the Drive) that describe the action undertaken by PF and Voltairine in the second and third part of the text - the tag on V's abuser's house, the banners, the occupation of the Home, the workshops in Jumièges, and the actions that follow Emile's return from the hospital.
We reflected on the juxtaposition of walking and conspiring as both revolutionary acts. Then, we analyzed the relevance of protesting for a more general discourse on the body as a political instrument (protesting in the streets implies putting your body in the frontline and exposing it to potential physical damage), and how the insurrection can be interpreted in this sense as the voluntary choice to expose yourself and as a counterpoint to the constant danger in which women find themselves due to someone else's choice.
Finally, we discussed whether the actions undertaken in the novel and the idea of participation succeed in shaping alternative female subjectivities. While the novel seems to have a pessimistic finale, deliberate choice and appropriation of male discourses suggest that political action created a space where women find (or may find in the future) new means of expression.