Just as any public space, the digital spaces we inhabit and traverse, are spaces of interaction and exchange of all kinds: social, cultural, political and commercial. As the liberation of feminist speech and expression of gender violence expands online, we interrogate how propagative the online space is for comprehensive community building and what these communities can look like.

Hashtag #feminism has been empowering for many, but we need to take a closer look at whether these “movements” also exclude and re-traumatize certain individuals or groups and how. Where legal frameworks cannot (and often do not) work, can a culture of listening to and learning from the narratives of women and trans people who face oppression and violence be transformative? We examine the shortfalls and challenges of digital feminist communities as we explore the nature of online power dynamics and dissent.

You are all most welcome to attend this seminar at 1. 00 pm on Wednesday, 16 October (classroom 52.219).