Invitation to the IPW Lecture “Resistance Beyond the Masculine: Theorising the Ambiguous Freedom of Women Resisters with Beauvoir and Lorde”
Lecturer: Jennet Kirkpatrick (School of Politics and Global Studies, Arizona State University) and Maša Mrovlje (IPW, University of Vienna)
Moderation: Oliver Marchart (IPW, University of Vienna)
When: Thursday, 9 June 2022, 16:45
Where: Hörsaal 32, Hauptgebäude, Vienna
Abstract
In their writings about resistance, Jean-Paul Sartre and Sergey Nechayev depict faithful resisters as sovereign actors who detach themselves from society, show unconditional solidarity, and are always morally certain. Though appealing, their view does not adequately account for some women’s experiences in resistance. We argue for a feminist conception of resistance to address this problem, which we call ‘resistance as a situated encounter.’ We find evidence for a feminist conception of resistance in the work of Simone de Beauvoir and Audre Lorde. Our conception of resistance emphasizes that resisters are embedded, embodied, and vulnerable. These attributes are pathways to non-sovereign freedom, agency, and solidarity, not obstacles to them. We hope that our more inclusive conception of resistance will enable a fuller accounting of women’s roles in resistance movements in the future.
Jennet Kirkpatrick is an Associate Professor in the School of Politics and Global Studies at Arizona State University. Her work focuses on resistance and political theory. She is the author of The Virtues of Exit and Uncivil Disobedience. She has published articles in Political Theory, The Review of Politics, Dissent, Theoria, Politics, Groups, and Identities, Contemporary Political Theory, American Political Thought, and Perspectives on Politics. In addition to her interest in resistance, Professor Kirkpatrick also teaches and writes about morality and politics, and feminist theory.
Maša Mrovlje is a Marie-Curie REWIRE Fellow at the Department of Political Science, University of Vienna. Her research interests are located within contemporary political theory, with a focus on theories of resistance and resistance movements. She is author of Rethinking Political Judgement: Arendt and Existentialism (Edinburgh University Press, 2019). She is currently working on a project on Disappointment: Reclaiming the Unfulfilled Promise of Resistance, which explores the political potential of disappointment within the modern revolutionary tradition.
