“Feminist killjoys” of Swiss Academia (1.2)

On June 14th 2019, over half a million people flooded the streets to promote more time, respect and wages for women in Switzerland. This feminist movement, fueled by activists from various contexts also found its way into the academic space: Students formed collectives, many scientists took a stand in the media, manifestos were written and many demands were placed. Inside and beyond their institutions, academic feminists expressed criticism against patriarchal syllaby, working conditions, sexual assault at universities, discourses around excellency and more. We got in the way, or, to use Sara Ahmeds famous figure: We tried to be “feminist killjoys”, within the limits and possibilities of our positions, positionalities and institutions.

In this talk, we will discuss with different representatives of the feminist strike movement in Swiss academia what they were trying to achieve, how their institutions reacted and how they perceive the consequences of their activism.

Panel Chair
Gender Campus

Participants
Carine Carvalho, Equal Opportunities Officer, University of Lausanne; member of “IDEAS – Inclusion, Diversity and Equality Association of Swiss Universities”
Clémence Demay, Graduate Assistant, Faculty of Law, Criminal Justice and Public Administration, University of Lausanne; member of the “collectif UNIL-EPFL” of the feminist strike
Manuela Hugentobler, PhD student, Institute for Public Law, University of Bern; co-writer of the “Academic Manifesto for the Feminist Strike”
Anna Sommer, Project Manager at Gender Campus
Aline Vogt, PhD student, Department of History, University of Basel; Member of the “AG Hochschulen” of the feminist strike in Basel; Co-founder of the feminist student organization “Socordia. Die feministische Student*innenverbindung der Universität Basel”
Alessandra Widmer, Research Assistant at Gender Campus (moderation)

Language: Englisch