Summer Reading Group: Feminist Manifestos, June 7-July 26, 2022

The AIPCT is pleased to announce its summer reading group, led by Megan Volpert, AIPCT Fellow (see bio below). The group will meet on Tuesday evenings during June and July beginning at 7 PM central time, 8 PM eastern.

Trigger Warning: This group is not for the timid and the easily offended. Difficult subjects will be discussed and difficult language will be used in discussion. Participants are, of course, expected to be respectful and to maintain full civility in the discussions.

To request a Zoom link, send an e-mail to personalist61@gmail.com

 

Goals of the Study

  1. Contextualize a manifesto as a historical document

* distinguish the nature and mechanisms of injustice from a feminist perspective

* situate manifesto narratives within cultural movements and philosophical conversation

  1. Appraise forms of rhetorical appeal in a manifesto

* experiment with the affective potential of identity/affinity politics in a manifesto

* identify major feminist themes within a manifesto form

  1. Evaluate persuasive argument structure in a manifesto

* explore the processes of revolution and transition as individuals, communities, and nations

* weigh a call to action within a manifesto

  1. Cultivate our own bravery in commitments for justice

* develop our own perspective on the merits and criticisms of feminist manifestos

* re-imagine systems of justice, harm, collective care, and accountability

Reading Schedule:

The readings come in part from Burn It Down: Feminist Manifestos for the Revolution, edited by Breanne Fahs, available from your favorite on-line bookseller, or from Amazon if necessary.

JUNE 7: introduction to subject, methods of inquiry

Despentes, A Gun for Every Girl

The Chicks, Goodbye Earl

JUNE 14: anarchists and communists (Happy Flag Day!)

Goldman, Anarchy & the Sex Question

Federici, Wages Against Housework

JUNE 21: black lives (Happy Juneteenth!)

Truth, Ain’t I a Woman?

Jane, NOPE

Hersey, Time to Rest

Combahee River Collective, Statement

JUNE 28: queer lives (Happy anniversary of the Stonewall riots!)

ACT-UP, Queer Nation Manifesto

JULY 5: music for the revolution (Happy Independence Day!)

DiFranco, Grand Canyon

Bikini Kill, Riot Grrrrl

Beyoncé, Run the World (Girls)

Staples, I’ll Take You There

Bitch and Animal, Pussy Manifesto

JULY 12: monstrous lives

Freespirit & Aldebaran, Fat Liberation Manifesto

De Beauvoir, Manifesto of the 343

W.I.T.C.H., Manifesto

Joreen, Bitch Manifesto

JULY 19: technologies of the self

Haraway, Cyborg Manifesto

JULY 26: murder and satire

Solanas, SCUM Manifesto

Facilitator

Megan Volpert is a frequent contributor to PopMatters and an Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Kennesaw State University, where she specializes in Gender and Americana. She earned an MFA from Louisiana State University and has written or edited over dozen books on popular culture, including Perfume (Bloomsbury Academic, 2022), Closet Cases: Queers on What We Wear (Et Alia, 2020), and Boss Broad (Sibling Rivalry, 2019). Her awards include Georgia Author of the Year, Teacher of the Year, two Lambda Literary finalists and an American Library Association honoree. Volpert’s philosophical pursuits as a cultural critic run the gamut from high to low in music, television and fashion, usually emphasizing her queerness at some intersection with existentialism, psychoanalysis, or performativity.

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