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
- Contextualize a manifesto as a historical document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
- 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
- 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
- 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.