Thirty years ago women were writing of 'the unhappy marriage of marxism and feminism'. Though the two schools of thought cohabit uneasily, the recent annual Historical Materialism conference in London showed that each has something to gain from listening to the other
During the Cold War years, while British colonialists were being driven out of East Africa, the first US intervention in the region occurred in Zanzibar. It proved to be a model - many aspects of which are being repeated in the 'War on Terror'.
The recent protests in Sudan were characterized by unprecedented levels of street participation. Dalia Haj-Omar asks why the international community continues to ignore the regime’s long-term governance failures, choosing economic interests over human rights, and failing to offer tangible support
One of the goals in a new report on women and Arab Spring by CARE International is to build bridges between religious and secular women. Gita Sahgal says this fails to address the real problem: the rise of fundamentalism and the lack of clarity on the need for a secular state.
The UK Immigration Bill has no clear targets: it gives ordinary individuals the power to decide. Will we use an accurate legal definition, or act on what we read in the papers and hear from the Home Secretary herself? Asks Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi
Incarceration is emblematic of women’s confined and marginalised position in society. Reducing women’s imprisonment in the UK is a social justice imperative, says Jenny Earle
Meet Catherine Bennett: an alternative, positive role model for girls. Created as an antidote to the flood of sexual and misogynistic representations of women that surround girls today, Bennett is a testament to the emancipating power of digital performance.
"Feminism is only frightening to those who gain the most from oppression, to those who would stifle the human spirit and hold the world in stasis. The rest of us really do have nothing to lose and everything to gain". Finn Mackay speaking at the FiL Conference
Feminists lift their sights to capitalism, racism and militarism. Cynthia Cockburn reports from the Feminism in London conference on devising whole-istic feminist strategies of resistance.
Below the radar of the Geneva-2 peace talks, Bosnian and Syrian women are meeting to discuss the lessons that must be learnt from the failure of the Dayton Agreement. Without the voices of those who have the greatest stake in preserving peace in their countries, peace agreements don't work.
Charlotte Bunch pays tribute to Sunila Abeysekera (1952-2013), a courageous feminist and human rights advocate within Sri Lanka, and a leader in South Asia and globally.
