Decolonising Feminism

The conference will critically consider the entanglements of feminism with colonialism and anti-colonialism.

The Wits Centre for Diversity Studies will host an international conference on the 23, 24, 25, 26 August 2016 in Johannesburg at the Sunnyside Park hotel, Parktown. The conference will critically consider the entanglements of feminism with colonialism and anti-colonialism.

Feminism has a multifarious history in that, while some critical feminist expressions have conceived of patriarchy as a global concern, many branches of feminism have elided the experience of non-Western women from critical feminism, or have enshrined Eurocentric values within a feminist discourse. Some theorizations have obscured the struggles of women who are queer, transgender, or disabled, and racialized social structures have given white feminists more direct access to political power and public discourse than those feminists who confront combined gender and racial oppression. The mantra ‘feminism is for everybody,’ which is also sometimes written ‘feminism is for everybody,’ calls attention to the need for feminist modes which are not merely adaptable to non-Western experience, but which are rather fused at the root with the diversity of women.  

The conference will feature performances by: Thandi Ntuli, Yonela Mnana, and Drama for Life’s Playback Theatre. 

The opening registration cocktail function will take place on the afternoon of the 23rd August 2016, 5pm, at Sunnyside Park hotel with a special performance by Yonela Mnana. The conference will host Film screenings on the evening of the 24th August, at Sunnyside Park hotel. Films include:

• The One In Nine Campaign's ‘Feminists in Conversation: Sex, politics and leadership’ featuring 7 feminists from different sectors speaking about about feminism, sex, feminist leadership and the movement in SA;
• 'Rights of Passage: Love and Loss in the Time of Mandela'

Thandi Ntuli will be performing at the conference’s Evening Event on the 25 August 2016, at the Living Room, Maboneng Precinct, 5pm. The cost is R350. 

On the evening of the 26th August 2016, 6pm, we will be hosting a Public Event with Dr Grada Kilomba at the Wits Theatre, 6pm. This event is open to the public.

Keynote Speakers

Professor Pumla Gqola

Professor Srila Roy

Dr Grada Kilomba

Professor Maria Lugones

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