IDEAS Podcast

The meaning of freedom, as the final significant element, the final piece in constructing this mosaic of the political, is offered through a set of reminders as to the meaning that is personal, but the focus is on its political implications. For example, the issues addressed are the limitations of „negative“ freedom and the potential of positive freedom, freedom of the will, freedom from necessity, self-determination, and self-actualization. The author of the text is Jelisaveta Blagojević. The text is read by Daša Duhaček References: Jelisaveta Blagojević, Politics of the Unthinkable/ Politike nemislivog, Beograd: Centar za medije i komunikacije, FMK, Unverzitet Singidunum, 2014.

In order to restore the meaning of political activism and the importance of political engagement, this episode differentiates between politics and political. As opposed to politics, which is restricted to the institutionalized sphere and, albeit insisting on the necessity of both, the episode introduces the concept of the political, it is predicated on contingency, conflict, negotiations and uncertainty, in short – the space of freedom. The author of the text is Jelisaveta Blagojević. The text is read by Daša Duhaček References: Hannah Arendt, The Promise of Politics, New York: Schocken Books, 2005.

This episode also covers a full range of relevant issues, but from the outset suggests that any representation of love, its manifestation is public, or more specifically, it is political. It is connected to power (of love), but, importantly, „the true revovlutionary power of love should not reaffirm any fixed identity, but should be open to change, to constant becoming...thus giving it political potential for growth“ The author of the text is Jelisaveta Blagojević. The text is read by Daša Duhaček References: Jelisaveta Blagojević, The Community of those without a Community/Zajednica onih koji nemaju zajednicu, Beograd: fmk, 2008.

This episode raises many different issues, ranging from questioning what would one think of one’s own friendship(s) to the political aspect of building a friendship, such as connections of brotherhoods, fraternities, and the like. This leads to the question, is friendship gendered? Is it male - dominated? What about sisterhoods? What about friendships between women? The author of the text is Jelisaveta Blagojević. The text is read by Daša Duhaček References: Jacques Derrida, Politics of Friendship, London, New York: Verso, 1997.

The episode is constructed as an interview, and, unfolds the significant issue of political responsibility. In the interview, led by Jelisaveta Blagojević, Daša Duhaček responds by drawing on the political theory of Hannah Arendt. References: Hannah Arendt, „Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship“ in Responsibility and Judgment, Jerome Kohn ed., New York: Schocken Books, 2003. Hannah Arendt, „Collective Responsibility“ in Responsibility and Judgment, Jerome Kohn ed., New York: Schocken Books, 2003.

Interview with Joni Seager, Professor of Global Studies at Bentley University in Boston based on her book Earth Follies: Coming To Feminist Terms With The Global Environmental Crisis, as well as her other research areas, such as masculinity and climate crisis.

Interview with Stella Tereka, a researcher on gender dimension of climate change, or more specifically, effective strategies on gender transformative climate proofing, also exemplified by looking at agriculture and natural resources sectors in Uganda.

Interview with Hildur Knútsdóttir, Icelandic author, feminist and climate change activist. The episode is on the gendering of climate change politics and the tensions and limitations of direct action versus the compromising world of government reform. Reference Joanna Wilson & Eric Chu (2020) The embodied politics of climate change: analyzing the gendered division of environmental labor in the UK, Environmental Politics, 29:6, https://rsa.tandfonline.com/loi/fenp20

Interview with Hafdís Hanna Ægisdóttir (Hafdís Hanna Aegisdottir), who was the Director of the UN University Land Restoration Training Programme, and, is now a research manager at the Institute for Sustainability Studies at the University of Iceland.

Interview with Dr. Auður H. Ingólfsdóttir (Audur Ingolfsdottir), researcher and university lecturer in International politics as social responsibility and sustainability, who explains, from a gender perspective, what is understood when we speak of climate change, as well as how serious are the consequences of climate change.

This episode would have us engage with „humanity’s biggest driving force – hope” albeit from a feminist perspective and it is, therefore, focusing on the right and the imagination of women who look toward a better future. The topic is addressed first from a historical view and takes into account important utopian thinkers such as Thomas More, Fourier, and Saint-Simon, but then shifts to women’s contributions bringing hope, and presents a “brilliant feminist writer” such as Ursula le Guin, draws on poetry so as to address the critics of utopian thought and re-establish its value, especially with a view to women and courageous utopian outlook. The episode is read by the author, Ana Maskalan. References Despot Blaženka. 1987. Žensko pitanje i socijalističko samoupravljanje. Zagreb: Cekade. Eddo-Lodge, Reni. 2019. Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People about Race. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing. Le Guin, Ursula K. 1997. Dancing at the Edge of the World: Thoughts on Words, Women, Places. Newburyport: Grove/Atlantic, Incorporated.

Relying on carefully selected data as well as relevant feminist theorists, such as Mariarosa Dalla Costa and Silvia Federici, this episode highlights the core of the feminist argument on the significance of social reproduction, as it explains how the „production of goods and services and the production of life are part of one integrated process.“ The arguments are further unfolded and strengthened by concrete analysis of capitalist mechanisms as well as strategies as to how to confront them. The author of the episode is Katarina Leaković. The text is read by Daša Duhaček. References Arruzza, Cinzia etal. 2019.Feminism for the 99%: A Manifesto. London. VersoBooks. Mosseri, S. et al. 2020. The future of work and gender: Insightp aper. WGEA Commissioned Research Paper. Sydney: University of Sydney. FoW_insight_paper.pdf (wgea.gov.au) (10 Oct 2022). Wånggren, Lena. 2018. Feminist Trade-Unionism and Post-Work Imaginaries, Journal of Applied SocialTheory1(2): 102-124.

Analyzing some well-chosen works of art in its diverse presentations, from conceptual to performative art - among others - this episode offers an excellent, eye-opening gender reading and astute feminist interpretations of representative women’s art,  centered on women’s perennial experiences of caregiving, everpresent universal maintenance, housework, motherhood – all within the “ aggressive pressure of incessant capitalist development, extraction, competition, innovation, and expansion…” The episode is read by the author, Ivana Bago. References and Discussed Artworks: Mierle Lederman Ukeles, “Manifesto for Maintenance Art” (Proposal for an Exhibition: “CARE”), 1969 https://pompeiicommitment.org/commitment/mierle-lederman-ukeles-the-maintenance-art-manifesto/#01 Sanja Iveković, Diary, 1976, https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/ressources/oeuvre/czA6aj7 Jackson, Shannon. Social Works: Performing Art, Supporting Publics. Routledge, 2011.

The final episode of this module takes on a global perspective, using as a point of departure de-colonial theorists Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Maria Lugones, and others. The key malady, the main disorder, on a global scale, is extreme inequality, its diagnosis is capitalism in its current neoliberal format. International „...institutions ... that should act to reduce inequality, do not have real power to act properly“, moreover, „they are themselves part of the problem, and not the solution.“ However, the episode offers gender analyses through concrete examples and, while looking at the future, points toward a women’s resolve not to give up. The episode is read by the author, Biljana Kašić. References Barbara Ehrenreich, Barbara & Arlie Russell Hochschild, R. Arlie. (eds.).2002. Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, Sex Workers in the New Economy. New York: Metropolitan Books. Ferguson, Susan. 2020. Women and work: feminism, labor, and social reproduction. London: Pluto Press. Website & Online Resources: Bhattacharya, Tithi. 2017. What is Social Reproduction Theory?. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uur-pMk7XjY (short video, November 22, 2017)

This opening episode of the module on feminist political economy and social reproduction is based on qualitative ethnographic research of an illustrative example, namely the Croatian economic system in the transition time of the early 1990s. How, if at all, and at whose expense, one is expected to balance everyday life „ while coping with changes in the diminished and restructured formal labor market, and the crises...“? „In what way have long-term formal unemployed women, dominant caregivers, and their activities in the informal sector, affected their lives, and lives of other family members, many of them also unemployed in the 1990s“? The episode is read by the author, Tihana Rubić. References Burcar, Lilijana. 2020. Restauracija kapitalizma: repatrijarhalizacija društva. Zagreb: Centar za ženske studije - Institut za etnologiju i folkloristiku. Hann, Chris, Keith Hart. 2011. Economic anthropology. History, Ethnography, Critique.Cambridge: Polity Press. Kürti, László, Peter Skalnik, eds. 2009. Postsocialist Europe. Anthropological Perspectives from Home. New York – Oxford: Berghahn Books.

All the questions addressed in this episode constitute the most important issues of sex education which is indispensable in our contemporary society, especially where young people are concerned: What is sex? Is there only one kind of sex? Are sexual practices gendered?  How is sexual health related to all of these? How many forms of relationships are out there? How can I choose? How can I practice safe sex but keep the pleasure? Is a condom the only way to protect me and others? How are all these related to the queer community, etc., etc. Authors of the dialogues in all episodes are members of the Colour Youth group, from Athens, here led by Christiana Gennata. The text was read by Daša Duhaček and Aleksandra Janićijević.

This episode traces how a professor of Law, Kimberle Cranshaw introduced the term intersectionality, first to strengthen the arguments in feminist theory and, following that, how it was deployed in legal processes and expanded into other antidiscriminatory practices. The episode also addresses other relevant issues, such as identity and discrimination against homophobia, racism, xenophobia, and ablism – all in the dynamic dialogue which uses the Greek context, but as this episode unfolds, the issues addressed refer far beyond the borders of Greece. Authors of the dialogues in all episodes are members of the Colour Youth group, from Athens, here led by Christiana Gennata. The text was read by Daša Duhaček and Aleksandra Janićijević.

The team from Colour Youth has offered beyond any obligations to present the IDEAS program with a special podcast that addresses the problems arising from the Covid 19 Pandemic. This episode offers insights into peoples' lives during Covid 19 Pandemic and sheds light on many different faces/facets at the intersection of Covid and LGBTQ experiences. How is a queer identity being connected with the Greek system during Covid 19 restrictions? Are there disparities for trans and nonbinary people during quarantines? Authors of the dialogues in all episodes are members of the Colour Youth group, from Athens, here led by Christiana Gennata. The text was read by Daša Duhaček and Aleksandra Janićijević.

This episode tells a story also by using the format of the dialogue. The story is based on personal experiences of discrimination against a transgender person, whose narrative we follow. And, again, although personal, and in the Greek context, this story is deeply relevant politically. Authors of the dialogues in all episodes are members of the Colour Youth group, from Athens, here led by Christiana Gennata. The text was read by Daša Duhaček and Aleksandra Janićijević.

This episode is an introduction to LGBTQI+ rights. It is focused on the terminology and on clarifying the meanings of the keywords within the topic. It also covers the issues, such as gender, sex, heteronormativity, and transgender, and, of course, explains the words behind the abbreviation LGBTQI+. Authors of the dialogues in all episodes are members of the Colour Youth group, from Athens, here led by Christiana Gennata. The text was read by Daša Duhaček and Aleksandra Janićijević.