The GI Publishes
Professor Diane Perrons contributes her article 'Global' Financial Crisis, Earnings Inequalities and Gender: Towards a More Sustainable Model of Development to the most recent edition of Comparative Sociology|.
The GI Blogs
As Feminist Review celebrates its 100th issue, Mary Evans assesses its lasting contribution to academic debate. 'A Home of One's Own'| written for the Times Higher Education Supplement in April 2012.
Read Professor Evans's other articles on the LSE Politics Blog. Mary Evans has written that ownplaying the public acknowledgement of the achievements of women in sport is rather like saying everyone should have a government but only men can vote for it. Professor Evans's post Criticizing the rioters being labelled as "scum"| is the LSE Politics Blog's 3rd most popular post of 2011, with over 3,100 views since publishing on the blog and over 400 Facebook shares. Her post on David Willetts' blaming of feminism for male working class unemployment| is the 4th most popular post of 2011, with over 2,800 views since publishing.
Dr Ania Plomien meanwhile has been blogging for European Politics and Policy| at LSE. She discusses how one of the European Union’s main priorities is tackling growing unemployment. However, she argues the current approach fails to deliver. While Europe undertakes a number of labour-supply-measures such as training schemes and apprenticeships, it is the demand for labour in Europe which is still essentially lacking.
Gender Institute Alumna Institute Published
Gender Institute Alumna Gwendolyn Beetham and Advisory Committee member Sarah Franklin have both had articles published in the Fall 2010/Spring 2011 issue of The Scholar and Feminist Online| web journal, entitled "Critical Conceptions: Technology, Justice and the Global Reproductive Market".
Links to our Alumni| and Advisory Committee| web pages.
Mary Evans - BBC Woman's Hour
Mary Evans, Centennial Professor at the Gender Institute appeared on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour on 9 June to discuss whether Women's Studies is really on the decline, or merely being approached in a different way to accommodate society's changing attitudes to gender. Listen to The Changing Nature of Women's Studies|.
Gender Institute Alumna shortlisted in FWSA Essay Competition
The Feminist and Women's Studies Association (FWSA) shortlisted Jeanne Firth and Maria do mar Pereira|, both Gender Institute alumna, in their annual essay competition, awarding essay work which is innovative, interdisciplinary and grounded in feminist theory and practice.
Both shortlisted essays will be published in the Journal of International Women's Studies.
Maria do mar Pereira
Maria comments:
"I was absolutely delighted to receive the news that I had been shortlisted for this award. The Feminist and Women's Studies Association (FWSA) has over the years played a leading and profoundly inspiring role in promoting research and education in women's and gender studies in the UK, and so it is an enormous pleasure and an even greater honour to have my work recognised in this way by the association. This shortlisting feels even more special because it comes on my very last year of being a student at the Gender Institute. I am very relieved to have now finished my PhD thesis, but the experience of studying in the GI was a life-changing one, and so it is great to be able to have this award as a souvenir of all the incredible experiences I had here and the amazing people I met along the way (including, of course, Jeanne: many congratulations to her as well!)."
Brief outline of Maria's essay:
"In this essay I examine non-feminist scholars' discourses about the epistemic status of women's, gender, feminist studies (WGFS) in Portugal. I show that mainstream scholars in contemporary Portuguese academia regularly claim that WGFS can produce proper knowledge but only sometimes, in particular conditions, or up to a certain point. I draw on ethnographic fieldwork in classrooms and conferences to identify instances of those claims and I analyse the boundary-work they do, i.e. how they establish the boundaries of what constitutes proper knowledge, and how feminist research is positioned vis-à-vis those boundaries. I argue that these discourses produce an epistemic splitting of feminist work and that this splitting allows for a selective and dismissive recognition of WGFS' credibility and relevance."
Jeanne Firth
Jeanne comments:
"I am absolutely thrilled and feel honoured to be shortlisted for the FWSA prize. My time at the Gender Institute provided an incredibly robust foundation from which to conduct research and engage in analysis. I am so grateful to all my mentors and advisers at the LSE, as well as the phenomenal cohorts and colleagues who continue to support and guide my work. Thanks to all of you who have contributed to this research in a wide variety of ways. And congratulations to Maria do mar Pereira - it is a true honour to be shortlisted with her!"
Brief outline of Jeanne's essay:
"This research stems from my engagement in food systems work. The essay examines the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity's action plan that is foundational to First Lady Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' campaign. The 'obesity epidemic' is widely accepted as a major public health threat in the United States. My analysis of the report reveals ideological anxieties about race, American citizenship, changing gender roles and women's bodies. The framing of obesity as a personal problem and individual failing reflects a merger of American individualism and neoliberal ideals. Self-regulation and responsibility (and the mother's responsibility for her children) are key in prescriptions to manage obesity, reflecting biopolitical techniques of governance and a new model of 'the healthy American citizen'."
Gender Institute Flourishing
LSE's Gender Institute has grown so rapidly over the last five years – challenging the view that the field is in decline in the UK - that it is now the largest of its kind in Europe and has just become an autonomous academic department. A part of LSE's Sociology department from 2003-2010, the decision was made to become independent due to a large increase in student intake and because its research direction has become steadily more interdisciplinary. Click here for more|.
Clare Hemmings' New Book
Why Stories Matter is a powerful critique of the stories that feminists tell about the past four decades of Western feminist theory. Clare Hemmings examines the narratives that make up feminist accounts of recent feminist history, highlights the ethical and political dilemmas raised by these narratives, and offers innovative strategies for transforming them.
Clare Hemmings is Director of the LSE Gender Institute and a Reader in Feminist Theory.
Click here for more|
Mary Evans Times Higher Education Article
Read Mary Evans - LSE Centennial Professor at the Gender Institute - lamenting the growing use of 'university-speak' in the academy - otherwise known as a part of the 'knowledge economy' in her article So Clichéd| in the Times Higher Education (12 Aug 2010)
LSE Teaching Excellence Awards
Each year the LSE Students' Union invites students to nominate the teachers that have encouraged and inspired them. This year, students were asked to give particular consideration to those teachers that had been particular active in providing feedback. There were 27 nominations this year for staff from 15 different departments/institutes and five prizewinners. Several of the staff nominated have already received teaching prizes through Major Review or the Departmental Class Teacher prize schemes - and are demonstrating that they continue to do a great job.
We are delighted that one of the five Prizewinners is Dr Wendy Sigle-Rushton (convener, MSc Gender & Social Policy). Wendy was nominated by her MSc students.
"She has structured her course in such a way that students are able to receive meaningful, honest feedback on their seminar presentations."
"Wendy was perfect at making us engage and develop our awareness of where our work could be improved in a way that was accessible, intelligent and constructive."
Given the focus on feedback this year, it is great to see what the students particularly value from their teachers on this dimension.
New Episode: Anne Phillips on Ownership and the Body|
Is the human body a piece of property? We certainly object to the sale of whole human beings, but what about cases where a person merely wants to sell a part of her body? If I am free to donate my organs, why am I not free to to sell them as well? For Professor Anne Phillips, the problem lies in treating the body as property, analogous to any other commodity.
Impact of Impact podcast available
Fathering and Work Life Balance: Challenges for Policy ESRC Evaluation of Project rated "Outstanding"
Contemporary social expectations and individual aspirations have added nurturing and caregiving to the fathers' traditional role of providing income. However, few policies have been effective in supporting active fathering. Fathers' working hours remain long; there has been little or no increase in part-time work, and take-up of paternity and parental leave is low. Thus, any increase in fathers' contribution to childcare remains modest - especially if measured against mothers' increased contribution to paid employment.
Middle class fathers are increasingly using handymen to do household chores so that they can more effectively balance work and family life, according to new research which has discovered an increase in the use of male domestic labour. Based on research by Dr Majella Kilkey of the University of Hull and Professor Diane Perrons| and Dr Ania Plomien| of the London School of Economics and Political Science, these findings are part of a broader analysis of the relationship between globalisation, migration, and social reproduction carried out within an ESRC-funded project 'Situating Men within Global Care Chains: The Migrant Handyman Phenomenon'. More|
June 2010: We have received confirmation from ESRC that they evaluate this project as "outstanding".
