Session by: Q Manivannan, University of St Andrews

Why is it important to study and have a critical understanding of gender in our everyday lives? How does it manifest in politics, market economies, households, conflict zones, international organisations, governments, and knowledge systems? This lecture will introduce you to key theories and concepts in Gender Studies, from questions of history and biology to a reimagination of the gender binary. It engages with historical debates in gender and sexuality, and reviews academic discourses surrounding intersectionality, culture wars, caste, religion, economics, and politics. The lecture will question modern pop culture discourses on gender and trans inclusion, alongside reviewing cases of women and queer rights movements across the past decades (and centuries, even)! From Judith Butler to Andrea Dworkin, and Gayatri Spivak to Ratna Kapur, we will attempt to question what it means to live embodied lives, and how care, joy, and grief have accompanied questions of gender across space and time.

Session by: Dhouha Djerbi, Geneva Graduate Institute

This is an introductory lecture exploring core concepts in feminist political economy. We will look at the basics of the gendered division of labor, focusing on the role that predominantly women play in maintaining household labor and care work—or what is referred to in feminist scholarship as social reproduction. We will examine how this labor, while important to sustaining people, households, and communities, is often invisible and rarely considered in mainstream economic thinking. Together, we will unpack issues of women’s double-burden, time-poverty, and the importance of households as ‘social factories’ in the current economic system, both in India and beyond. In the following workshop, we will apply the newly gained theoretical insights to exploring real-life case studies and learn how scholars from political economy to sociology apply different tools and methodologies to understanding social reproduction. By the end, you'll have gained a solid theoretical foundation as well as practical analytical skills to understand the gendered economy.

Session by: Tarika Khattar, University of Cambridge

This lecture examines the poetics of gender in some classic works of radical Indian literature. We contemplate how the experiences of masculinity and femininity are constituted and the issues of socialisation connected to these identities. We will consider the model of the traditional family, the challenges posed by modernisation, and the impact of socialism as it developed through the Progressive Writers’ Movement. Through the course of this lecture, we will also examine the relationship between gender and nation, particularly in the context of the Indian independence movement.

Session by: Nasema Zeerak, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota

This introductory workshop explores the encounter between postcolonialism and feminism, a branch of feminism that aims to bring to the surface and include the experiences of individuals from the Global South into the feminist discourse. By acknowledging the enduring legacies of colonialism and imperialism, we will explore how decolonial feminism provides a nuanced critique of both mainstream/hegemonic feminism and the systemic oppression embedded in postcolonial states. Our topics of discussion include a comprehensive introduction to the historical impact of colonialism and imperialism, examining how their enduring legacies shape our world today. We will also delve into the various feminist movements that have emerged in response to these historical forces and delve into the key principles that underlie postcolonial feminism. And finally, we will engage with pivotal postcolonial feminist thinkers and introduce the concept of intersectionality as a fundamental tenet of subaltern feminism.

Session by: Louise Courbin, University of St Andrews

In this introductory workshop, we will delve into fundamental concepts that underpin the understanding of the role of gender in shaping global politics, conflicts and peace. We will begin by delving into the gendered lens through which international politics is viewed. Understanding how gender influences power structures, policies, and decision-making processes on the global stage is crucial. A significant portion of the workshop will also be dedicated to the intersection of gender and conflicts in international relations. We will analyze how the theoretical perspectives of gender identities and roles allow for deeper and more complex understanding of the onset, escalation, and resolution of both peace and conflicts worldwide.

Building on feminist scholarship, we will examine the concept of social reproduction in an international context. This will include discussions on the often invisible but critical roles that individuals, predominantly women, play in sustaining societies and communities during times of conflict and how gendered lenses have distorted these realities. We will therefore critically assess mainstream international relations theories and policies to highlight the need for a more inclusive and gender-aware approach to global issues. This workshop is designed to provide you with a comprehensive theoretical foundation in the international politics of gender but also introduce practical analytical skills to comprehend and critically assess the gendered dimensions of global politics.