Anti-Capitalism and Feminism

Toronto — 12 January 2013.

Moderated by Abbie Bakan. Presentations by:

• “Socialist Feminism in Canada: A Brief History.” Meg Luxton is Professor and Director of the Graduate Program of Gender, Feminist and Women’s Studies at York University. Meg has been active in the women’s liberation movement, the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, and a range of campus and community groups. As a socialist feminist scholar she writes on feminist politics, women’s work (paid and unpaid), international effort to include women’s unpaid work in the UN and the history of the Canadian women’s movement, especially its left-wing currents.
• “Marxist Feminism: Keywords and Key Concepts.” Shahrzad Mojab is Professor in the Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education and Women and Gender Studies, University of Toronto. Scholar, teacher, and activist, Shahrzad is internationally known for her work on the impact of war, displacement and violence on women’s learning and education. Her recent co-edited book, Educating from Marx: Race, Gender and Learning (2011, with Sara Carpenter) is an anti-racist feminist analysis of Marxism for a revolutionary feminist praxis. Shahrzad’s extensive empirical research in diasporic communities in Canada and Europe and the conflict zones of the Middle East has deepened our understanding of capitalist and imperialist patriarchy, culture and fundamentalisms. A unique feature of Shahrzad’s work is making knowledge accessible to the public through the use of arts such as story-telling, dance, drama, painting and film. Professor Mojab’s research and teaching is critical of theoretical frameworks which treat race, gender, and class atomistically. She critiques monopolies of knowledge and power in education, and advocates dialogical and inclusive pedagogical practices.

This forum presented by the Internal Education Committee of the Greater Toronto Workers’ Assembly as part of a series of discussions on anti-capitalism and feminism.