Feminism & Gender

Increase in domestic violence, lay-offs, care responsibilities, restrictions on domestic and international movement, economic insecurities, psychological burdens - these are just a few of the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic in Asia in the last two years. The gendered nature of COVID-19 impacts is obvious and has sparked large feminist responses in the region.

An example of misunderstood identity and representation politics on the part of the UN: the international intervention to include Syrian women in the negotiation process was not a success.

This article is an effort to ground feminist leadership in what the author(s) deem to be its essence: transformative collective power for the common good of all nature.

Feminist leadership requires an active experience of meaningful engagement - a deliberate effort to create the deeper human connections of trust, inspiration, empathy and solidarity. In an age of extreme uncertainty, these connections cannot be an after-thought.

 Lou Herbst talks to Ed Greve about the opportunities and limitations of an anti-discriminatory identity politics, intersectionality and what ultimately leads to a divided society.

Statements we encounter in conversations about left-wing identity politics which it is important to respond to.

Why are identity politics and criticism of discrimination often equated with one another and what consequences does this have for dealing with the ongoing reality of social violence in a serious way?

In the 1990s, excesses of ethnonationalism led to the devastating Balkan Wars. Today, left-wing liberal agents are trying to free themselves from these destructive forces.

What if leaders of all stripes, from diverse sectors, started to follow the kinds of feminist leadership approaches that have been championed by activists from all over the world for decades. How might this type of leadership help us to navigate our way through these splintered, uncertain times?

It still feels so rare to see non-profit leaders take a firm, defiant stand when facing backlash for their attempts to disrupt the status quo. It still feels unusual to see a leader lean into, rather than away from their values when push comes to shove.