“Digital Transformations of Feminisms in Russia and Eastern Europe” Online Seminar

“Digital Transformations of Feminisms in Russia and Eastern Europe”

Online Seminar

25 November 2022 (Friday)

12.00-15:00 GMT (UK Time) / 14:00-17:00 EET (Eastern European time)

This seminar, jointly organized by the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies and Tampere University’s FEMCORUS research project, discusses the current state and prospects of feminism from the vantage point of digital communication technologies. The event addresses the rapid transformation of the legislative and political context in which digital platforms are used by Russian and Eastern European feminist activists, artists, and journalists. The seminar questions the role of digital dis/connectivity for the feminist NGOs and trans/national networks and scrutinizes how online media might be able to popularize the feminist agenda. The participants will discuss the risks and advantages associated with the social media platforms when creating and maintaining transgressive grassroots movements aiming at decolonization of the post-socialist imperial spaces through anti-racist, queer feminist, and anti-war resistance networks.

The program consists of two sessions. A keynote address by Inna Perheentupa (University of Turku) moderated by Saara Ratilainen (Tampere University) will be followed by a roundtable discussion with Natalia Kovalyeva (University of Tartu), Viktoria Kravtsova (Feminist Translocalities project), Lola Tagaeva (Verstka media) and Maryia Shkumayeva (Feminist Anti-War Resistance), moderated by Ella Rossman (UCL SSEES).

 

Zoom registration link: https://ucl.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwvdu6rpzktGN1fXenAmtU-QASh-8DXIfHL  

Contact: saara.ratilainen@tuni.fi 

 

Program:

12:00-12:10 (GMT) Opening words (FEMCORUS and Ella Rossman)

12:10-12:50 (GMT) “Digital feminist activism in Russia and beyond – challenges and possibilities” (Keynote by Inna Perheentupa, Chair Saara Ratilainen)

13:00-14:30 (GMT) Roundtable “Digital feminism and its transformations” (Speakers: Natalia Kovalyeva, Viktoria Kravtsova, Lola Tagaeva, and Maryia Shkumayeva, Chair Ella Rossman)

14:30-15:00 (GMT) Closing Remarks

 

Speakers:

Inna Perheentupa — post-doctoral researcher in Sociology at the University of Turku, authored the book “Feminist Politics in Neoconservative Russia: an Ethnography of Resistance and Resources” (Bristol University Press, 2022).

Victoria Kravtsova — feminist and decolonial activist and researcher, founder of the Feminist Translocalities project.

Maryia Shkumayeva — feminist activist, media researcher, and representative of the “Feminist Anti-War Resistance” movement against the war in Ukraine; 

Lola Tagaeva — journalist, founder of the independent Russian oppositional online media “Verstka;”

Natalia Kovyliaeva — feminist researcher, junior research fellow in Political Science the University of Tartu;

Ella Rossman — PhD-student at UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies. 

Saara Ratilainen — Senior Lecturer in Russian Language and Culture at the University of Tampere.