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Dear All,
Archives at the National Centre for Biological Sciences
Monthly talks framed around explorations in and around archives. Discussions by artists, archivists, academics, lawyers, teachers, journalists and others.
Feminism, the Breath in the Body, the Fire in the Soul
Urvashi Butalia
Wednesday, Apr 13 2022. 5:00pm.
Faculty Hall, Main Building, IISc
Details: https://bit.ly/apls-feminism
Abstract:
In this talk, I reflect on a life lived in feminism and feminist activism and ask: what does it mean to be a feminist? Is feminism like a low-hanging fruit that you pluck and own, and once you have it, you can continue as normal? Or is it something you live and breathe, often with difficulty, and something you own and live by? I ask these questions in the context of living a feminist life for over four decades, and in the context of trying to ‘create’ a feminist institution, a publishing house that focuses on women and their work. What kind of a feminist choice is it to work on and with feminism in a capitalist, corporate world that is essentially hostile to what feminism is trying to do. What are the choices one makes in such circumstances and what impact do they have? The past four or five decades have been rich with feminist activity across India, and yet, we are often asked: what, if anything, has been gained? How does one map the gains and losses of feminism? The complicated and often very fraught terrains of feminist discussion in the age of the internet leave little room for questioning and doubt, which are the very lifeblood of feminism. And yet, as I argue in this talk, there has never been a more exciting and creative moment for us to rethink and reimagine our feminisms.
Bio:
Urvashi Butalia co-founded Kali for Women in 1984 and in 2003, Zubaan. With over 35 years of experience in feminist and independent publishing, she has a formidable reputation in the industry in India and abroad. She also has a long involvement in the women’s movement in India, and is a well-known writer, both in academia and in the literary world. She has several works to her credit, key among which is her path-breaking study of the Partition, The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India, which won the Oral History Book Association Award and the Nikkei Asia Award for Culture. She has also taught publishing for over 20 years and is on the advisory boards of a number of national and international organisations. She has received many awards, among which are the Pandora award for women’s publishing, the French Chevalier des Artes et des Lettres and the Padma Shri.
Bio source: Zubaan Books
