Archiving the Future of Marxist Feminism in the U.S.

Kathi Weeks, Professor of Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies at Duke University, will open this workshop with a paper that constructs a counter-archive for the future of U.S. Marxist feminist theory from three key texts: Shulamith Firestone’s 1970 Dialectic of Sex, Donna Haraway’s 1985 "Manifesto for Cyborgs," and the Laboria Cuboniks Collective’s 2015 "Xenofeminism" manifesto. The first part of the paper explores the category of the archive: what exactly does it mean to call this collection of texts an archive rather than a tradition, and how might it help to frame a distinctive conception of feminist time? In the second part of the paper, Weeks argues that this archive is compelling to feminism in the current moment because of its provocation to "scale-up" feminism’s theoretical project and political imagination.

The workshop will then be dedicated to a discussion of the issues and questions raised by Kathi Weeks’ paper and the texts she addresses, paying particular attention to the Xenofeminism manifesto which attendees are invited to read in advance. The text is available online in English, German and other languages here: http://www.laboriacuboniks.net

Kathi Weeks is a Professor with the Program in Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies at Duke University and the author of The Problem with Work: Feminism, Marxism, Antiwork Politics and Postwork Imaginaries as well as Constituting Feminist Subjects. She is also editor of a recent collection of texts on "The Politics of Public Bathrooms", published in South Atlantic Quarterly.

The workshop is organised by the Bildungswerk Berlin der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung. The event has been made possible through funding from the Stiftung Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin. It is free, but registration is essential. Please note that places in the workshop are limited to 25.

The workshop will take place in English.