FemiLISm now!: Identifying and exploring feminist theories and methods in CAIS/ACSI and ASIS&T conference proceedings, 1993-2021

Intersectionality Theory emerged as a Black feminist criticism of single-axis frameworks applied in antidiscrimination policy and in feminist theory. The central idea in seminal intersectionality theory is that the intersectional experiences of Black women are greater than the combination of single-axis experiences of either racism or sexism. The effects are compounded in the experience of Black women, contributing to further marginalization as they are systematically excluded in discussion of racial policy or feminist theory. Intersectionality theory research to date is narrowly focused on the context within which it was developed. This article discusses findings of two independent research projects, each of which implies a multidimensional application transcending the traditional African American female experience upon which it is based. Intersectionality Theory may provide a pathway to understanding the systematic marginalization by specific phenomenon or cultural experiences of other groups such as Asian Americans, undocumented or first-generation immigrants, or members of the LBGTQ+ community. The potential for further research to expand this theory to broader applications may inform political policy and influence societal change.

Imtiaz Dharker’s poetry offers a searing critique of the intersecting forces of religion, culture, and gender that shape women’s identities and lived realities. This paper undertakes a close textual analysis of three of her seminal poems—Purdah, Honour Killing, and This Room—to trace the trajectory from female constraint to self-liberation. Through the lens of feminist, postcolonial, and intersectional theory, the study explores how Dharker exposes patriarchal structures that confine women physically, psychologically, and spiritually, while simultaneously gesturing toward acts of defiance and self-assertion. Situating Dharker in conversation with poets such as Adrienne Rich and Kamala Das, the paper highlights her unique ability to weave personal experience with broader socio-political critique. Religion and culture emerge not as static entities, but as contested terrains where women negotiate agency, resist oppressive traditions, and reclaim bodily and intellectual autonomy. By juxtaposing Dharker’s work with global literary discourses on gender and identity, this paper argues that her poetic vision not only interrogates structures of power but also reimagines spaces for liberation and transformation. This study adopts a qualitative, textual analysis framework to interrogate select poems from Imtiaz Dharker’s oeuvre- Purdah, Honour Killing, and This Room and examines the intersectionality of religion and culture through gender, with Feminist theory and Postcolonial theory serving as the central critical lenses.

What has been the contribution of Higher Education Research & Development (HERD) to feminist scholarship? This analysis utilises Acker and Wagner’s definition of feminist scholarship as having the following characteristics: puts women and gender at the centre of analysis, deconstructs unequal power relations, works toward improving women’s lives, values participant voices, emphasises care and collectivity, and acknowledges researcher positionality and reflexivity. We analyse the articles published in HERD over 40 years using a methodology adapted from Hart’s analysis of the Journal of Higher Education, the Review of Higher Education and Research in Higher Education. As feminist scholars, we are heartened by the outcomes of our analysis, while noting gaps and opportunities for feminist scholarship. We recognise the work of the feminist scholars who have published in HERD, many of whom we highlight in this article. This article is a starting point for a sustained analysis of feminist scholarship in higher education, with scope to apply the methods of this analysis to intersectional feminisms and examine the scholarly contributions of queer, non-binary, Indigenous and global south higher education researchers. There remains significant work to be done in conducting, publishing, citing and evaluating feminist and intersectional scholarship in higher education.

The instrumental use of Muslim women’s experiences as a symbol and justification for Western countries interventions is not a new business and was not employed for the first time in the post September 11th “war on terror” campaigns. Indeed, the production of stereotypes of Muslim women in political platforms can be tracked back to different colonial enterprises. Clearly, as Lughod (2002) has highlighted, the consistent resort to a cultural framing through the equation women/religion/suffering has always been a tool to hide political and economic interests and consequently to bury more complex political and historical developments. In the academic sphere, debates on Muslim women also widened. However, as Lila Abu-Lughod (2002) contended, the efforts were almost put solely on denouncing the great violent and oppressive contexts where those women were living under the barbaric violations perpetrated to them by Islamist movements. Otherwise, if a scholar tried to problematize the cultural framing of Muslim women’s questions, she (or he) would very likely be accused of cultural relativism (Lughod, 2002). Therefore, a sole and unproblematic focus on the suffering of Muslim women is not only futile, but also contributes to reify the old Orientalist perceptions on Islam and Muslim women, and to provide intellectual foundations for Western imperialist wars. The objective of this article, on the contrary, is to raise another set of questions, which I believe to be more urgent. These questions aim at both unpacking Muslim women as a discursive category, and understanding the major challenges their experiences impose on secular feminist conceptions of agency. I contend that addressing these questions is more urgent for different reasons. Firstly, I argue vigorously that apart from the obsessive and somehow blind criticism that religion is inherently patriarchal and consequently oppressive to women, scholarship especially from within feminist theory remained oblivious to a more systematic and self-reflexive engagement with religion and Muslim women. In addition, I argue that surprisingly, even in a period of post-Orientalist deconstruction, which supposedly would have already dismissed those essentialist and repressive accounts of Muslim women and Islam, subtle but very important remnants can still be found on the so called “corrective” postcolonial feminist scholarship on Muslim women. Indeed, there is a plurality of work on Muslim women in the social sciences. However, they are scattered and apparently separated by their own agendas and claims, with very few attempts at dialogue or debate. Hence, a systematic account of this diversity has been missing, one which could provide an up to date appraisal of the state of scholarship and activism on Muslim women, and build a firm foundation for advancing knowledge both of the subject itself and on interdisciplinary efforts like the one I advance here. Therefore, while doing a systematic and critical literature review, oriented specifically by an interdisciplinary approach, I expect this article to fill part of this gap and raise crucial questions in order to build knowledge of the intersection between Muslim women’s studies and feminist theory. It is here where more research is certainly needed in order to reduce the gulf that exists between both areas. The introduction of this article outlines briefly the ways through which Muslim women have been approached as a discursive category, constructing stereotypes of Muslim women in political platforms, as well as on the academic stage. Politically, the production of stereotypes can be tracked back to different colonial enterprises and more recently to the interventions by Western countries that comprised the “war on terror” campaign. On the academic stage, these stereotypes were reproduced in the sole efforts to denounce the great violent and oppressive contexts where those women are living, as previously mentioned. The first section is concerned with the exclusion of religion and more specifically of Muslim women’s experiences from history and feminist knowledge production, including IR feminist studies. I acknowledge that the ontological and epistemological openness in feminist and gender studies in international relations and other areas ensured the recognition of the existence of differences and of multiple “layers” of identities which affect sexed bodies in distinct ways. These were crucial to challenge Eurocentric narratives as the only legitimate source of knowledge production. However, I put forward in this section that despite a greater plurality in feminist studies, there is still a silence from feminist theorists regarding religious women’s experiences, and hence, the importance of religion to women (Salem, 2013). Using the work of Phyllis Mack (2003) I argue that one of the reasons for this gap resides in the metanarrative of secularization, which is the basis of secular feminist scholarship. Within this analytical framework, I analyse how the conceptions of agency and emancipation underlying the different strands of secular feminism are limiting to the different voices and experiences of Muslim women. The second section addresses the challenges Islamic feminism imposes to feminist notions of agency. As religion is seen as inherently patriarchal and oppressive to women, Islamic feminism or any other effort to pursue gender equality from within an Islamic framework would be taken as contradictory or incompatible. By locating the struggle within a religious framework, and at the same time claiming for the existence of what seems to be the untouchable foundations of Islam, Islamic feminists are cast away from secular feminisms. I argue that those experiences of activists and scholars make serious challenges to the notions of agency based on rationality and secularity as the only pillars whereby women can struggle for and reach gender equality. As a result, Islamic feminism(s)’s experiences also help to unsettle and complicate some binaries which feminist theory has been contributing to reify, such as secular/spiritual; reason/obscurantism; science/religion; freedom/oppression; modern/backward. In the third section, the article discusses some of the piety women’s movements anchored on Saba Mahmood’s work on pietistic agency, firstly in order to highlight the inability of most feminist scholarship in capturing the diversity of Muslim women’s voices; second to denounce the perilous nature of encapsulating women’s agency solely within “the entelechy of liberatory politics”. These movements advance very different agendas and orientations from the Islamic feminist ones. Those agendas are precisely what denounce the subtle but very important remnants of Orientalist assumptions, particularly its adherence to secular-liberal values, and the teleological conceptions of modernity (Lakhani, 2008). I conclude the article arguing that rather than neglecting the important achievements feminism promoted in the lives of women in different parts of the world, the main intention of this work was to provincialize (to borrow the expression from Chakrabarty) the secular and liberal accounts of agency, feminism, empowerment, freedom and so on, locating them in the historical, political and cultural context that produced the desires that animate them.

This study explores the representation of feminism and gender power relations in Kretek Girl series episode 2 through a semiotic and feminist theoretical framework. Using John Fiske’s semiotic analysis combined with Laura Mulvey’s concept of the “male gaze” and bell hooks’ intersectionality theory, this research examines how female characters are portrayed in relation to patriarchy, class, and cultural context. The study employs a qualitative descriptive approach focusing on narrative structure, visual elements, dialogue, and character representation to uncover how signs construct feminist meanings within the story. The findings reveal that Kretek Girl presents a nuanced depiction of feminism, characterized by a tension between women’s resistance and patriarchal dominance. Female characters demonstrate agency and empowerment, yet remain constrained by social norms that reinforce gender hierarchies. The semiotic analysis highlights how visual and narrative codes—such as costume, body movement, and camera framing—reflect both subordination and subtle defiance against male-centered perspectives. Furthermore, intersectional aspects of class and culture shape different experiences of womanhood, emphasizing that feminism in Indonesian media operates through negotiation rather than confrontation. The study concludes that Kretek Girl contributes to the evolving discourse of feminist representation in Indonesian cinema by portraying women’s empowerment as a complex, layered process within a patriarchal society.

This article is part of a lifelong commitment to bring the experiences of women of color to the forefront of academic discussion. It is a reflection on the struggles, sustaining forces, and legacy passed on by women of color, who are social work educators to future generations of women. Framed by feminist theory and the theory of intersectionality, the narratives of 16 women of color are points of reflection. The findings of their narratives affirm multiple barriers and challenges, sustaining forces, and the legacy passed on by these pioneers to future generations. Implications for policy, practice, and research are also discussed.

Context Materials which exceed the balance of their production and destruction lead to the deterioration in the environment. Plastic is one such material which poses a big threat to the environment. A huge amount of plastic is produced and dumped into the environment which does not readily degrade naturally. In this paper, we address the organization of a large body of literature published on the management of waste plastics being the most challenging issue of the modern world. Objectives To address the issue of the management of waste plastics, there is a dire need to organize the literature published in this field. This paper presents a systematic literature review on plastic waste, its fate and biodegradation in the environment. The objective is to make conclusions on possible practical techniques to lessen the effects of plastic waste on the environment. Method A systematic literature review protocol was followed for conducting the present study [Kitchenham B, Brereton OP, Budgen D, Turner M, Bailey J, Linkman S. Systematic literature reviews in software engineering - A systematic literature review. Inf Softw Technol 2009;51(1):7-15.]. A predefined set of book sections, conference proceedings and high-quality journal publications during the years 1999 to September 2017 were used for data collection. Results One hundred and fifty-three primary studies are selected, based on predefined exclusion, inclusion and quality criteria. These studies will help to identify the fate of different waste plastics, their impact and management and the disposal techniques frequently used. The study also identifies a number of significant techniques and measures for the conversion of waste plastic materials into useful products. Conclusion Five fundamental strategies are used for the handling of plastic waste. These strategies include: recycling, depositing in landfill, incineration, microbial degradation and conversion into useful materials. All of these methods have their own limitations, due to which there is need to explore the studies for optimum solutions of the management of plastics waste.

BackgroundDermatomyositis (DM) and polymyositis (PM) are rare heterogenous systemic autoimmune disorders of the skin, muscles and other organs that may have a devastating impact on patients’ lives. Despite various therapies...

Feasibility, appropriateness, meaningfulness and effectiveness of nursing interventions on the well-being of people with Parkinsonʼs disease and their caregivers living in the community: a mixed-methods systematic review protocol

The objective of this review was to determine whether the use of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) would provide greater support in developing undergraduate nursing students' clinical reasoning, in comparison to more traditional resources such as textbooks. The search strategy sought to identify published data from five electronic databases: CINAHL, Medline, Cochrane Library, Meditext and Scopus. Unpublished literature was also sought in digital dissertations, conference proceedings, relevant scholarly websites and reference lists. All undergraduate nursing students were considered eligible for inclusion. Types of interventions considered for this review were inclusive of all forms of PDAs and traditional resources. The research setting of this systematic review reflects the diversity of nursing practice, and includes the classroom, clinical or simulated environment. The process of clinical reasoning was defined by four outcome measures; alterations in theoretical nursing knowledge, clinical skills, problem solving and reflection. Studies of potential significance to the review were assessed for methodological quality independently by two reviewers using the Joanna Briggs Institute Meta Analysis of Statistics Assessment and Review Instrument. Authorship of the studies was not concealed from the two reviewers. From the nine studies assessed for quality, only data from four studies were included in the review. Four published studies were included in the systematic review of literature. The designs of the studies included a nonrandomised quasi-experimental design, case control study, comparative descriptive design and a pre test post test mixed method study. Four outcomes were identified by the four included studies. These outcomes addressed possible effects of PDA usage on undergraduate nursing students' practice of medication administration, self-efficacy, anticipation to exercise professional nursing judgment and clinical reasoning.This systematic review provides evidence that the use of PDAs is able to improve nursing students' self-efficacy and accuracy in clinical situations that require direct and context-free answers, such as medication administration, but is not as supportive as textbooks in assisting students to apply this knowledge critically in decision making and problem solving. The use of PDAs by undergraduate nursing students can improve students' confidence in the often stressful clinical environment. This bears significance in contemporary nursing education where undergraduates are failing to maximise the clinical experience because of insufficient support or guidance from busy clinicians or supervisory staff. From these findings, PDAs are also beneficial in improving the accuracy and efficiency of medication administration in nursing students. However, the application of the knowledge provided by PDAs is not supported to be used critically in its application to decision making and problem solving. Nursing students need to be educated in methods to develop critical analysis in order to use these resources effectively. This systematic review highlights the poor quantity of literature currently available in nursing and the subsequent need for primary quantitative studies examining the effect of PDAs in developing undergraduate nursing students' clinical reasoning skills.

Succinctly locating three decades of innovative feminist epistemological challenges in relation to Western philosophy and sexual politics, [this book] is a boldly erudite tour de force, invaluable and indispensable for specialist scholars and general readers alike.-Judith A. Allen, professor of gender studies and history, Indiana University Inquiry accomplishes what many texts claim to, but few achieve, namely, a truly interdisciplinary approach. By explicating the philosophical, political, and empirical concerns that enliven feminist epistemology, Mary Hawkesworth provides a rich resource for anyone interested in answering the question 'how do feminists know?'-Nancy A. Naples, author of Feminism and Method: Ethnography, Discourse Analysis, and Activist Research Over the past three decades, feminist scholars have rocked the foundation of academia by challenging long-established beliefs, contesting dominant research paradigms, and identifying new strategies of analysis. How are we to understand these feminist interventions? Do they capture a truth about race and gender that mainstream scholarship has missed? Do they provide important insights into the politics of knowledge? How do feminist uses of traditional research methods differ from their deployment by nonfeminist scholars? What is distinctive and innovative about feminist research? Feminist Inquiry provides scholars and students with a comprehensive guide to methodological issues within feminist scholarship. Mary Hawkesworth presents lucid introductions to key philosophical debates about the nature of knowledge, an original account of feminist scholarship's contributions to these debates, and a sophisticated assessment of the analytical tools that feminist scholars have created to improve understandings of the world. Drawing upon contentious debates concerning the incidence of rape, public support for reproductive rights, affirmative action, and welfare reform, Hawkesworth demonstrates how seemingly abstract questions about the nature of knowledge have palpable effects on the lives of contemporary women and men. Feminist Inquiry makes epistemological debates-previously the exclusive preserve of philosophers-accessible to a wider audience, and demonstrates the practical and academic importance of these issues. Mary Hawkesworth is a professor of women's and gender studies at Rutgers University and the editor of Signs, Journal of Women in Culture and Society.

Today intersectionality has expanded from being primarily a metaphor within structuralist feminist research to an all-encompassing theory. This article discusses this increasing dedication to intersectionality in European feminist research. How come intersectionality has developed into a signifier for ‘good feminist research’ at this particular point in time? Drawing on poststructuralist and postcolonial theory the authors examine key articles on intersectionality as well as special issues devoted to the concept. They interrogate the conflicts and meaning making processes as well as the genealogies of the concept. Thus, the epistemology and ontology behind the ‘intersectional turn’ in feminist theory is the main concern here. The authors argue that the lack of ontological discussions has lead to its very popularity. Intersectionality promises almost everything: to provide complexity, overcome divisions and to serve as a critical tool. However, the expansion of the scope of intersectionality has created a consensus that conceals fruitful and necessary conflicts within feminism.

Talent Management (T.M.) constitutes a modern and emerging research area in Human Resources Management (HRM). Using a systematic literature approach, we searched in Talent Management literature in the healthcare sector context. We conclude that the number of related studies is minimal. The benefits of implementing Talent Management strategies in healthcare organizations are essential for the organization’s sustainable development and the talented staff and healthcare services patients. Our goal is to undertake a systematic literature review to identify these factors related to talent management practices suitable for healthcare organizations and professionals. We have conducted, according to PRISMA guidelines, a systematic literature review (2010–2020) in the electronic databases PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Health Source/Nursing Academic Edition. Search terms related to T.M. were (“Talent Management” AND “Talent Healthcare”). Strict inclusion and exclusion criteria were set for observational studies, while grey and unpublished literature, uncontrolled studies, protocols, commentaries, and conference proceedings were excluded. All included items were assessed for their quality according to set criteria. Six hundred and eighty-four studies were identified, of which 24 met the requirements. The resulting Talent Management Factors were grouped into nine categories: Programming, Attraction, Development, Preservation, Performance Assessment, Work Climate, Culture, Succession Planning, and Leadership. Based on these factors, we provide a holistic picture of the referred domain’s leading developments. The paper determines the Talent Management factors and explains what happens in practice. In this way, we contribute to building a theoretical framework for T.M. in terms of the organizational context.

Who is sensitising whom? A participatory interview guide development as an awareness tool within a health care research project

When they began to flourish in the 1970s, women’s film festivals offered pivotal opportunities for the exhibition of films by women filmmakers beyond the mainstream. Since then, these festivals have grown into significant platforms for the dissemination of and research into women’s films and are actively shaping the global film festival landscape. Yet, despite this proliferation and the advance of the burgeoning field of Film Festival Studies, little research has been undertaken into the organisation and development of women’s film festivals. This thesis presents the first lengthy study that explores women’s film festivals in depth. The key concern of this research project is to fill a conceptual gap in scholarship by mapping the field of Women’s Film Festival Studies. It is situated at the intersection of Film Festival Studies, feminist theory and feminist film theory and draws on a multidisciplinary theoretical and methodological framework. The enquiry is based on Patricia White’s understanding of cinefeminism, which is concerned with the exhibition and distribution of women’s films as an activist practice. Departing from this theoretical starting point, this thesis examines women’s film festivals from four perspectives: their history, their position on the film festival circuit, their relationship with feminist theories and their archiving practices. At the heart of this analysis are case studies of four festivals: a study of the Dortmund | Cologne International Women’s Film Festival, a comparative study of the London Feminist Film Festival and Underwire Festival in London, and a reconstructive study of the Women’s Event at the 1972 Edinburgh International Film Festival. Drawing on findings about these festivals, this thesis proposes a conceptual framework for the study of women’s film festivals that is informed by their history, impact, activism and documentation. The thesis also focusses on an underexplored aspect of the feminist film movement: exhibition. It lifts women’s film festivals out of the generic framework of niche film festivals, and draws connections between Film Festival Studies, history and archive studies. Thus, the conceptual originality of the work is found in its contribution of new knowledge to the fields of feminist film theory and Film Festival Studies. The research design is based on feminist research methodologies and is rooted in Standpoint Theory and a feminist epistemological understanding of knowledge production. As such, another key contribution of the thesis is a methodological intervention, which is not only valuable within the academic context of the field, but can also be applied by festival organisers and practitioners. This thesis attempts to reconstruct a comprehensive history of women’s film festivals and embeds their development in the context of the general history of film festivals and the political progress of women’s movements. Moreover, it draws parallels and highlights differences between the cultural and political contexts of individual festivals, and provides a survey of contemporary women’s film festivals. With regard to women’s film festivals on the global festival circuits, the thesis suggests how different purposes of these festivals inform how they are positioned in relation to one another. In terms of feminisms at women’s film festivals, it analyses the way different feminist theories become manifest at these festivals and proposes that contrasting theoretical perspectives can be present simultaneously at the same festival. Finally, considering the state of archiving women’s film festivals, it argues that renewed encounters with historical festivals through the archive can produce new knowledge about these events, which can inform contemporary and future practitioners. The thesis takes the view that the future of women’s film festivals lies in their past. Every aspect negotiated in this thesis draws a connection between contemporary and historical women’s film festivals and considers how the past informs the present and the future. As such, the research serves as a practical application of what Kate Eichorn describes as the archival turn. It proposes an open dialogue between the historical progress of women’s movements, which gave birth to the idea of women’s film festivals, and contemporary feminist activism at festivals and festival research, by looking backwards and forwards at the same time.