Decoloniality & Anti-Coloniality: We invite critical conversations about decoloniality, anti-racism, and their intersection with feminist perspectives. We embrace work that is intentional in amplifying the sovereignty of First Nations peoples and ‘bringing to the centre’ the voices of Blac(k), Indigenous and People of Colour voices as a way of decentring ‘whiteness’ in gender discourse and feminist knowledge production.

Breath: “I can’t breathe’ is a slogan that we now relate to resistance of how suffocated we can feel in the face of oppressive systems. Breath is a feminist issue as our nervous systems have been disrupted by violence, inequalities, and pollutions. New laws about strangulation for example, speak to the central role of inhibiting breath in the control of women and gender diverse people around the world. This theme welcomes papers and creative work on any aspect relating to breath including feminist revisions of psychological work on anxiety, domestic violence and femicide, police violence, using breath in art, sport, and music, and more.

Climate change and sustainability: Women and gender diverse people often bear the brunt of environmental degradation and climate change. The impacts of pollution, food insecurity, water scarcity, and natural disasters disproportionately affect people who are minoritised or marginalised, particularly with intersectional disadvantage.  Feminist environmentalism emphasises the need to address these inequalities and ensure that women have equal access to resources and opportunities for resilience. We also seek to understand how efeminisms explore the connections between oppression and the exploitation of the environment and critiques patriarchal systems that dominate both nature and marginalised people, advocating for a more harmonious relationship with the planet.

Technology and AI: Technology and artificial intelligence (AI) wield profound power and have significant implications for gender equality, emerging as pivotal feminist issues in the 21st century. The transformative power of these innovations intersects with societal structures, influencing everything from biased algorithms to workplace dynamics. We seek ideas that interrogate how gender and racial biases embedded in AI can perpetuate discrimination and expand the digital gender divide. We also seek to understand how technology serves as a tool for feminist activism, amplifying marginalised voices and how it has been harnessed for positive change in society.

Love and relationships:  How is the concept of love shaped by societal norms and expectations. How are relationships both oppressive and liberatory? Feminism, at its core, advocates for the equality of all genders, challenging traditional power dynamics and dismantling oppressive structures. We also seek to understand how definitions of love can be extended beyond personal relationships. How can love be theorised as collective and responsive force in society rather than ‘feelings’? How does it connect to broader principles of social justice that emphasise the transformative nature of this ‘force’ to build a more interconnected and caring community?

Global violences: Violences of occupation, invasion, colonialism, genocide, armed conflicts, war, human trafficking, slavery, have profound implications for women, gender diverse people, and children rendering them crucial feminist issues. We seek to learn from your work on that which helps the expansion of our knowledge on the interconnectedness of global violences with structures of patriarchy, white supremacy and capitalism.

Gender based violences: Femicides, rape culture, incel cultures, child marriages, forced marriages, female genital mutilations, Toxic beauty mutilations, honour killings; domestic violences, coercive control, revenge porn, bans on reproductive health are just but a few forms of gender based violences. Gender-based violence reflects and reinforces broader systems of inequality and oppression. We seek conversations that provide frameworks for understanding and addressing the root causes of GBV, advocating for the safety and dignity for all genders

Healing and resting: Rest challenges the pervasive societal expectations and norms surrounding women’s productivity and well-being. In a world where women and gender diverse people often face disproportionate demands on their time and energy, prioritising self-care becomes an act of resistance. Feminism recognises the importance of acknowledging and addressing the physical and emotional toll that systemic inequalities, gender-based violence, and societal pressures can take on people who are marginalised. We seek work that moves us into ways of creating spaces that validate the need for healing and rest as well as challenging the integration of productivity and human worth.

Community and solidarity: We challenge dominant Western norms of individualism and ‘self-actualisation’. Instead, we see community, and solidarity as central to the feminist movement and embodying the recognition of shared experiences, struggles, and forging connections based on empathy, understanding, and mutual respect. We seek to learn from work that engages this sense of kinship, and amplifies the collective voice and power of women and gender diverse people in advocating for gender equality and social justice.

Creativity and joy: Reclaiming joy challenges the conventional narratives that often frame people of diverse genders experiences solely through the lens of struggle and oppression. Through art, literature, music, storytelling, cultural production and various forms of creative expression, people can reclaim their stories and assert agency over their identities.  We seek to examine ways in which joy in a world that often seeks to suppress autonomy and happiness functions as a form of resistance. Here, we seek to understand how creating spaces that celebrate the diverse and multifaceted experiences of women and all gender diverse people allowing them to find joy in their accomplishments, relationships, and self-discovery is a feminist offering.