This course will consider what it means to be ‘feminist’ in contemporary Pacific society, and the goals of indigenous Pacific feminist action and advocacy. Through a series of guest lectures, the course will showcase the stories of various self-identified Pacific feminists, revealing their triumphs and challenges in articulating a vision of change in their own contexts. Students will also engage with a range of Pacific media – print and digital – to consider key issues pertinent to feminist struggles in the region, and strategies adopted by feminists to address these. Finally, the course will interrogate the occurrence of ‘feminist backlash’ in the Pacific, and consider its roots and consequences.
Topics covered under the course:
- What is Pacific feminism and who can be a Pacific feminist?
- Feminism and Pacific cultures: inherent tensions or opportunities for respect?
- The foreignness of feminism: do foreign ideas and actors do more harm than good?
- Effective Pacific feminist strategies: from solidarity to coalitions to movements
- Feminist backlash: who drives anti-feminist sentiment in the Pacific and how?
- Feminism as critical reflection: achievements and continuing challenges
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- identify, describe and relate critically to global and Pacific understandings of and divisions within feminist theory
- use appropriate language, terminology and concepts for discussing gender and feminist thought in Pacific contexts
- present a written and verbal analysis of contemporary feminist concerns in the Pacific
- critically assess Pacific feminist strategies to achieve gender equality in terms of both Pacific and global normative frameworks.
- design an original Pacific-appropriate feminist campaign to address gender inequality in the Pacific
Indicative Assessment
- Reflective piece (30) [LO 2,3,4,5]
- Feminist campaign (70) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
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Workload
Contact hours: 8 x 90 minute seminars
Non-contact hours: 50 - 60 hours of independent study
Inherent Requirements
Not applicable
Prescribed Texts
None available
Preliminary Reading
Ahmed, S. 2017. Living a Feminist Life. Durham: Duke University Press.
Ahmed S., Winter, B., and Ermarth, E. 2000. Whose counting? ; Who counts (or doesn't count) what as feminist theory? ; What counts as feminist theory? In Feminist Theory
Alver, J. (2017) Pacific feminist voices - will they be heard? http://www.broadagenda.com.au/home/pacific-feminist-civil-society/
Brimacombe, T., Kant, R., Finau, G., Tarai, J., & Titifanue, J. (2018). A new frontier in digital activism: An exploration of digital feminism in fiji. Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies, 5(3), 508-521. doi:http://dx.doi.org.virtual.anu.edu.au/10.1002/app5.253
Bulbeck, C. 2009, Sex, love and feminism in the Asia Pacific: a cross-cultural study of young people's attitudes, Routledge, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon;New York.
Charter of Feminist Principles for Pacific Feminists http://www.fwrm.org.fj/images/PFF/PFF-Charter-Final-2Dec2016.pdf
Hawkesworth, M. 1999. Analyzing backlash: Feminist standpoint theory as analytical tool Women’s Studies International Forum 22(2):135-155.
Jolly, M. (2005) Beyond the Horizon? Nationalisms, Feminisms, and Globalization in the Pacific. Ethnohistory 52 (1): 137–166. doi: https://doi-org.virtual.anu.edu.au/10.1215/00141801-52-1-137
Jolly, Margaret (ed) 2008. Re-membering Oceanic Masculinities. The Contemporary Pacific 20(1).
Norlander K. 2013. Empathetic reading. The art of reading a text in its own terms
Swedish Secreteriat for Gender Research.
George, N. (2010). 'Just Like Your Mother?' The Politics of Feminism and Maternity in the Pacific Islands. The Australian Feminist Law Journal, 32, 77-96. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.virtual.anu.edu.au/docview/744489639?accountid=8330
McPhillips, K. (2002) Feminism and Religion in the Pacific Region: Some Critical Reflections
Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 83-90
Ralston, C. 1992. The Study of Women in the Pacific The Contemporary Pacific, Vol. 4, No. 1 , pp. 162-175
Trask, Haunani-Kay 1996. Feminism and Indigenous Hawaiian Nationalism. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 21(4):906-916.
Tusitala Marsh, Selina 1998. Feminism: migrant overstayer or model citizen? In Kalpana Ram and J. Kehaulani Kauanui (eds) Migrating Feminisms: the Asia-Pacific Region. Women’s Studies International Forum.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 14
- Unit value:
- 3 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 3.00 | 0.06250 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2023 | $2160 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2023 | $3090 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
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Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
