As 'anti-gender' movements become more prominent globally, we ask Judith Butler and feminist activist Tooba Syed to share histories and forms of resistance.

What might feminist, queer and decolonial forms of resistance teach us about diverse forms of 'anti-gender' backlash? How can we generate political solidarity to counter 'anti-gender' mobilisations across different contexts? Our keynote speakers will reflect on political, epistemic and ethical interventions and open up for discussion with the audience.

Meet our speakers and chair

Judith Butler is Distinguished Professor of the Graduate School and former Maxine Elliot Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Program of Critical Theory at the University of California, Berkeley. They were the Founding Director of the Critical Theory Program and International Consortium of Critical Theory Programs at UC Berkeley. Butler is active in gender and sexual politics, human rights, anti-war politics, and serves on the advisory board of Jewish Voice for Peace.

Tooba Syed (@Tooba_Sd) is the secretary of the socialist-feminist women collective and organisation Women Democratic Front. Syed has regional expertise in Pakistan and South Asia and eight years of experience working as a feminist researcher, trainer, campaigner, writer and teacher in the areas of gender studies, gender-based violence, feminist education and climate change adaptation.

Clare Hemmings is Professor of Feminist Theory in the Department of Gender Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She works across feminist and queer studies exploring the political and epistemological impact of the stories we tell about these fields. Hemmings is the PI on the AHRC Network 'Transnational "Anti-Gender" Movements and Resistance' and her current work is on affect and temporality in ‘anti-gender’ discourse and on family stories.

More about this event

This event will be available to watch on LSE Live. LSE Live is the new home for our live streams, allowing you to tune in and join the global debate at LSE, wherever you are in the world. If you can't attend live, a video will be made available shortly afterwards on LSE's YouTube channel.

Transnational 'Anti-Gender' Movements and Resistance: Narratives and Interventions is a project led by Professors Clare Hemmings and Sumi Madhok of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). This research network maps the narrative building blocks – the political grammars, conceptual vocabularies, rhetoric, figures, and temporalities – of both ‘anti-gender ideology’ interventions and the political struggles and solidarities engendered in resistance. This keynote panel is part of the network's final 2-day event taking place at LSE and SOAS. For more information about previous events, please visit the webpage linked above.

This event is part of Department of Gender Studies (@LSEGenderTweet) 30th Anniversary year. The department pioneers intersectional, interdisciplinary and transnational teaching and research, addressing the tenacity of gendered power relations and gendered inequalities in times of global transformations. Established in 1993, LSE Gender is the largest Department of Gender Studies in Europe.

Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEAHRCGender 

Podcast & Video

A podcast of this event is available to download from Transnational anti-gender politics and resistance. 

A video of this event is available to watch at Transnational anti-gender politics and resistance. 

Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.