Rethinking women’s everyday activism in precarious times
Which are women’s everyday communicative practices for gender justice at present? How do they play out in daily life beyond organized feminist advocacy and collective mobilizations? How do they contribute to the democratic resolution of claims? Which obstacles do they face? And why do they matter? Based on in-depth investigation of the daily lives of Argentinian women at a time of digital capitalism, inequality, and precariousness, during the sabbatical I will synthetize findings from a cutting-edge research project into a scholarly book about everyday activism for gender justice today. The monograph will be among the first to go beyond studies of feminist activists’ media practices and digital struggles and focus on ordinary women. Based on new qualitative data that approaches female communicative and media practices from an intersectional perspective, I will show how women deal with claiming their right to an everyday life free from gender inequality, discrimination, and violence. Via an in-depth portrait of the Argentinian case, I will foreground the significance of the micropolitics of civic participation in current struggles against gender injustice worldwide. "Rethinking women’s everyday activism in precarious times" will contribute insights for governmental and private actors to rethink their positive commitments towards gender justice, and for feminist movements to tap into the agency of ordinary women.
Final report
The RJ Sabbatical Grant SAB23-0032, entitled “Att förstå kvinnors vardagsaktivism i tider av osäkerhet”, started on February 1, 2024, allowing me to work full-time on a scholarly book for publication in English with Open Access for one year.
At the time of writing this report, on January 31, 2025, the book has the working title “Messy Everydays: Communication in Women’s Struggles Against Gender Injustice”. As planned, it will distil the findings from a 3-year qualitative research project funded by a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (MSCA-IF) that I started in December 2020 and successfully completed in November 2023 (See https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/897318 for details).
My work during the RJ Sabbatical has resulted in the following outputs:
1) A 10-pages master version of the book proposal required by academic publishers (including a project description, a table of contents with chapter titles and summaries, a description of target audiences, an annotated list of comparative titles, and an author’s bio).
2) A master version of the cover letter for the academic publishers to be approached.
3) Three versions of the book proposal, each targeted for specific academic publishers following their requirements, with the corresponding cover letters.
4) A carefully selected list of academic publishers to be approached.
5) Full drafts of Chapters 2 and 3 of the book, to be offered to interested publishers as “sample chapters”.
6) Advanced drafts of Chapters 4 and 5, currently under revision.
7) An initial draft of Chapter 6 of the book, to be completed.
8) Chapter structures of Chapters 1 and 7 (Introduction and Conclusion, to be drafted).
Overall, the RJ Sabbatical allowed me to advance 5 of the book’s 7 chapters (70% of the manuscript) to different degrees of completion, and to finalize 3 versions of the book proposal required to approach publishers. I plan to initiate contacts with the first batch of publishers selected as potential ‘good fits’ in March 2025 (as soon as Chapters 2 and 3 have been proofread): University of California Press, Stanford University Press, and Polity Press. Following a ‘best practice’ approach recommended by a recognized developmental editor in the academic publishing sector (see https://manuscriptworks.com/about), I will approach these publishers first, and proceed with alternative options if needed.
An additional outcome completed during the RJ Sabbatical, though initiated during the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship, is the article “Revisiting Everyday Activism for Gender Justice and Expanding on its Communicative Dimensions”, published with Open Access in the International Journal of Communication and relevant as a precedent for the book project. See https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/22181
Aside from the outputs listed above, the RJ Sabbatical allowed me to complete the two international visits planned:
1. A 14-days visit to the Copenhagen Business School’s Department of Management, Society and Communication, in Denmark, to work on the manuscript under the mentorship of Professor Lisa Richey. The visit took place from August 29 to September 11, 2024, including a public presentation about the research/book project held on September 6 for interdisciplinary faculty and doctoral candidates. See https://tinyurl.com/yc4rj956 and https://www.everydayhumanitarianismintanzania.org/activities#gendered-spaces-seminar for details.
2. A 30-days visit to the University of Miami’s School of Communication, in the US, to work on the manuscript under the mentorship of the School’s Dean, Professor Karin Wilkins. The visit took place from November 1 to 30, including a public presentation about the research/book project for interdisciplinary faculty and doctoral candidates, held on November 6. See https://tinyurl.com/4x5mu3ks for details.
Both Dean Wilkins and Professor Richey are internationally recognized for their scholarly work attentive to gender and interdisciplinarity and have strong publishing records on issues that engage local-global scales of justice. Their mentorship during the visits included discussion of the book proposal’s draft version, and feedback on key points of the book project’s contents and structure. Going forward, their continued mentorship will be crucial at the points of responding to peer reviewers, and of disseminating published the book.
The RJ Sabbatical was essential to advance the book project, in that it provided the time I needed in order to: a) think carefully through my qualitative research data and structure the book’s contents accordingly; b) read closely the literature required to support the book’s central arguments; c) select interview quotes for inclusion in the book and oversee their translation from Spanish to English; d) develop the book proposal; and e) draft book chapters without the interference of having to fulfil other academic work.
I thank the Foundation for its support and would like to end this report with one recommendation that future grantees would benefit from. Following the same rationale according to which RJ allows production and Open Access publishing funds to be used for up to 3 years after completion of the one-year grant period, the Foundation would do well to grant recipients one month of extra time for post-peer review revisions of the book manuscript, to be used at their discretion when that point in the publishing process comes. Responding to peer reviewers is a time-consuming, crucial step in the road towards publication, best addressed without being pressed for time.
At the time of writing this report, on January 31, 2025, the book has the working title “Messy Everydays: Communication in Women’s Struggles Against Gender Injustice”. As planned, it will distil the findings from a 3-year qualitative research project funded by a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (MSCA-IF) that I started in December 2020 and successfully completed in November 2023 (See https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/897318 for details).
My work during the RJ Sabbatical has resulted in the following outputs:
1) A 10-pages master version of the book proposal required by academic publishers (including a project description, a table of contents with chapter titles and summaries, a description of target audiences, an annotated list of comparative titles, and an author’s bio).
2) A master version of the cover letter for the academic publishers to be approached.
3) Three versions of the book proposal, each targeted for specific academic publishers following their requirements, with the corresponding cover letters.
4) A carefully selected list of academic publishers to be approached.
5) Full drafts of Chapters 2 and 3 of the book, to be offered to interested publishers as “sample chapters”.
6) Advanced drafts of Chapters 4 and 5, currently under revision.
7) An initial draft of Chapter 6 of the book, to be completed.
8) Chapter structures of Chapters 1 and 7 (Introduction and Conclusion, to be drafted).
Overall, the RJ Sabbatical allowed me to advance 5 of the book’s 7 chapters (70% of the manuscript) to different degrees of completion, and to finalize 3 versions of the book proposal required to approach publishers. I plan to initiate contacts with the first batch of publishers selected as potential ‘good fits’ in March 2025 (as soon as Chapters 2 and 3 have been proofread): University of California Press, Stanford University Press, and Polity Press. Following a ‘best practice’ approach recommended by a recognized developmental editor in the academic publishing sector (see https://manuscriptworks.com/about), I will approach these publishers first, and proceed with alternative options if needed.
An additional outcome completed during the RJ Sabbatical, though initiated during the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship, is the article “Revisiting Everyday Activism for Gender Justice and Expanding on its Communicative Dimensions”, published with Open Access in the International Journal of Communication and relevant as a precedent for the book project. See https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/22181
Aside from the outputs listed above, the RJ Sabbatical allowed me to complete the two international visits planned:
1. A 14-days visit to the Copenhagen Business School’s Department of Management, Society and Communication, in Denmark, to work on the manuscript under the mentorship of Professor Lisa Richey. The visit took place from August 29 to September 11, 2024, including a public presentation about the research/book project held on September 6 for interdisciplinary faculty and doctoral candidates. See https://tinyurl.com/yc4rj956 and https://www.everydayhumanitarianismintanzania.org/activities#gendered-spaces-seminar for details.
2. A 30-days visit to the University of Miami’s School of Communication, in the US, to work on the manuscript under the mentorship of the School’s Dean, Professor Karin Wilkins. The visit took place from November 1 to 30, including a public presentation about the research/book project for interdisciplinary faculty and doctoral candidates, held on November 6. See https://tinyurl.com/4x5mu3ks for details.
Both Dean Wilkins and Professor Richey are internationally recognized for their scholarly work attentive to gender and interdisciplinarity and have strong publishing records on issues that engage local-global scales of justice. Their mentorship during the visits included discussion of the book proposal’s draft version, and feedback on key points of the book project’s contents and structure. Going forward, their continued mentorship will be crucial at the points of responding to peer reviewers, and of disseminating published the book.
The RJ Sabbatical was essential to advance the book project, in that it provided the time I needed in order to: a) think carefully through my qualitative research data and structure the book’s contents accordingly; b) read closely the literature required to support the book’s central arguments; c) select interview quotes for inclusion in the book and oversee their translation from Spanish to English; d) develop the book proposal; and e) draft book chapters without the interference of having to fulfil other academic work.
I thank the Foundation for its support and would like to end this report with one recommendation that future grantees would benefit from. Following the same rationale according to which RJ allows production and Open Access publishing funds to be used for up to 3 years after completion of the one-year grant period, the Foundation would do well to grant recipients one month of extra time for post-peer review revisions of the book manuscript, to be used at their discretion when that point in the publishing process comes. Responding to peer reviewers is a time-consuming, crucial step in the road towards publication, best addressed without being pressed for time.