|Programme|

>> Go Feminist! “Share ideas, create change”

When- Saturday 4 February 2012

Where- Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL

What- Speakers // Workshops // Performers // and more to be announced

>> Go Feminist aims to inspire feminist activism by providing a space for women to meet, discuss the issues they face, and share their ideas for creating change. The conference is OPEN TO ALL

>> Tickets are available here!

// PROGRAMME

Bidisha, chair of  Go Feminist 2012

10:00/ Keynote: why feminism?

10:35/ Plenary - Women and economics [with parallel workshop sessions]
As the recession bites, women are at the forefront of the hardest and sharpest cuts. Although all women are experiencing the impact of current economic policy, some women are experiencing this disproportionately. Panellists will voice some of the unheard voices and experiences of women’s economic exclusion.
Featuring:
> Mary-Ann Stepehnson, Coventry Women’s Budget Group
> Reineira Arguello, Womankind
> Helendi, WAST London
> Christel Querton, Asylum Aid

12:00/Break

12:15/ Connecting movements <> Sharing ideas for action
This panel is the centerpiece of the conference. Broadening our analysis to include forms of oppressions in addition to patriarchy and focusing on the most forgotten, vulnerable and marginalised gives a better chance of capturing all women. We need to make the links between feminism and other movements.
Featuring:
> Catherine Donovan , University of Sunderland
> Sofia Kahlu and others, Women Asylum Seekers Together (WAST)
> Breish Rowe, Triangle deaf feminists group
> Rahila Gupta
> Mary

13:00/ Lunch break - Arts workshop / Spoken word / Singing / Stalls / Breakout groups to discuss action ideas

14:30/ Plenary - Sexism in popular culture [with parallel workshop sessions]
Women are visible within popular culture but are only represented in certain ways. From women in sport and film to trans and working class women, representations within media and popular discourse is limited at best, focusing on their bodies and perpetuating stereotypes rather than looking at realities and achievements.
Featuring:
> Pratibha Pramar, Kali Films
> Joana Burigo, Guerreiras Project
> Kealy Hastick, Platform 51
> Paris Lees, Trans Media Watch

16.00/ Break

16.30/ Plenary – Women’s activism: past, present and future [with parallel workshop sessions]
Women’s activism has taken many forms over the decades but has been under recognised and seen largely through the experiences of those who are able to write. This panels showcases activists and moments in feminist activism over the last fifty years.
Featuring:
> Orna Ross (Abortion rights activism in Ireland since the 70s)
> Dorothea Smartt (Black lesbian feminism in the 70s and 80s)
> Hannana Siddiqui
> Catherine Redfern (Reclaiming the F Word: The New Feminist Movement)

17.30/ Close

// Please note that plenary sessions (except from the opening and closing sessions) and workshops are running at the same time.

// WORKSHOPS

You will be able to choose the workshops you want to attend on the day of the conference. Workshops spaces are limited.

10:30>12:00

>> Ensuring feminism is a movement for all women: the way forward -  Intersectionality (Brockway Room – 80 people)
Considering the ways in which our identies are constructed and interlinked, as well as recognising the systems of oppression acting upon us. How can we ensure that the feminist movement reaches the most marginalised in society and that their voices & experiences are reflected?
Facilitated by Chitra Nagarajan, Lee Webster & Lola Okolosie

>> Justice is blind: What does that mean for women? (Bertrand Room – 45 people)
Looking at the treatment of women by the legal justice system and the importance of promoting feminism within the law so as to achieve true equality and diversity.
Facilitated by Nazmin Atkhar

>> Young Peoples workshop 7-10 years / 11-15 years (Club Room – 45 people)
Facilitated by Jennifer Donovan (7-10), Deborah Oyelakin, Khardine Johnson & Mary Bonett (11-15)

13:30>14:30

>> Connecting movements
Facilitated by Angie, Hawani, Sandhya & Sophia, members of Women Asylum Seekers Together in Manchester, Catherine Donovan, Breish Rowe, Rahila Gupta

14:30>16:00

>> Faith & Feminism (Brockway Room – 80 people)
Discussing issues surrounding faith and feminism and exploring how, despite holding different opinions, we can work as allies. The purpose is not to agree on one particular position regarding faith or for someone’s opinion to be “right” but to create an open environment, where everyone’s opinion can be considered and respected.
Facilitated by Femi Otitoju, with Nimko Ali (Daughters of Eve), Hannah Mudge (http://ontoberlin.blogspot.com/), Chitra Nagarajan & Shannon Harvey

>> Black feminisms: multiple resistances (Black women only workshop – Bertrand Room – 45 people)
Providing a space for African, Asian, bi-racial, and indigeneous Latin American and Middle Eastern women (including those of multiple heritage) to discuss the racism and sexism experienced in our lives and the forms that patriarchy takes in our own communities.
Facilitated by Adunni Adams, Charmaine Eliott & Zohra moosa

>> Women & the cuts (Haldane Room – 18 people)
Sharing the findings of Coventry Women’s Voices’s report, “Unravelling Equality: a human rights and equality impact assessment of the spending cuts on women in Coventry“. The ‘Women and the Cuts’ toolkit produced by Coventry Women’s Voices and the TUC which is designed to help women campaigning against the cuts will be presented.
Facilitated by Mary-Anne Stephenson from Coventry Women’s Budget Group

>> Feminist Art (Conway Room – 18 people)
Facilitated by Olivia Bishop

>> Young Peoples workshop 7-10years / 11-15 years (Club Room – 45 people)
Facilitated by Jennifer Donovan (7-10), Deborah Oyelakin & Mary Bonett (11-15)

// Please note that plenary sessions (except for the opening and closing sessions) and workshops are running at the same time.