feminisation
Making feminist politics: Doing it differently Long term union activist and researcher, Associate Professor Suzanne Franzway, was a keynote speaker at the NTEU Women’s Conference. She recently published, with Mary Margaret Fonow, Making Feminist Politics: Transnational Alliances between Women and Labour.
• Discursive frames. Campaigns such as Your Rights @ Work frame the issue of work so that equal pay for equal work cannot be argued against.
Suzanne began her talk by asking which issues it was that persisted for women and how could we ‘do more’ to address them? It was an excellent way to frame what was a thought provoking talk that really got the audience thinking, partly because she was clear from the outset that ‘doing more’ was most likely achievable when we were able to think about what it was we were doing and how to do it differently.
If the women’s agenda is to be advanced it needs to be resourced and in this regard there is much work to do. As Arundhati Roy (1999) states, ‘It is not enough to be right we have to agree on what the agenda is to be and although we may not agree on everything we have to seek out the common ground’ from which to organise.
The factors that Suzanne outlined as shaping women’s activism were: • Sexual politics. The politics of gender and how this impacts on women and their political opportunities and social identities. Unions must recognise and act upon the politics of everyday life if they are to be relevant to women. • Globalisation. We must by our comparative privilege recognise that we ‘can do more’ for women at home and overseas
virginia mansel lees v.mansellees@latrobe.edu.au
and to do this we need an understanding of what impacts globalisation has on politics and the opportunities that this may offer or stifle.
• Alliances and political networks. We can no longer protect workers’ rights in one country (our own) without thinking about the effect that has on workers in other countries.
If we are to organise women then there need to be viable committees set up with structures that connect their agenda to the main union game otherwise women will not participate. In short, we need to be clear about our agenda and how best to move that forward whilst at the same time bringing women with us. As Franzway and Fonow (2011) write: Women’s right to work and right to economic security are central to women’s
equality. Such rights are won through creative and persistent feminist politics. Little is gained unless women themselves can participate in the politics of economic and social justice. Without this capacity, the labour market, workplaces, and economic welfare become sites of discrimination and oppression of women. Let’s work together to empower women. Virginia Mansel Lees is President of La Trobe Branch and Victorian Division President. ‘Making Feminist Politics: Transnational Alliances between Women and Labor’, by Suzanne Franzway and Mary Margaret Fonow can be purchased online at www.press.uillinois.edu References Franzway, S. & Fonow M.M. (2011). Making Feminist Politics: Transnational Alliances between Women and Labor. University of Illinois Press. Roy, A. (1999), The Cost of Living. Flamingo.
Why I’m with WAC – Kate Makowiecka, Murdoch University I’ve participated for many years in a variety of social justice movements, and I’ve been a union member over a good few years as well. WAC is a great environment in which to amalgamate my activities in supporting the interests of women and girls. VOLUME 19 SEPTEMBER 2011
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