Until the mid-17th century, for the vast majority of Europeans, medical care was administered by women for free in the household and neighborhood, using herbs and other formulas passed down between and among generations. Karen Bloom Gevirtz illustrates how and why only a century later, they were supplanted by men who established the basis of … Continued
Was the populist far right a reaction to neoliberal free market fundamentalism? Or, as historian Quinn Slobodian argues, did such rightwing currents come out of the ideas of neoliberalism itself? Slobodian reflects on neoliberal thinkers’ preoccupation with racist and misogynistic ideas of human nature and intelligence, borders and gold — all in service to their … Continued
Today on KPFA Radio’s Women’s Magazine Kate Raphael and Rae Abileah who will talk to Jewish Feminist Queer author, scholar and activist Judith Butler about two topics she has become famous for reshaping and making part of everyday discourse, that is gender and anti-zionism . If somehow you are one of the few people who haven’t heard of American … Continued
While the Supreme Court considers restricting abortion pills, feminists in the Global South have shown the way forward for safe abortions outside of the law. Sociologist Naomi Braine has documented the efforts of networks and collectives of activists, some formed in the struggles against dictatorship in Latin America, who provide information, pills, and support in … Continued
Today on KPFA Radio’s Women’s Magazine Lisa Dettmer and Kate Raphael talk to two Israeli spiritually informed Jewish activists and scholars about what the role and effects are of trauma are in living and growing up in the apartheid state of Israel on both their own lives, and the lives of others in Israel/Palestine and … Continued
The call to abolish the family and liberate its members has been one of the central pillars of the radical left historically. Yet today that venerable tradition is almost forgotten, abandoned with the ebbing of the Sixties. Sophie Lewis renews the argument for abolishing the family and replacing it with collective forms of care. Resources: … Continued
What happens to survivors of violence — often perpetrated by intimates — who defend themselves against their attackers? According to legal scholar Leigh Goodmark, it often depends on whether those survivors look suitably victim-like. She discusses the circumstances that frequently lead to the criminalization of survivors of violence –- and makes the case for the … Continued
It took more than three generations of struggle to win the vote for half the population of the United States. The fight for women’s suffrage rose out of the battle for slavery’s abolition and later foundered in the backlash against Reconstruction, gaining new life with the social upheavals of the early 20th century. Historian Ellen … Continued
Some causes make for strange bedfellows, but few like the campaign against sex trafficking, which brings together radical feminists, Christian evangelicals, the US state, and even QAnon. Cultural anthropologist Gregory Mitchell separates myth from fact and examines how allegedly rescuing women and girls from trafficking, included at mega sporting events, leads to increased police violence, … Continued
On tonight’s special evergreen spotlight on disability, Anuj Vaidya interviews Arun Cherian, the founder of RiseLegs and RiseArt – a Bangalore-based company that makes low-cost high-end prosthetics out of cane, and uses the leftover materials for high-end design, sets and furniture. For Arun, however, prosthetics are not at the center of his company, people are – and … Continued
