The Ruta Association is happy to confirm the first featured panel for the Association’s 2024 Annual Conference: RE(KN)OWN REGION(S) from WITHIN, 27-30 June 2024

Gendered imperialism and the path to liberation

Confirmed speakers: Gražina Bielousova (UCL), Kavita Krishnan (independent scholar), Leyla Zuleikha Makhmudova (FemAgora Central Asia Foundation), and Yuliya Yurchenko (University of Greenwich).

Moderator: Tereza Hendl (University of Augsburg and LMU of Munich)

The road to freedom begins with the refusal of being subjugated and diminished. Feminist thinkers from oppressed and resisting populations have unique insights into multiple layers of these liberation struggles and the crucial importance of self-defense for emancipation from oppressive violence. Thanks to their specialised and in-depth expertise on gender as well as imperial domination, some also understand the latest escalation of Russian colonialism as a form of aggression that not only seeks to conquer a sovereign land and peoples but also install a re-oppressive gender order by force. This panel will bring together a trans-national lineup of feminist thinkers who, from various standpoints and positionalities, will discuss the genealogies of collective empowerment and resistance, crucial to the reclaiming of freedom and sovereignty.

Looking forward to seeing you in June in Ukraine!