On episode 9 of Anti Girlboss Socialist Club Paniz Khosroshahy interviews Professor Agnieszka Graff about her open-access book Anti-Gender Politics in the Populist Moment (Routledge 2021), co-authored with Elżbieta Korolczuk.

What are the the overlaps between anti-feminist rhetoric and activism with fascism? What is feminist populism? What can we learn from the resistance to Poland's abortion ban in a post-Roe v Wade America? What does the rise of the anti-feminist movement mean for a country like Canada that is wedded to its image as a gender-equal country? Take a listen to find out!

Agnieszka Graff is an associate professor at the American Studies Center, University of Warsaw. Her articles have appeared in Signs, East European Politics and Societies, Public Culture, European Journal of Women’s Studies as well as a number of collected volumes. She co-edited the Spring 2019 issue of Signs on Gender and the Rise of the Global Right. Graff is a feminist activist and public intellectual, regular contributor to liberal and left-wing media outlets and the author of four books of feminist essays in Polish, including World without Women and Mother and Feminist. She is a founding member of the Manifa movement, and an active participant of Polish Women’s Congress as well as the ongoing feminist protests.

Links:
Anti-Gender Politics in the Populist Moment By Agnieszka Graff, Elżbieta Korolczuk
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-mono/10.4324/9781003133520/anti-gender-politics-populist-moment-agnieszka-graff-el%C5%BCbieta-korolczuk

What happens when you lose abortion rights and how to win them back: 6 lessons from Poland
https://balkaninsight.com/2022/08/10/what-happens-when-you-lose-abortion-rights-and-how-to-win-them-back-6-lessons-from-poland/

In the Name of Women's Rights: The Rise of Femonationalism Paperback by Sara Farris
https://www.dukeupress.edu/in-the-name-of-womens-rights

In this episode, Tamsyn and Paniz are joined by writer and activist Nora Loreto and feminist and social justice advocate Sheru Abdulhusein to reflect on their experiences working at and with feminist non-profits (and “feminist” non-profits), how feminist non-profits emerged in Canada, and how they often reinforce the same oppressive power structures they were supposedly created to combat.

Further Reading and Listening:

Take Back the Fight: Organizing Feminism for the Digital Age by Nora Loreto
https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/take-back-the-fight

Hear Nora's podcast version of the book at https://shows.acast.com/take-back-the-fight

The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex, edited by INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence
https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-revolution-will-not-be-funded

Work Won’t Love you Back by Sarah Jaffe
https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/work-wont-love-you-back/

On this episode of Victor's Children Anti-Girlboss Socialist Club hosts Paniz Khosroshahy and Tamsyn Riddle join the show to discuss topics covered in two previous episodes of AGSC: the “Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Industry” and sexual violence programs at universities.

The podcast is named after Victor Serge, a Russian revolutionary Marxist, novelist and historian and critic of the Stalinist regime. The show's Winnipeg-based host David Camfield is a member of the editorial board at socialist online magazine Midnight Sun. Find out more at https://www.midnightsunmag.ca/hatching-plans-for-daybreak/ and subscribe to Victor's Children wherever you get your podcasts.

To learn more sources on this episode include:

Jack Fiorito, "Human Resource Management Practices and Worker Desires for Union Representation" (2001) Journal of Labour Research 22:2
https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA73064849&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=01953613&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E36766bd

Janet Halley, Prabha Kotiswaran, Rachel Rebouché, and Hila Shamir, Governance Feminism: An Introduction (University of Minnesota Press, 2018)
https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/governance-feminism-1

Sara Ahmed, Complaint (Duke Press, 2021), What's the Use (Duke Press, 2019), On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life (Duke Press, 2021).
https://www.saranahmed.com/books-1

Robin D. G. Kelley, "What is Racial Capitalism and Why Does It Matter?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--gim7W_jQQ&ab_channel=KODXSeattle

John Kilcoyne, "The Politics of Policies: Responding to Sexual Harassment on Campus" (1994-1995) 3 Canadian Labour and Employment Law Journal 33

Sara Ahmed, "Against Students"
https://thenewinquiry.com/against-students/

Breakdown of reported sexual assault cases at U of T:
https://thestrand.ca/campus-safety-uofts-handling-of-sexual-assault-reveals-the-cracks-in-our-academic-system/

Sara Ahmed, "Uses of Use: Diversity, Utility and the University"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avKJ2w1mhng

Sarah Jaffe, Work Won't Love You Back (Hurst Publishers, 2021)
https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/work-wont-love-you-back/

This month, Tamsyn and Paniz are joined by Cheryl Rivera from Lux Magazine and Daniel Sarah Karasik from Midnight Sun Magazine to talk about why we need more socialist media. They discuss the relationship between writing and organizing, how their magazines try to reach existing and potential comrades, and making media that focuses on representing possibilities instead of changing minds.


Links:
Feminism and War: Confronting US Imperialism, edited by Robin L. Riley, Chandra Talpade Mohanty, and Minnie Bruce Pratt, including an essay by Berta Joubert-Ceci
https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/feminism-and-war-confronting-us-imperialism/introduction-feminism-and-us-wars-mapping-the-ground

Everyone’s Place: Organizing, Gendered Labor, and Leadership by William C Anderson
https://offshootjournal.org/everyones-place-organizing-gendered-labor-and-leadership/

We do This Til We Free Us by Mariame Kaba
https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1664-we-do-this-til-we-free-us

And interview about abolition and writing: https://forgeorganizing.org/article/practicing-imagination

Racial Capitalism and the Case for Abolition by Ruth Wilson Gilmore
https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1597-change-everything

Party as Articulator, Salar Mohandesi in Viewpoint Magazine
https://viewpointmag.com/2020/09/04/party-as-articulator/

Fascism is as Canadian as the the Maple Leaf by Todd Gordon in Midnight Sun
https://www.midnightsunmag.ca/fascism-is-as-canadian-as-the-maple-leaf/

Graeme Lamb, Storytelling for Power
https://www.midnightsunmag.ca/storytelling-for-power/

Jennifer Wilson interview with Raven Leilani
https://lux-magazine.com/article/raven-leilani-needs-to-know-how-her-characters-pay-rent/

Ursula LeGuin The Dispossessed
https://www.ursulakleguin.com/dispossessed

Desmond Cole talking about Replay podcast and copaganda:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8xpaEfC2WI&t=2s&ab_channel=CommunicationSpeaks

Replay podcast: https://www.pedagogyandpraxis.com/replaypodcast

Leftist Media recommended in this episode:

Briarpatch Magazine: https://briarpatchmagazine.com/

The Breach: https://breachmedia.ca/

The Hoser: https://www.thehoser.ca/

Partisan Magazine: https://partisanmag.com/

Tempest Magazine: https://www.tempestmag.org/about/

On this episode, Paniz and Tamsyn are joined by Judy Rebick to talk about her book Ten Thousand Roses: The Making of a Feminist Revolution, outlining 60 years of feminist activism in Canada and exploring abortion, socialist feminism, anti-war and anti-carceral activism, story telling as a medium and the anti-violence movement.

Ten Thousand Roses: The Making of a Feminist Revolution by Judy Rebick
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/391053/ten-thousand-roses-by-judy-rebick/9780143015444

Heroes in My Head: A Memoir by Judy Rebick
https://houseofanansi.com/products/heroes-in-my-head

Gender Trouble's episode on Wages for Housework Movement
https://open.spotify.com/episode/61PkbwAaDolG888LScVIrb?si=2ae6de9d7c7943fe&nd=1

Take Back The Fight: Organizing Feminism for the Digital Age by Nora Loreto
https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/take-back-the-fight
https://open.spotify.com/show/5apowL1mc8KMMQROg7NbKv?si=347c6ddb8c27487c&nd=1

The Problem with Work: Feminism, Marxism, Antiwork Politics, and Postwork Imaginaries by Kathi Weeks
https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-problem-with-work?fbclid=IwAR15jxAjzzS0NFkMM8EQa-XkPTXD17jm6-7OKJhQakgOeKYZXyGKaB_FdL8

Wages for Housework: A History of an International Feminist Movement, 1972–77 by Louise Toupin
https://www.ubcpress.ca/wages-for-housework?fbclid=IwAR0eLkINbHXm3smQV0cQU2atkbxhOQ-OrmtsierQ_Cz0HzK3aHkgY-iQ3aU

This month, hosts Paniz and Tamsyn are joined by Zena and Monica of the Palestinian Feminist Collective to talk about the feminist-washing and pinkwashing of Zionism, the BDS movement, why Palestine is a feminist issue, the importance of intergenerational organizing, transnational feminisms, and the use of ideas of indigeneity in discussing conflicting claims to having a special relationship to the land.

Links:
The PFC’s Palestine is a Feminist Issue Pledge
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/pledge-declaring-palestine-is-a-feminist-issue

PFC Toolkit: Freedom Within Reach
https://issuu.com/palestinianfeminists/docs/pfc_toolkit_-_final

On this episode of AGSC, Tamsyn and Paniz are joined by...each other, to talk about the reason they first met years ago: campus sexual assault, and the profound uselessness of the university administrators getting paid to address it. Having spent many years organizing, researching, and writing about the issue since then, they have seen how universities spend all their time and money on programs like consent education and sweeping policy change, without seeing any actual reduction in the number of students being assaulted on their campuses. Paniz and Tamsyn talk about why these neoliberal approaches don’t meet survivors’ actual (namely, material) needs or take into account the role of power in sexual violence - and what we can do instead.

Resources for survivors:

Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/ Multicultural Women Against Rape (counselling, court support, advocacy, and other programs for survivors of all genders)

TRCC/MWAR 24/7 Crisis Line: 416-597-8808

Gerstein Crisis Centre: 416-929-5200

Assaulted Women's Helpline: 416-863-0511

For more information about Tamsyn’s human rights case and sexual assault at U of T:

Tamsyn Riddle, “Why I Filed my Human Rights Complaint Against U of T.” The Varsity, 2017.

Hilary Beaumont, “Rape victims say Canadian universities are failing them.” Vice, 2016.

The SIV report:

Wright, Jessica, Dhunna, Simran, Riddle, Tamsyn, De Gannes, Paulysha, & Berzins, Taylor.

2019. End the Silence, End the Violence: Experiences and Understandings of Sexual Violence at the University of Toronto. Toronto, Ontario: Silence is Violence.

More about Andy Orchard:

Olivia Bowden and Marco Chown Oved, “U of T received formal complaints against ex-Trinity College provost accused of sexual harassment, but he wasn’t punished.” Toronto Star, Oct. 21st, 2021.

Aljazeera. Degrees of Abuse. 2021.

Articles about campus sexual violence policy in Canada:

Bourassa, Carrie, Melissa Bendig, Eric J. Oleson, Cassandra A. Ozog, and Jennifer L. Billan. "Campus Violence, Indigenous Women, and the Policy Void." In Sexual Violence at Canadian Universities Activism, Institutional Responses, and Strategies for Change, edited by Elizabeth Quinlan, Andrea Quinlan, Curtis Fogel, and Gail Taylor, Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2017.

Lopes-Baker, Aliza, and Mathew McDonald. 2017. “Canada and United States: Campus Sexual Assault Law & Policy Comparative Analysis” 41: 13.

Quinlan, Elizabeth, Allyson Clarke, and Natasha Miller. 2016. “Enhancing Care and Advocacy for Sexual Assault Survivors on Canadian Campuses.” The Canadian Journal of Higher Education; Toronto 46 (2): 40–54.

Shariff, Shaheen. 2017. “Navigating the Minefield of Sexual Violence Policy in Expanding ‘University Contexts.’” Education Law Journal; Scarborough 27 (1): 39-58,XI-XII.

The idea of students as revenue generating units: Quinlan, Elizabeth. "Institutional Betrayal and Sexual Violence in the Corporate University." In Sexual Violence at Canadian Universities Activism, Institutional Responses, and Strategies for Change, edited by Elizabeth Quinlan, Andrea Quinlan, Curtis Fogel, and Gail Taylor, Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2017.

Systems of oppression and sexual violence victimization:

Brubaker, S., Keegan, B., Guadalupe-Diaz, X., & Beasley, B. 2017. “Measuring and reporting campus sexual assault: Privilege and exclusion in what we know and what we do.” Sociology Compass,11(12). doi: 10.1111/soc4.12543

DisAbled Women’s Network. 2019. More than a footnote: A research report on women and girls with disabilities in Canada. Retrieved from https://www.dawncanada.net/news/mtafreport/.

Egale Canada. 2016. Discrimination and Violence against Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Women and Gender Diverse and Two Spirit People on the Basis of Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Gender Expression. Retrieved from http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CEDAW/Shared%20Documents/CAN/INT_CEDAW_NGO_CAN_25380_E.pdf

Adam Cotter and Laura Savage. “Gender-based violence and unwanted sexual behaviour in Canada, 2018: Initial findings from the Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces,” StatCan. (2018)

The Courage to Act report:

Khan, F., Rowe, C. J., and Bidgood, R. (2019). Courage to Act: Developing a National Framework to Address and Prevent Gender-Based Violence at Post-Secondary Institutions in Canada. Toronto, ON: Possibility Seeds.

For sources on the history of policymaking about sexual harassment and violence in US workplaces, see:
Williams v Saxbe (413 F Supp 654). In this case, a US Court recognized that sexual harassment constitutes discrimination in the workplace. Title VII is a provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.
Frank Dobbin and Erin Kelly, “How to Stop Harassment: Professional Construction of Legal Compliance in Organizations” (2007) 112: 4 American Journal of Sociology 1203.
Lauren Edelman, “How HR and Judges Made It Almost Impossible for Victims of Sexual Harassment to Win inCourt” Harvard Busines Review (22 August 2018).
Elizabeth Potter “When Women’s Silence Is Reasonable: Reforming the Faragher/ Ellerth Defence in the #MeToo Era” (2020) 85:2 Brooklyn Law Review 603.

For sources on the history of policymaking about sexual harassment and violence in Canadian workplaces, see:
Janzen v Platy Enterprises Ltd, [1989] 1 SCR 1252. In this case, the Supreme Court of Canada found that employees are entitled to work in an environment free from sexual harassment.
Constance Backhouse, “Sexual Harassment: A Feminist Phrase That Transformed the Workplace” (2012) 24:2 CJWL 275.
Karen Schucher, "Achieving a Workplace Free of Sexual Harassment: The Employer's Obligations" (1994-1995) 3 CLELJ 171.

For sources on the history of sexual harassment policymaking in Canada (pre-2010), see:
University of British Columbia v Berg, [1993] 2 SCR 353. In this case, the Supreme Court of Canada recognized that universities were under the purview of human rights law.
Nora Gillespie, "Sexual Harassment Policies in the University Context" (1994-1995) 3 CLELJ 225.
John Kilcoyne, "The Politics of Policies: Responding to Sexual Harassment on Campus" (1994-1995) 3 CLELJ 33.

Four source on the history of sexual harassment policymaking in Canada (post-2010), see:
Government of Ontario, “Developing a Response to Sexual Violence: A Resource Guide for Ontario’s Colleges andUniversities” (Toronto: Ontario Women’s Directorate, 2013).
METRAC Action on Violence, “Sexual Assault Policies on Campus: A Discussion Paper” (30 October 2014).
Courage to Act Report
Kristin Rushowy, "Province adds $3M in funding for on-campus safety" Toronto Star (19 March 2019).

Dear Colleague Letter of 2011. The “Letter” was a 21-page-long policy that clarified ambiguities that may have existed regarding PSIs’ responses to sexual violence. Arguably, the DCL introduced new requirements in addressing sexual violence complaints. US law had recognized sexual harassment as a violation of Title IX in as early as 1980.

Defamation articles:
Douglas Quan, "She accused a university prof of sexual assault. Now he’s suing for defamation. Some fear the ‘landmark’ case could have a chilling effect" Toronto Star (8 April 2021)
Leah Hendry, "McGill University professor sues student and colleague for $600K" CBC (5 July 2018)
Paul Cherry, "McGill University student sues school, newspaper, associations and accuser" Montreal Gazette (18 Nov 2020)
Tyler Kingkade, "As More College Students Say “Me Too,” Accused Men Are Suing For Defamation" Buzzfeed News (5 Dec 2017).

Production by Paniz Khosroshahy and Andre Goulet

It’s November, aka. the month when we are all encouraged to partake in the manufacturing of sympathy for militarism in preparation for Remembrance Day. On this episode of AGSC, Paniz and Tamsyn are joined by Tyler Shipley, author of Canada in the World: Settler Capitalism and the Colonial Imagination published by Fernwood Publishing. Often, those criticizing militarism are labeled disrespectful. Here, Paniz, Tamsyn and Tyler explore how what actually is “disrespectful” is the devastation and destruction that the Canadian state commits worldwide in the name of democracy, human rights, and gender equality.

Find Tyler Shipley’s book 'Canada in the World: Settler Capitalism and the Colonial Imagination' at
https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/canada-in-the-world

READING LIST:
Feminism and War: Confronting U.S. Imperialism, edited by Robin L. Riley, Chandra Talpade Mohanty and Minnie Bruce Pratt
https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/feminism-and-war-9781848136687/

Dark Threats and White Knights: The Somalia Affair, Peacekeeping, and the New Imperialism by Sherene Razack
https://utorontopress.com/9780802086631/dark-threats-and-white-knights/

Ten Thousand Roses: The Making Of A Feminist Revolution by Judy Rebick
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/391053/ten-thousand-roses-by-judy-rebick/9780143015444

The Vimy Trap: or, How We Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Great War by Ian McKay and Jamie Swift
https://btlbooks.com/book/the-vimy-trap

Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in UN Peacekeeping: An Analysis of Risk and Prevention Efforts by Kelly Neudorfer
https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/59c383034.pdf

Find Paniz's piece 'To end military sexual violence, defund the CAF' at
https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/to-end-military-sexual-violence-defund-the-caf

On the inaugural episode of the Anti-Girlboss Socialist Club, Paniz and Tamsyn are joined by Rinaldo Walcott, a professor at the Women and Gender Studies Institute at University of Toronto. They talk about the university as a site of struggle, the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) industry, private property, and the connections between the three.

Professor Walcott’s research is in the area of Black Diaspora Cultural Studies, gender and sexuality. He is the author of several books on these topics including BlackLife: Post-BLM and the Struggle for Freedom with Idil Abdillahi, Queer Returns: Essays On Multiculturalism, Diaspora and Black Studies, and Black Like Who?: Writing Black Canada. His latest book is called On Property: Policing, Prisons, and the Call for Abolition. You can follow him on Twitter @blacklikewho

Professor Walcott’s latest book, On Property:
http://biblioasis.com/shop/new-release/on-property/

Professor Walcott’s Essay “The End of Diversity”
https://read.dukeupress.edu/public-culture/article-abstract/31/2/393/138418/The-End-of-Diversity

Robin D. G. Kelley’s essay “Black Study, Black Struggle”
https://bostonreview.net/forum/robin-d-g-kelley-black-study-black-struggle

“'Humiliating': Black uOttawa student handcuffed in campus carding incident”
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/humiliating-black-uottawa-student-cuffed-in-campus-carding-incident

Intro music 'The Housewife's Lament' was written in the 1850s by Sara Price, an American woman. Boo Watson, a member of Wages Due Lesbians (an affiliate of the Toronto Chapter of the Wages for Housework) sang the song at the 1975 May Day rally in Toronto.

This conversation was recorded on August 14, 2021.