1st Edition
Gender, Feminist and Queer Studies Power, Privilege and Inequality in a Time of Neoliberal Conservatism
Exploring scholarship, research, practice and activism on gender, feminist and queer studies, this edited collection examines, analyses and critiques the nature and causes of inequality, disadvantage and marginalisation faced by women, non-hegemonic and LGBTIQA+ identities who do not fit hegemonic notions of masculinity, femininity and heteronormativity.
The chapters in this book critically analyse and challenge visible and invisible power relations, privilege and prejudice by problematising the artificial organisation of people into hierarchies that preference hegemonic masculinities, white and heteronormative identities. In questioning often unchallenged and legitimised inequality and disadvantage, this book locates itself in the juxtaposition where the lived experiences of individuals, activism, community participation, research and scholarship collide with mainstream, local, national and globalised culture and politics.
Divided into four parts, this book provides a platform for interrogating how social change can occur in the current neoliberal political context of increasing conservatism.
Power, privilege and inequality in a time of neoliberal conservatism: an introduction, Donna Bridges, Elizabeth Wulff, Clifford Lewis, Larissa Bamberry and Chelsea Litchfield Part I: Metanarratives and discourse: shaping inequality, Chelsea Litchfield and Larissa Bamberry 1. Re-envisioning Australian history with once silenced voices and women’s knowledge, Peta Jeffries 2. Post-racial feminism and the reaffirmation of whiteness, Holly Randell-Moon 3. A conservative church response to feminism: less power, less privilege and no equality, Ann Lazarsfeld-Jensen 4. The silencing of women’s voices in contemporary conservative evangelical churches: "Crying in my wardrobe", Nicola Lock Part II: Masculine hegemony and heteronormativity: constructing society, Clifford Lewis and Elizabeth Wulff 5. "A boy’s own tale": using intersectional frameworks to chart the reproduction of historical discrimination in aviation, Albert J. Mills, Jane Neal-Smith and Donna Bridges 6. Masculinities, driving and women, Sarah Redshaw 7. Precarious academia: women’s employment in Australian universities, Ella Dixon, Sarah Redshaw, Elizabeth Wulff, Larissa Bamberry and Emma Rush 8. Gender, power and work: reporting psychological injuries in the Australian workplace, Charlotte Glick and Rachel Hogg 9. Masculinity, male caregiving and LGB paramedics: emotional labour and hegemonic masculinity, Brian Sengstock and Janet Curtis Part III: Embodiment and representation: the body as a site of inequality and disadvantage, Elizabeth Wulff and Donna Bridges 10. How the gendered body is constructed in the neoliberal schooling context through discipline and healthism in contemporary physical education, Rachael Jefferson-Buchanan 11. Neoliberalism and gender inequality in the Marvel Universe, Suzie Gibson 12. Speaking up: a feminist analysis of the possibility of cultural change in women’s artistic gymnastics in Australia and England, Jaquelyn Osborne, Chelsea Litchfield and Emma Kavanagh 13. Paramedicine and workplace sexual harassment: the hidden paradox of neoliberalism, Alisha McFarlane, Hannah Stack, Sonja Maria and Donna Bridges Part IV: Evaluating change, Donna Bridges and Chelsea Litchfield 14. A wolf in sheep’s clothing: a critical view of the post-gay in an Australian context, Clifford Lewis 15. The civility of the privileged: assessing the narrative around Australia’s marriage equality campaign, Piero Moraro 16. Making the link: secular democracy, human rights and the cases of marriage equality and abortion rights, Donna Bridges and Elizabeth Wulff 17. Men’s behaviour change programmes: addressing power, privilege and oppression in intimate partner violence, Ndungi Mungai and Merrilyn Crichton 18. Can diversity give neoliberal technoscience more than it bargained for?: LGBTQ+ researchers and queering standpoints, Steve Fifield and Will Letts. Not a conclusion but a way forward: instigating the road ahead, Clifford Lewis and Larissa Bamberry
Biography
Donna Bridges (she/her/hers) is a gender theorist and a feminist researcher who researches gender inequality and gender and work. She has published "Absent aviators: Gender issues in aviation" (Bridges, Neal-Smith & Mills, 2014) and "Creative spaces for qualitative researching: Living research" (Higgs, Titchen, Horsfall & Bridges, 2011). She publishes in international journals such as Gender, Work and Organisation, Journal of Sociology and Feminist Media Studies, and in edited book collections and media commentary.
Clifford Lewis (he/him/his) is a marketing academic at Charles Sturt. His research focuses on inclusive marketing and research practice focusing on LGBTQ+ people. Within this domain, he has published a critical review of tourism scholarship on LGBTQ+ people in the Journal of Sustainable Tourism, guidelines for conducting research with LGBTQ+ people in the International Journal of Market Research, and those within contexts where such identities are illegal in the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management.
Elizabeth Wulff (she/her/hers) is a gender theorist and feminist researcher who specialises in gender theory, cultural studies and English literature. She is a member of the Women in Trades Research Team and CSU’s Gender and Feminist Studies (GaFS) Research Network. Elizabeth has published in Extrapolation, Construction Management Economics, Gender, Work and Organization and the Journal of Sociology. She is currently working on projects related to the Women in Trades team.
Chelsea Litchfield (she/her/hers) is an associate professor and associate head of school in the School of Allied Health, Exercise and Sport Science at Charles Sturt University. Associate Professor Litchfield's research focuses broadly on gender, sport and media in an Australian context. She is currently working on projects related to women and sport, gender-based abuse and violence in social media spaces and the impact of sport on the mental health of women in regional Australia.
Larissa Bamberry (she/her/hers) is an associate professor in employment relations in the School of Business at Charles Sturt University. Her research focuses broadly on the intersection of gender relations in labour markets. She publishes in journals such as Gender, Place and Culture, Gender, Work and Organisation and Construction Management and Economics, and she is currently researching skills and gender in regional labour markets and the workplace wellbeing of frontline workers during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
