Diving into the Tide. Contemporary Feminist Mobilizations and Protests: a Global Perspective

Abstract

In the last ten years, a new cycle of transnational mobilisations and protests brought feminist movements to the forefront (Gago and Cavallero 2019). Transformations in the political and economic spheres have seen neoliberalism take over at the global level, in conjunction with recurring economic, environmental and health crises. The effects of globalisation, which have been targeted by social movements since the 1990s (Della Porta 2003), can be seen in political systems, social inequalities, and gender regimes. Yet, a second effect of globalisation is that it has shortened the distance between movements, and it has facilitated cross-national processes of contamination (Mayo 2005). This paper explores some elements of innovations of contemporary mobilisations and protest. On one hand, with regard to ideology and the shift from the concept of difference to intersectionality, the critique to the gender regime together with the capitalist economic model and the development of a decolonial perspective. On the other hand, with regard to repertoire of contention, in terms of organisation, feminist strike, performances and direct social action. More than ever, mobilisations occurred through transnational alliances, also thanks to the media and ICT. Feminism is becoming more and more mainstream, between losses and gains.

Keywords: feminist movements, intersectionality, strike, transnational, repertoire of action, alliances.