The Departments of Philosophy and Women and Gender Studies are pleased to
announce that Professor Johanna Oksala (University of Helsinki & New School
for Social Research, NY) will be leading a Workshop: 'The Uses of Experience in
Feminist Theory', Wednesday 20th November, 4.30-6.00pm, Sub I Meeting
Room 3A. This is an open event: undergraduates, graduates, and faculty
welcome.
Professor Oksala is the author of Foucault on Freedom (2005); How to Read
Foucault (2007); Foucault, Politics and Violence (2012);Political Philosophy: All
That Matters (2013); and numerous articles on Foucault, feminist philosophy,
and political philosophy.
This workshop will be based on new work by Professor Oksala examining the
role and status of appeals to experience in feminist theory. In response to Joan
Scott’s important and influential critique of first-person accounts of experience,
Professor Oksala argues that feminist theory does still need to be able to appeal
to experience, albeit in critically informed ways. The critical analysis of
experience (both our own and that of others) can play a crucial role in
problematizing existing norms and identities, building solidarity across
differences, and motivating social and political transformation.
Professor Oksala will also be giving a talk to the Philosophy Department
Colloquium on Tuesday 19th November, 4.30-6.00pm, Sub I Meeting Room 3B,
entitled 'State Violence and Biopolitical Governmentality'. All welcome.
November 11, 2013
