With a view to capturing an even broader and plural analysis of our current times as well as providing a platform for feminist and decolonial research from various parts of the globe, we launched an open call for external contributions as the basis for this new series. We were particularly interested in featuring research from those with personal experiences of oppression and who are from/based in the Global South and have been extremely impressed by the diversity and richness of the contributions we have received.
The submissions will be published as a special series on Feminist Perspectives over the proceeding weeks and months. The series consists of research-based pieces that explore the ways in which COVID-19 has exacerbated and powerfully illuminated inequalities grounded in race, class, gender and sexuality from a diversity of geographical locations, as well as exploring the creative ways in which the unequal impacts of the pandemic are being resisted. These pieces promise to provide a robust intersectional analysis of the complex ways in which women and girls, LGBTIQ+ people, Black, Indigenous and brown communities navigate and respond to the multiple effects of COVID-19 in various aspects of their lives, in regions ranging from South and North America, South Asia and Northeastern Africa to Eastern Europe and the UK. To name a few, the pieces explore the increased incidence of gender-based violence and human rights violations; implications for pregnancy, childbirth and menstrual health; the unintended consequences of the extensive use of technology and remote working; and the contrasts between state-sponsored and grassroots community responses to the pandemic induced crisis.
In addition, the series will publish reflections on the challenges and possibilities of conducting feminist research during a time in which embodied interactions have been limited, if not prohibited. Although the devastating effect of the pandemic is a common theme running through the series, we also expect readers to find some hope in the bringing together of feminist voices and perspectives from across the world.