Handbook of Gender and Activism
Published on 22. August 2025
Book
Hardback
430 pages
978-1-80392-957-6 (ISBN)
Description
This innovative Handbook examines how gender shapes social activism and is shaped by activism. With a unique interdisciplinary focus, it explores the effects of the gender binary on experiences of activism, considering how different movements negotiate and, at times, challenge these traditional conceptions. The Handbook then moves beyond the binary with ground-breaking work from a range of scholars.
Expert authors discuss the impact and limitations of the gender binary, using examples such as the MeToo movement to demonstrate how viewing men and women as separate, monolithic categories results in countless differences being overlooked. Chapters present a range of global and intersectional case studies such as the gender hierarchies in Swedish activism, Black women's involvement in abolition movements, and feminist campaigns in Saudi Arabia. The Handbook also moves beyond the binary, adopting a transfeminist approach in relation to the experiences of trans, intersex, and non-binary people, and crucially advocating for the conceptualization of a more expansive gender system and the ways in which gender aids activism and impedes it.
This thought-provoking Handbook is a vital resource for students and scholars of gender politics, social movements, discrimination, and social inequality. It is also an enlightening read for academics interested in employing intersectional and transfeminist perspectives in their research.
Expert authors discuss the impact and limitations of the gender binary, using examples such as the MeToo movement to demonstrate how viewing men and women as separate, monolithic categories results in countless differences being overlooked. Chapters present a range of global and intersectional case studies such as the gender hierarchies in Swedish activism, Black women's involvement in abolition movements, and feminist campaigns in Saudi Arabia. The Handbook also moves beyond the binary, adopting a transfeminist approach in relation to the experiences of trans, intersex, and non-binary people, and crucially advocating for the conceptualization of a more expansive gender system and the ways in which gender aids activism and impedes it.
This thought-provoking Handbook is a vital resource for students and scholars of gender politics, social movements, discrimination, and social inequality. It is also an enlightening read for academics interested in employing intersectional and transfeminist perspectives in their research.
Reviews / Votes
'This timely Handbook illuminates gender activism through rich case studies spanning Iceland to Mexico. With its innovative perspective beyond the gender binary, it deftly challenges what gender really means for social movements. This vital collection offers scholars and students fresh insights into contemporary gendered movements and significantly advances our understanding of activism and social change.' -- Eleonore Lepinard, University of Lausanne, Switzerland 'Does gender shape social movements? Of course it does. This Handbook takes a rich and deep dive into gender's imprint on social movements, exploring gender conceptualized as both binary and nonbinary, gender's intersection with race, ethnicity, class, and other dimensions, and gender in contexts around the globe. The volume will be of great interest to scholars and students of gender and social movements.' -- Holly McCammon, Vanderbilt University, USAMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cheltenham
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-80392-957-6 (9781803929576)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Edited by Jo Reger, Professor of Sociology, Oakland University, Rachel L. Einwohner, Professor of Sociology, Purdue University and Kelsy Kretschmer, Associate Professor of Sociology, Oregon State University, USA
Content
Contents
1 Introduction: gender, activism, the binary, and beyond 1
Rachel L. Einwohner, Kelsy Kretschmer and Jo Reger
PART I ALONG THE BINARY
2 Gender deployment and resistance in women's movements and
modern feminism 28
Katie Mueller and Jo Reger
3 Intersectional diminishment and Black feminist invisibility in
social movement dynamics 52
Melissa C. Brown
4 How gender hierarchies shape activism: the relationship between
everyday action and extraordinary activism in cases from Sweden 74
Anna-Britt Coe
5 The Saudi feminist movement: obstacles, challenges and
opportunities 96
Zahia Smail Salhi
6 Masculinity and social movements 121
Emily K. Carian
PART II BEYOND THE BINARY
7 Theorizing gender and social movements beyond the binary 139
Nancy Whittier
8 Bodily autonomy and the limits of gender-based activism in
organizing beyond the binary 163
Zachary D. Palmer and Elle Rochford
9 Asexuality: lessons for gender activism 186
Canton Winer
10 Intersex social movements: from medical disorder to selfdetermination 209
Angelika von Wahl
11 Gender identity, national culture, language and activism: the case
of Iceland 231
?orger?ur J. Einarsdottir, Jyl Josephson and Laufey Axelsdottir
PART III APPLICATIONS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
12 Emotions, gender and politics in Mexican women's collectives 263
Tommaso Gravante and Alice Poma
13 The gendered dimensions of movements for racial justice 284
Aisha Upton and Jalia Joseph
14 Could leaderless networked social movements transform women's
marginalization in social activism? A multi-dimensional
framework 302
Susanne YP Choi
15 Racial capitalism and Black women's struggle for reproductive
justice 330
Crystal Nicole Eddins
16 Gender, crises, and mobilisations in Europe 354
Silke Roth
17 Contesting the gender binary in wartime: Ukrainian women's
resistance to Russia's aggression 382
Olena Nikolayenko
1 Introduction: gender, activism, the binary, and beyond 1
Rachel L. Einwohner, Kelsy Kretschmer and Jo Reger
PART I ALONG THE BINARY
2 Gender deployment and resistance in women's movements and
modern feminism 28
Katie Mueller and Jo Reger
3 Intersectional diminishment and Black feminist invisibility in
social movement dynamics 52
Melissa C. Brown
4 How gender hierarchies shape activism: the relationship between
everyday action and extraordinary activism in cases from Sweden 74
Anna-Britt Coe
5 The Saudi feminist movement: obstacles, challenges and
opportunities 96
Zahia Smail Salhi
6 Masculinity and social movements 121
Emily K. Carian
PART II BEYOND THE BINARY
7 Theorizing gender and social movements beyond the binary 139
Nancy Whittier
8 Bodily autonomy and the limits of gender-based activism in
organizing beyond the binary 163
Zachary D. Palmer and Elle Rochford
9 Asexuality: lessons for gender activism 186
Canton Winer
10 Intersex social movements: from medical disorder to selfdetermination 209
Angelika von Wahl
11 Gender identity, national culture, language and activism: the case
of Iceland 231
?orger?ur J. Einarsdottir, Jyl Josephson and Laufey Axelsdottir
PART III APPLICATIONS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
12 Emotions, gender and politics in Mexican women's collectives 263
Tommaso Gravante and Alice Poma
13 The gendered dimensions of movements for racial justice 284
Aisha Upton and Jalia Joseph
14 Could leaderless networked social movements transform women's
marginalization in social activism? A multi-dimensional
framework 302
Susanne YP Choi
15 Racial capitalism and Black women's struggle for reproductive
justice 330
Crystal Nicole Eddins
16 Gender, crises, and mobilisations in Europe 354
Silke Roth
17 Contesting the gender binary in wartime: Ukrainian women's
resistance to Russia's aggression 382
Olena Nikolayenko