Structural power, feminist insurgency and the (false?) promise of a better future

2024 CAP Professorial Lecture Series 
This lecture series aims to celebrate our esteemed academics and showcase their areas of expertise in research and teaching.

Agenda 

• 6-7.15pm - Academic Lecture
• 7.15-8pm - Networking drinks and canapés 

Structural power, feminist insurgency and the (false?) promise of a better future

This lecture will explore the possibility of transformative change at the global level, focusing in particular on whether patriarchy, as a key driver of inequality and harm, can be overcome. It builds on work undertaken in the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) Gender, Justice and Security Hub, which brought a wide range of academics together with local and global civil society, practitioners, governments and international organisations to produce impactful research on gender justice and inclusive peace. The research was carried out in a range of conflict-affected societies and aimed at advancing the delivery of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 on gender equality and SDG 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions, and the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda. The lecture will outline the ways in which the Hub’s projects exposed the operation of structural power, make a plea for sustained feminist insurgency to challenge the ways in which patriarchy and its attendant forms of oppression manifest, and assess the extent to which even the most entrenched structures can be transformed.

About the speaker 

Kirsten Ainley is a Professor at the Department of International Relations in Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific. 

Her research is in the fields of feminist international relations and global ethics, and focuses on the relationships between politics, law and ethics at the international level.

Read more about the speaker here.