Cullen, Pauline and Fischer, Clara (2014) Conceptualizing generational dynamics in feminist movements : political generations, waves and affective economies. Sociology Compass, 8 (3). pp. 282-293. ISSN 1751-9020

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Abstract

This article reviews efforts to account for dynamics of continuity, change and complexity in contemporary feminism, with a particular emphasis on the utility of the ‘generational paradigm’ of the wave metaphor. We draw on assessments of the wave classification from feminist historians, political theorists and social movement scholars to make a case for the concept of political generation as way to explore patterns of generational-based contest and collaboration across the women's movement. While political generation allows for an assessment of the role of context in shaping the activist identities of feminists from different generations, it lacks the explanatory power to explain the continuing purchase of the wave metaphor and its function for feminist claims making. Here, we turn to work on the centrality of loss within the affective economies of feminism to explain the functions of the wave metaphor for different elements within women's movements. This analysis is grounded in a brief empirical case of the Irish women's movement characterised as highly fragmented and marked by generational dynamics.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	generational dynamics; feminist movements; political generations; affective economies; wave classification; feminism;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology
Item ID:	8998
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12131
Depositing User:	Dr. Pauline Cullen
Date Deposited:	15 Nov 2017 16:41
Journal or Publication Title:	Sociology Compass
Publisher:	Wiley
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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