The 'Art' of Herstory Keeping: The Feminist Library's organisational praxis and materialities

Seminar abstract

This developing framework builds on empirical research, as well as Lefebvre's (1991) work on the social production of space, through feminist and queer lenses (Enke, 2007; Woolf, 1929; Foucault, 1984; Ilett, 2003; Bulter, 1993, 2015; Gunnarsson Payne, 2013).

The Library as an organisational space is thus divided into three key categories: epistemic space (perceived space), community and workspace, as well as its materialities (lived space), and set in the context of hegemonic space (conceived space). As such, this analysis of the organisation of feminist space builds on the work of Lefebvre to show how feminist space is an in-between/liminal space, as its conditions of possibility are created between the conceived hegemonic space of patriarchal capitalism and the lived spaces of feminist community, organisation and materialities.

Feminist communities and organisation emerge as conditions of possibility of such space, as well as a - necessary, as the presentation shows - source tension. As such, this thesis contributes to the organisational research and literature on the social production of space, and particularly the social production of feminist space.

How to attend this seminar

This seminar is free to attend with no need to register in advance.

We welcome you to join us online Wednesday 25 May 2022 at 12pm.

Speaker bio

Magdalena Oldziejewska is a second year PhD student in Organisation Studies and HRM at the Business School. She also works as a Research Assistant on the Virtual Alternatives and Priority Challenges projects at the School. Outside of the University, she is a feminist activist, writer, and former worker and volunteer at the Feminist Library, which is now the case study for her PhD.