FEMglocal - Glocal Feminist Movements: interactions and contradictions is a research project that stems from the lack of national research on the connection between digital networked action and feminist activist movements, which have been emerging and assuming a glocal (global and local) dimension.
The intersections between the global and the local, the digital and the face-to-face, the plurality of activisms and collective actions, have posed challenges to contemporary feminist movements, namely in national territory, that need to be understood through a situational approach.
The diverse and transnational nature of contemporary feminist movements allows us to analyse their expression in Portugal, as well as the particularities of Portuguese feminism. Highlighting and understanding the singularities of national feminist activist movements, discovering and drawing their cartography, will be central features within the scope of action of this research, contributing to the recovery of the historical memory of Portuguese feminist movements that has, up until now, been made of silence and social invisibility.
Given the interactions and contradictions between global and local activisms, grounded on digital communication and the national context, this project aims to:
- Position and frame the current Portuguese feminism vis-à-vis global feminism, but also in relation to local feminims;
- Understand the genealogy, size and geographical distribution of Portuguese feminism;
- Understand the relationship between institutional organisations and between these and informal collectives;
- Analyse the movement's communication strategies – organisations and collectives;
- Study the methods of mobilisation and collective action;
- Examine the media visibility of glocal feminist movements;
- Understand how Portuguese collectives are arranged as a social movement due to the observed volatility in the way they appear and disappear.
FEMglocal is, therefore, a project that brings together several scientific fields, that have mostly been studied independently, and that requires interdisciplinary knowledge.
In this sense, the methodologies used will be diverse, crossing the three central arenas to be investigated:
- Theoretical problematization of the concepts central for the understanding of feminist movements today, paying attention to the specificities of the Portuguese context in articulation with the transnational circumstances;
- Empirical work of genealogy and cartography of feminist movements – organization and collectives – and analysis of case studies;
- Conveyance of scientific knowledge and social impact through the creation of a Collaborative and Interactive Platform that will encompass various materials, including an interactive map, podcasts and a documentary.
The intersection of these axes will allow the project to fill a gap in scientific research in this field in Portugal, as well as to foster dialogue with various stakeholders (feminist organisations and collectives, journalists, schools) and society.