UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK
PROFESSOR MARY MARGARET FONOW, ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
IAS VISTING FELLOW
16-20 MAY 2011
For further details, please contact: Christina Hughes, Department of Sociology, University of
Warwick (christina.hughes@warwick.ac.uk)
The University of Warwick will be welcoming Professor Mary Margaret Fonow as an IAS Visiting Fellow,
16-20 May 2011. In association with the Departments of Sociology and Law, the Centre for the Study of
Women and Gender and the Centre for Comparative Labour Studies, Professor Fonow will be giving a
series of workshops and a keynote lecture. ALL WELCOME
Monday 16 May 1400-1500 Gillian Rose Room, Third Floor, Ramphal Building
Workshop: Feminist Methodologies. Professor Fonow’s classic work in the field of feminist
methodology is central to teaching on feminist epistemologies and she has extensive experience of
delivering workshops at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association and the National
Women’s Studies Association. This workshop will explore current trends and controversies in the
challenging field of feminist methodologies.
Monday 16 May 17.00-18.30 S0.13, Social Sciences Building
Public Lecture: Making Feminist Politics: Alliances between Women and Labour: This lecture asks
the question ‘How do union women make feminist politics within and through the trade union movement
so that its complex structures and relations of power are reconfigured to achieve feminist goals?’ and
draws on Professor Fonow’s research conducted in association with Suzanne Franzway (cf Feminist
Politics in Global Labor Movements: Building Alliances between Women and Labor, University of Illinois
Press). Chair: Nickie Charles; Discussant: Carol Wolkowitz
Tuesday 17 May 1600-1730 S2.81, Social Sciences Building
Interdisciplinary Research Symposium: This symposium will be designed for early career researchers
and PhDs in the field of transnational feminist studies and will bring together Professor Fonow’s
substantive research with that of Ann Stewart in Law (cf Ann Stewart, Gender, Justice and Law in a Global
Market, Cambridge UP), the Centre for Comparative Labour Studies and Centre for the Study of Women
and Gender.
Wednesday 18 May 1200-1400 (including lunch) Gillian Rose Room, Third Floor, Ramphal
Building
Advanced Class: The Feminist PhD: Content, Pedagogy and Career. This will be a joint session with
Professor Fonow and Kate Purcell. Professor Fonow has undertaken extensive research on feminist
dissertations. Her findings will illuminate pedagogical and supervisory issues. Kate Purcell’s work on
gender and higher education transitions into employment provides the framework for consideration of
career issues. Chris Manley from Student Careers and Skills with expertise in PhD labour markets and
careers will also be answering any questions about job applications, career directions and so forth. .
Professor Mary Margaret Fonow
Professor Fonow is an esteemed Professor of Women and Gender Studies with an established reputation
in the fields of feminist methodology, transnational labour activism and social movements. Her work on
feminist methodology has been exceptionally influential internationally and her text Beyond Methodology
is a recognised classic in the field. Professor Fonow’s research has significant interdisciplinary appeal as
is evidenced by the recent special issue of the journal Frontiers that Professor Fonow co-edited on the
topic Knowledge that Matters. This spanned feminist political economy, deconstruction, ethnography,
sociology of knowledge, science studies and demography. Her work in the substantive field of labour
relations and social movements has also received international attention and bears relevance to
interdisciplinary developments in terms of public policy, human and social rights and globalization and
representations of women’s engagement in employment and labour history. The opportunity given,
through IAS support, for Professor Fonow to visit Warwick will facilitate important dialogues and crossfertilization of ideas that will promote Warwick’s international profile of scholarly excellence in the area
of feminism and gender studies through enhancing the international (and particularly North American)
impact of Warwick’s scholarly research. Professor Fonow’s research provides opportunities to explore, in
both substantive and methodological terms, the complex intersectional and standpoint issues arising
from comparative and transnational activism. In terms of feminist methodology, Professor Fonow has
provided a spotlight on the ontological and epistemological issues of praxis in the conduct of research
which speaks to an ethic of practice that bears relevance to the dilemmas facing feminists in the conduct
of transnational and transdisciplinary projects.
Professor Fonow’s ground breaking work on transnational activism contributes important comparative
perspectives that respond to socio-economic and political concerns associated with the impacts of
globalisation. Here, she has integrated feminist theories of activism with social movement theory to
explore the emergence of transnational labour feminism. This includes the sexual politics of working life,
trade union activity and women’s workplace organising, LGBT caucuses and pressure groups. This
research provides an important framework for explorations and conceptualisations of the political
processes which characterise work and organisations transnationally.