Digital Feminisms: Transnational Activism in German Protest Cultures

Digital Feminisms: Transnational Activism in German Protest Cultures was a fellowship project led by Hester Baer, the 2014-15 Vambery Distinguished Professor of Comparative Studies. Digital Feminisms examined the reconfigurations of feminist activism in the context of rapid technological change, analyzing how the increased use of digital media has altered, influenced, and shaped feminist politics in the twenty-first century. Addressing the role of digital media in the transnational flow of feminist ideas, politics, and protesters, the project focused on Germany in order to examine the way transnational feminist activism intersects with the national configuration of feminist political work, and how feminist activism may in turn transform emergent digital cultures. Bringing together scholars from the US, Canada, Germany, and the UK, this transdisciplinary, collaborative project engaged digital media not only as its scholarly focus but also as a key component of the project's methodology. Combining digital humanities paradigms with a conventional academic publishing project, Digital Feminisms sought to develop a new research model that reaches multiple constituencies, while also reflecting critically on the subject of transnational feminist activism and digital culture through its presentation formats.