Transindigenous Feminist Futures in Siberia

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Brief Description

Scholarship on indigenous feminism and its use as a methodology is prevalent outside of Slavic Studies. Those contributing to this literature primarily include scholars from the Americas, New Zealand, and Australia. Recently, there has been a growing trend within Slavic Studies to apply indigenous methodologies developed in other regions to our field. This roundtable proposes to extend the conversation by incorporating indigenous feminism theory to explore Indigenous Siberia. In his book Trans-Indigenous Methodologies for Global Native Literary Studies, Chadwick Allen introduces the concept of transindigeneity, which explores indigeneity across borders to help create a cohesive understanding of indigenous experiences. We aim to propose the idea of transindigenous feminism as a framework to examine indigenous feminism in Siberia. At this roundtable, we will discuss the potential of transindigenous feminism. Topics include what indigenous feminism in Siberia looks like and how it differs from other places. We will discuss how indigenous feminism is usually excluded from mainstream white feminist movements and what this looks like in the Russian context. Further, we will consider the transnational feminist movement in Russia and how Indigenous Siberian women fit within that framework. Lastly, we will explore how a transindigenous feminism framework can serve as a methodology in literature and history and a tool of activism.

Sub Unit

• Gender/LGBTQ Studies

Chair

• Maria Taroutina, Brown U

Roundtable Speakers

• Erin K Krafft, U of Massachusetts Dartmouth

• Shandiin Largo, Bowdoin College

• Mira Nikolova, U of Virginia

• Alla Savelieva, U of Arkansas

• Laurel Thorne, Brown U