The Conditions of Praxis: Theory and Practice in Activism and Academia
Is there a tension between academia and activism, often conflated with a supposed divide between theory and practice, the abstract and the material, the scientific and the political? How do the relations of activism and academia belie this chain of binary oppositions? With the burgeoning focus on human rights, animal studies, green studies, queer theory, crip/ disability theory, critical whiteness/"race" studies, feminism/women's/ gender studies, and more generally anti-oppression and activist-based research in academia, the need to explore how and why these junctures are shifting emerges along the lines of activist practices.
Inspired by the debates opened up by the 8th European Feminist Research Conference: The Politics of Location Revisited, this special edition seeks to explore the nuanced interactions and intersections of theory and practice, political engagement and knowledge production. If the ostensible separation of theory and praxis is a tool of domination, how can the tension among activism and academia be critically approached without privileging either side or conflating their differences? In an effort to explore ways of practising theory, we strive to broaden the scope of these inquiries, asking about diverse forms of social justice work and political movements, and therefore invite submissions from activists and academics working in various fields.
