More Kollontai fan-girling!
Scenes from my book event with Gemma Ruiz at Finestres in Barcelona on 9/29
Some photos from last night.
Friends, Michael Ignatieff, and the Festival of Philosophy in Modena
I spent a lovely weekend in Modena for the Festival of Philosophy, an amazing public event where people actually crowd the streets to listen to intellectuals discussion their ideas. This year’s theme was freedom.
Manifiesta Day 2
Second full day of the ManiFiesta!
ManiFiesta Day 1
ManiFiesta 2021. Everyone had to have a negative COVID test or a vaccine certificate to get in to the outdoor event. The Belgians are so well organized!
An amazing venue in Second Life
I am so pleased with the avatar and the venue built for me by Ruby (Ana Victoria Valladares Rubi) who did most of the creative work on this amazing virtual space. We have not one, but two, of Talin’s Towers to welcome you into the venue. It’s at noon (New York Time) at the Second Life Book Club. Also thanks to Draxtor (Bernhard Drax) for organizing it all.
My Second Life avatar
In advance of my appearance in Second Life for the SL Bookclub, I’ve been playing around in world with my avatar, kindly built for me by Draxtor and this team. Here’s a preview. The dress was inspired by Alexandra Kollontai’s wedding dress when she married Pavel Dubenko.
Manifiesta in Belgium
I’m crossing my fingers that Americans will be allowed to travel to Europe again by the fall so I can actually attend this amazing event in person. A festival of solidarity on Zoom just won’t do…
I love moderating smart talks →
Another great event, this time at the Harvard Davis Center.
Socialist Sexualities: Expert Knowledge and Intimate Revolutions in Poland and Czechoslovakia
New Video of KU Keynote Lecture for IWD 2021 →
Dr. Kristen R. Ghodsee on the Socialist History of International Women's Day
In honor of Women's History Month 2021, KU's Emily Taylor Center for Women & Gender Equity and Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies welcomed Dr. Kristen R. Ghodsee (she/her) — author of Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence — to speak on the socialist roots of International Women's Day. This recording of the event features Dr. Ghodsee's lecture followed by an audience Q&A moderated by Dr. Megan Williams (she/her), Assistant Director of Emily Taylor Center for Women & Gender Equity.
Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL0DuM0xibM
International Women's Day Events and Interviews Roundup
Okay, well I have been REALLY very busy in the last few days with a wide variety of events and interviews. Below you will find links to all of the fun things I have been doing to celebrate the socialist holiday this year.
Watch: A special event for the Democratic Socialists of America International Committee (co-sponsored by the socialist feminist working group and Lux Magazine): “Love and Sex Behind the Iron Curtain: 20th Century State Socialism in Eastern Europe.” 7 March 2021
Listen: Revolutionary Left Radio Podcast, Interview with Kristen Ghodsee,“Socialist Feminism, Class Struggle, and the Cold War.” 7 March 2021
Listen: It's Not All In Your Head Podcast. "Do Women Have Better Sex In Socialist & Communist Countries? (ft. Kristen Ghodsee)," 22 February 2021
Listen: Katie Halper Show Podcast, “Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism” March 8, 2021
Listen: A.K. 47 Podcast, “International Women’s Day, Part 2” 8 March 2021
Read [In French]: Carla Biguliak. “Le socialisme est-il bon pour la sexualité des femmes?” Revolution Permanente, 6 March 2021
Read [In Russian]: Братерский Александр, “Профессор Кристен Годси: "Феминизм сегодня стал ругательным словом" finam.ru, 8 March 2021
8 March 2021 (18:00 GMT-5): Jacobin Talks, “The Socialist History of International Women’s Day” (with Kristen Ghodsee and Meagan Day)
10 March 2021 “A World to Win Podcast with Grace Blakeley, “Love Kills Capitalism”
Upcoming Events:
9 March 2021 (19:00 GMT-5): A keynote lecture for IWD at the University of Kansas: Women's History Month Lecture: Dr. Kristen R. Ghodsee on International Women's Day
11 March 2021 (10:30 GMT-5) Guest Lecture, Kristen Ghodsee: "State socialist women's organizations and their role during the U.N. Decade for Women (1975-1985)" Center for History, Sciences Po, Paris
16 March 2021 (11:00 GMT-5) Discussion: "Socialism in the Age of AOC and Bernie Sanders: A Conversation with Bhaskar Sunkara and Kristen Ghodsee" New York Writer's Institute
17 March 2021 (12:00 GMT-5) "Love and Sex Behind the Iron Curtain: What Can We Learn from the Experiences of 20th Century State Socialism in Eastern Europe?" University of Pennsylvania
31 March 2021 (12:00 GMT-5) "Socialist Sexualities: Expert Knowledge and Intimate Revolutions in Poland and Czechoslovakia" Harvard University
New Poster for the March 17th online event
Designed by the amazing Alina Yakubova!
Starting my month as a Professeur Invité at Sciences Po →
Well, if it wasn’t for this bloody pandemic, I would have been in Paris this month!
New Event with the DSA International Committee →
Get more info here
Join us on International Women’s Day for a fascinating discussion!
Speakers:
Prof. Agnieszka Kościańska, author of Gender, Pleasure, and Violence: The Construction of Expert Knowledge of Sexuality in Poland (Indiana University Press 2021). Visiting Professor at the Oxford School of Global and Area Studies and Associate Professor in the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Warsaw.
Prof. Kateřina Lišková, Masaryk University, Czechia, and author of Sexual Liberation, Socialist Style: Communist Czechoslovakia and the Science of Desire, 1945–1989 (Cambridge University Press, 2019)
Prof. Kristen Ghodsee, University of Pennsylvania, author of Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence (Bold Type Books, 2018).
Moderated by Dr. Polina Aronson (Germany/Russia), freelance Journalist is a sociologist and the debate editor of openDemocracy Russia. She was born in St Petersburg and lives in Berlin. She is working on a book about perceptions of love in Russia and in the West.
Sponsored by Democratic Socialists of America International Committee Europe Subcommittee, DSA SocFem Working Group, and Lux magazine.
Register for my International Women's Day Keynote Lecture at the University of Kansas
If you are interested in learning about the socialist history of International Women’s Day, please consider my lecture at KU on March 9th (the day after IWD). You can register here.
Facebook Live Event Now: Book Launch of Second World, Second Sex in Bulgaria
https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=786758255479755&ref=watch_permalink
Thanks to Koi Books, East-West Books, and the Goethe Institute.
My event with Dame Marilyn Waring at the New Zealand Festival of the Arts →
I was so honored to share the stage with one of my feminist heroes.
A robot wishes me a happy birthday
Yesterday, I turned fifty in lockdown. It was a surreal day, not least of all because a friend forwarded me this Twitter bot which tweets about 50th birthdays. Weird.
I was so honored to share the stage with one of my heroes: Dame Marilyn Waring!
With the most amazing Kim Hill at the New Zealand Festival of the Arts
I had such a lovely conversation with Kim Hill, who asked all of the right questions.
