Feminist Public Intellectuals Project
In keeping with the consistent mission of Signs to matter in the world, the Feminist Public Intellectuals Project seeks to engage feminist theorizing with pressing political and social issues via three open-access, online-first initiatives: Ask a Feminist, Short Takes, and Currents. Given the fragmentation of feminist activism and the persistent negative freighting of the moniker “feminist,” the Feminist Public Intellectuals Project seeks to genuinely reimagine the role a journal can play. This multipronged tack brings into conversation feminist public intellectuals with academic experts, activists with scholars in an effort to spark conversation, debate, and critical feminist discourse.Ask a Feminist Conversations with feminist experts
Ask a Feminist features interviews with leading feminist thinkers on issues raised by some aspect of current political life or social justice issue. This allows Signs to create an ongoing conversation between and among feminist scholars, media activists, and community leaders, enhancing the journal’s role as a transitive space, percolating in and between the space of intellectual production and activist engagement.
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Short Takes Commentaries on books shaping public feminist discourse
Short Takes examine books that have had wide-ranging impact and reach (for better or worse!) through short commentaries from leading feminist public intellectuals and activists. Rather than traditional book reviews, commentators are asked to ponder broader questions of reach and resonance: Why this? Why now? And what does this say about the state of the feminist zeitgeist?
Currents Pointed takes on feminist controversies
Currents features essays by prominent feminist scholars engaging a key concept or debate. Most assuredly not designed as encyclopedia entries, these pieces instead are potentially controversial “white papers” that offer a nuanced and edgy take on a key issue circulating in the feminist definitional landscape. Each essay is accompanied by an expansive multimedia digital archive that includes podcasts, videos, and cartoons, as well as more traditional books and articles, that speak to the concept in question.
