The Four Women project is led
by Dr Joanna Allan and funded by awarded by the Leverhulme Trust. The project will produce a four-part,
book-length biography of four women that have spent their lives attempting to
shape international civilian responses to the Western Sahara conflict through
cultural (and) activist means. It involves interviewing the protagonists, their
relatives and friends as well as the use of Cultural Studies methodologies: analysing
the protagonists’ texts, including song lyrics, memoirs, short stories.
There is increasing research on
how women have participated in nonviolent resistance movements against
colonialism, occupation and war. Research has highlighted how and why women
become involved in nonviolent resistance movements (), how women’s
participation changes the dynamics of such movements (), and women’s lived experiences of participation in such movements (, ). However, we
know little about how such cultural activists attempt to change the ‘hearts and
minds’ of the (former) colonialists/occupiers/’enemy’ in such cases.
The Four Women project is
therefore an important tool for theorising culture’s role in nonviolent
movements globally as well as for addressing gaps in diverse fields including
African women’s histories, Resistance Studies, Afro-Hispanic Studies and North
African Studies.
You can read more about the research award here and watch this space for further updates in the project.
