Current issue

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volume 46, no. 3 / 2020

special issue

Feminist Analysis of COVID-19

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, as we reeled from mounting death counts, a series of drastic lockdowns, sudden massive shifts to online teaching and learning, and inadequate information about the virus, we also began an urgent conversation within our editorial collective about feminist approaches to understanding our new condition. Given the sudden physical constriction of our social, work, and activist lives, it felt important to reach outward rather than retreat into the concerns closest to home. Such a task entailed exploring geographic and policy differences in response to the pandemic around the globe. It meant asking who got to stay home, who was obliged to work outside the home, and what “home” meant for those vulnerable to family coercion. It also required closely tracking new meanings that were being forged — how societies deemed specific kinds of work “essential,” how physically maintaining distance (now termed “social” distancing) was practiced, and why mask-wearing seemed controversial. The Feminist Studies editorial collective decided to craft a call for short commentaries that would reflect a range of feminist research, analysis, and experience around the globe. The result is this special issue. We intend it not only to serve as an intellectual hive — a buzzing collection of ideas — but also as a personal resource that inspires readers by demonstrating feminist responses to these unprecedented times.