"Gender, Labour, and Work" - June 2021

The Young Feminist Network Newsletter

June 01, 2021

The Young Feminist Network was established in July 2020 by Everystory Sri Lanka to bring together people interested in learning more about feminism, particularly from a Sri Lankan and South Asian perspective.

This month, our newsletter is curated on the theme "Gender, Labour, and Work".

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Dear Reader,

This month's newsletter comes to you in a fresh new format our team has worked tirelessly to put together for you. My favourite section in this newsletter is the carefully curated reading list on this month's theme "Gender, Labour, and Work" by Dr. Samanthi J Gunawardana and Professor Kanchana N Ruwanpura, two Sri Lankan academics and researchers who are experts in this field.

This newsletter is one that is very special to me as thinking about women and labour through a critical feminist lens gave me a new perspective on how I would want to shape my own career. I hope you learn as much as I did and feel that you too are a part of the journey we are all on, learning and growing together.

As always, we would love to hear your thoughts and feedback. We value the complimentary and the critical equally, so please share! You can get in touch with us via email on [email protected]

In solidarity,

Ruwani De Silva

YFN Newsletter Editor - June

Program Manager - Everystory Sri Lanka.

Labour and work are two core themes in feminist thinking, writing, and activism. While often used interchangeably, the two words can take on quite distinct meanings.

Gender should not be considered in isolation from other power relations, and an intersectional perspective is vital to understand experiences of work and labour truly. The caste system, for example, represents a labour stratification system. Work and labour are also shaped by race. In Sri Lanka, the most obvious example is the estate sector, which has long relied on Hill Country Tamil people. In another example, there is evidence from global domestic work markets that workers are placed in an unofficial hierarchy according to their country of origin and ethnicity.

Here, we present a short, curated reading list that delves into the points discussed above and touches upon work in multiple realms.

THE CURATORS

Dr. Samanthi J. Gunawardana is a Senior Lecturer in Gender and Development in the Faculty of Arts, and a member of the Monash Gender, Peace and Security Centre. She is the Course Director for the Master of International Development Practice.

2003 - 2004: Humboldt Research Fellow, Department of Economics & Post-Colonial Studies Program, Ludwig Maximilians University-Munich, Germany

Also explore...

Despite sustained efforts by lobbyists and activists, Sri Lankan women continue to endure power imbalances, discrimination, and marginalization across communities and industries. Read on for the stories of plantation workers, teachers, housewives, migrant workers, street sweepers, trans women, and the mothers of the disappeared - the undervalued women weaving and sustaining the social fabric of Sri Lanka.

A fundamental rights petition has been filed in the Supreme Court, by 32 policemen, calling for the dismissal of DIG Bimshani Jasin Arachchi’s title as Sri Lanka’s First Female Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG). It's 2021, and the glass ceiling is as strong as ever.

"...sharing today a poem I wrote after that trip [to Gaza] – “I Don’t Want to Be Remembered By My Last Instagram Post” – about how we grieve and agitate on social media, how inadequate it is, and how much of a lifeline it still is..."

Education

Online course on Trade and Gender, with optional module dedicated to MERCOSUR or to the Central American region

Paid Work Opportunities

  1. For woman-identified journalists (From Howard G. Buffett Fund)

  2. For feminist journalists of any gender(From AWID)

Vacancies available include:

Volunteer Call-Out

Every month, we feature the work and story of a member of the Young Feminist Network with the hope of inspiring and learning from each other.

This month, we spoke to Renushi Ubeyratna and feature her work in addressing violence against women in targeted districts, and fostering caring and positive masculinities in Sri Lanka and South Asia.

Every month, Kopi Collective, in collaboration with Everystory Sri Lanka calls for submissions by its members to be featured in the YFN Newsletter. This month's theme runs parallel to our newsletter: "A Feminist reflection on Gender, Labour, and Work".

You can access our previous member contributions here.

Learning Circle Sessions

If you want to suggest any particular topic for our Featured Speaker sessions and learning opportunities, please fill in this Google Form and let us know! 

Presenting to you our very first collection of feminist stickers specially curated based on stories of girl's resistance in the South Asian region. Would love to have one of your own or buy it as a special gift for your family or friends? Please head to Everystory Sri Lanka official Instagram page to choose yours

For more on the Support Team, read here.

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Who can Join?

Anyone can sign up for the newsletter! Fill in the Google Form (link below) to be added to the database:

Women, girls, and transgender/non-binary individuals who are of Sri Lankan heritage are also invited to join our Facebook group "Young Feminist Network by ESSL"

Sharing Information with the Network?

ESSL is conscious of the ethical handling of the data we hold of our members and their privacy. In order to respect the feminist values through which we try to shape our day to day work and the vetting we carry out of all information and opportunities we send out, we ask that members please refrain from directly emailing the YFN mailing list or using the reply all feature.

If you do have any information which might be of interest to the Network, please send it across to the ESSL team so we share it via appropriate chanels.

Tag us in your work, questions, thoughts, and ideas! Share what you are doing and tell us more about what you would like to see!

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