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The Feminist Files

The Feminist Files

By: The Feminist Files
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Welcome to The Feminist Files!


Emerging from the University of Cambridge’s feminist collective, Gender Agenda, our student-run team digs deep into current feminist debates, talking with enthusiasts within the student body and those in the world of policy, academia and activism.


Our originality stems from our desire to democratise feminist discussion; we encourage our enthusiastic team to pursue any feminist-focused topic they are passionate about.


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https://www.instagram.com/the_feminist_files_/.

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Episodes
  • The Sociology of the Internet: Race and Representation Online

    The Sociology of the Internet: Race and Representation Online
    Jun 15 2026
    In this episode, Asha Metcalfe and Sophie Biancelli are joined by Dr Isabelle Higgins, a sociologist at the University of Cambridge, to discuss how online culture reflects and perpetuates systems of power and inequality. We explore how epistemic and affective structures influence aesthetics, visibility and representation.Drawing on Stuart Hall’s theory of regimes of representation, and conjunctural analysis, we explore how visibility online today is mediated by histories of inequality. How do online representations of adopted children of colour today reflect colonial legacies? How does generative AI reinforce systems of oppression? Does the rise of Sabrina Carpenter and Addison Rae suggest we live in a post-feminist world? Isabelle demonstrates how sociological theory can be used to explore these questions and examine what online cultural products, from adoption websites to music videos, reveal about our society. To clarify, the point on Bourdieu and Wacquant's three types of reflexivity refers to:1) social origins and coordinates of the individual research, 2) the academic field – ‘the objective space of possible intellectual positions offered to him or her’, 3) the ‘intellectualist bias which invites us to consider the world as a spectacle’ (Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992:39)Isabelle Higgins' Work:Early research into adoption and the internet - Higgins, I. (2024). Classified children: A critical analysis of the digital interfaces and representations that mediate adoption in the United States. New Media & Society, 26(11), 6597-6614.Reflection on archival research - Higgins, I. (2025) ‘Complex Connections: Coloniality, embodiment and children of colour in the archives’ Decolonizing Bodies, Eds. Carolyn Ureña & Saiba Varma; Bloomsbury Academic Press.Co-authored writing on AI with colleagues at the department of Sociology - Baert, P., Dorschel, R., Hall, M., Higgins, I., McPherson, E., & Philip, S. (2026). Dialogues Towards Sociologies of Generative AI. Social Science Computer Review, 44(1), 59-79.People and concepts mentioned:Other sources mentioned:Stuart Hall on Conjunctural Analysis - link to talk here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHpht1nNtB0&t=1s and transcript here https://www.mediaed.org/transcripts/Stuart-Hall-Through-the-Prism-of-an-Intellectual-Life-Transcript.pdfLaura Briggs on adoption imagery - Briggs, L. (2003). Mother, child, race, nation: The visual iconography of rescue and the politics of transnational and transracial adoption. Gender & History, 15(2), 179-200.Julian Go - the beginning of sociology as a discipline - Go, J. 2013. ‘The Emergence of American Sociology in the Context of Empire’. In Sociology & Empire: The Imperial Entanglements of a Discipline, edited by George Steinmetz, 83–103. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.Bourdieu/Waquant - social coordinates of a researcher - Wacquant, L. J., & Bourdieu, P. (1992). An invitation to reflexive sociology University of Chicago Press.Linda Tuhiwai Smith - “Get the story right and tell the story well” - Smith, L. T. (2012). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and indigenous peoples (2nd ed.). Zed Books Sara Ahmed - ‘histories that stick’ - Ahmed, S. (2004). Collective feelings: Or, the impressions left by others. Theory, culture & society, 21(2), 25-42.Gustavo H. Dalaqua - Aesthetic injusticeKanai and Gill - Kanai, A., & Gill, R. (2020). Woke? Affect, neoliberalism, marginalised identities and consumer culture. New Formations, 102(102), 10-27.Francesca Sobande on CGI influencers - Sobande, F. (2021). Spectacularized and Branded Digital (Re)presentations of Black People and Blackness. Television & New Media, 22(2), 131-146.Angela McRobbie - Postfeminism - McRobbie, A. (2004). Post‐feminism and popular culture. Feminist media studies, 4(3), 255-264.Briony Hannell - fandom - Hannell, Briony. 2023. Feminist Fandom: Media Fandom, Digital Feminisms, and Tumblr. Bloomsbury. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    1 hr
  • Affaire Gisèle Pélicot : une anthropologie de l'ordinaire avec Perrine Lachenal

    Affaire Gisèle Pélicot : une anthropologie de l'ordinaire avec Perrine Lachenal
    May 20 2026

    Dans notre premier épisode en français, Astrid Carrasco et Helena Kondak s’entretiennent avec Perrine Lachenal, anthropologue chargée de recherche au CNRS et co-coordinatrice de l’axe thématique « Chantiers féministes » au Centre Norbert Elias. La chercheuse a coordonné une ethnographie multi-située menée par une grande équipe de chercheurs sur le procès des viols de Mazan; une affaire qui “tient à la fois de l’ordinaire et de l’extraordinaire, l’histoire d’une femme, comme tant d’autres, violée par un homme : son mari. L’affaire est inédite par son ampleur et sa matérialité sordide : ces viols ont été filmés, (mais aussi parce que) Gisèle Pelicot fait partie des victimes qui ont porté plainte, bénéficié d’une enquête, obtenu un procès sans huis clos et des condamnations.”


    Dans l’épisode, nous cherchons à comprendre ce que l’anthropologie révèle sur cette affaire et sur la justice, ce que le journalisme ne peut pas. Nous envisageons l’importance de parler de cette affaire à la fois comme un “événement” singulier et comme une réflexion sur un continuum de violences et de voyeurisme.


    Comment envisager le procès et le tribunal comme des objets d’étude sociale ?


    Comment habiter ces espaces en tant que chercheuses, et les écrire à plusieurs ?


    Pour tout commentaire ou suggestion / for any comments, contact : thefeministfiles2025@gmail.com

    or DM our Instagram : @the_feminist_files_


    //


    The Gisèle Pélicot case: an anthropology of the ordinary with Perrine Lachenal


    In our first episode in French, Astrid Carrasco and Helena Kondak talk to Perrine Lachenal, an anthropologist and research fellow at the CNRS and co-coordinator of the ‘Feminist Projects’ research theme at the Centre Norbert Elias. Lachenal coordinated the work of a large team of researchers on multi-sited ethnography of the Mazan rape trial, a case that “is both ordinary and extraordinary: the story of a woman, like so many others, raped by a man: her husband. The case is unprecedented in its scale and sordid nature: these rapes were filmed, but also because Gisèle Pelicot is one of the victims who filed a complaint, benefited from an investigation, secured a trial held in open court, and obtained convictions.”


    In this episode, we seek to understand what anthropology allows us to grasp differently from journalism and the justice system when faced with such a case: why speak of a singular “event”, which nevertheless reflects a continuum of violence and voyeurism? How might we view the trial and the court as subjects of social study? How might we inhabit these spaces as researchers and write about them collectively?


    For any comments or suggestions, contact: thefeministfiles2025@gmail.com

    or DM our Instagram: @the_feminist_files_




    Credits:


    Hosted by Helena Kondak and Astrid Carrasco


    Joined by Perrine Lachenal


    Edited by Astrid Carrasco


    Cover design by Madeleine Baber


    Music by Jacob Carey




    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    59 mins
  • Endometriosis and Structural Discrimination in the Workplace with Elaine Banton

    Endometriosis and Structural Discrimination in the Workplace with Elaine Banton
    May 16 2026

    In this episode, Isobelle speaks to Elaine Banton, a barrister at 7BR Chambers specialising in employment, equality and discrimination. The discussion begins with a discussion of Elaine’s recent appellate success in the case Pal v Accenture. This case tackled disability discrimination and workplace progression systems, leading us into a broader consideration on how workplace models are frequently hostile and unaccommodating to those experiencing endometriosis and other chronic conditions. Elaine emphasises how these existing frameworks frequently lead to structural problems becoming individualised.


    We also discuss endometriosis more generally in this episode, talking about ‘medical misogyny’, and why women’s pain is so often normalised or dismissed, and what approaches may be taken to address and change this. The discussion concludes with a reflection on AI biases in government decisions and the importance of building guardrails and fairness into systems proactively rather than retroactively addressing harms.


    Directly pertaining to the discussion in the episode, a recent petition, created by Sanju Pal, has called for gynaecological conditions to be listed as impairments in the Equality Act 2010 Guidance on Disability.


    More information on the petition can be found here:

    https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/761186


    Find coverage of Elaine’s success in the case here:

    https://www.7br.co.uk/2026/02/elaine-banton-successfully-wins-appeal-in-the-employment-appeal-tribunal-in-pal-v-accenture-uk/

    https://www.linkedin.com/in/elaine-banton/


    Sources used for this episode:

    https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/696e07ac5a37ab534a9e235f/Ms_S_Pal_v_Accenture__UK__Ltd__2026__EAT_12.pdf

    https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/endometriosis/

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy9y9lrwxqgo

    https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/328/women-and-equalities-committee/news/212280/improving-menstrual-health-must-be-prioritised-in-womens-health-strategy-and-wider-nhs-reforms-wec-says/

    https://www.endometriosis-uk.org/press-release-time-end-stigma

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2drw8l80no

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm2kke1jn8xo

    https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/press-releases/37614/

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/dec/06/revealed-bias-found-in-ai-system-used-to-detect-uk-benefits#:~:text=Neither%20did%20it%20reveal%20whether,prevent%20fraudsters%20gaming%20the%20system


    Episode edited by Rowan Berkley

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    50 mins
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