Tovi FENSTER, Tel `Aviv University, Israel
This paper presents 30 years of my personal academic journey as a researcher and a teacher of gender and feminism in a challenging local academic context of Israeli geography, which is mostly masculine, patriotic and chauvinistic. But part of my journey included also serving in ‘global’ academic positions such as the member of the executive board of the Commission on Gender and Geography (1996-2004) and as the Chair of the Commission (2004-2008).
These local/global sometimes contrasting experiences enable me to look back at their interplay and reflect on the ways in which the global scale assisted me in dealing with the hurdles on the local scale. The aim of the presentation is to share these experiences in order to look ahead at the future agenda of the Gender Geography Commission.
My talk will be focused on the following themes:
· What encouraged me to get into gender and geography? Which other fields of research affected this choice? (identities, race, ethnicity)
· What were the ‘local’ obstacles along these 30 years
· How did the Commission’s activities assisted me in promoting local gender and geography issues
· Some insights on looking ahead at the Commission’s future
Keywords: Israel|Feminism|global/local|feminist geographies
A103597TF