School of Politics and International Relations

Professor Kimberly Hutchings speaks about gendered rhetorics at Trent University

25 November 2015

Gendered Rhetorics in the Justification of Violence and Non-Violence: Gandhi and Fanon

Professor Kimberly Hutchings gave a lecture at Trent University, Canada. The lecture was part of the Elaine Stavro Distinguished Visiting Scholar in Theory, Politics & Gender Studies. The featured talk addressed the theme of ‘Gendered Rhetorics in the Justification of Violence and Non-Violence’ paying special attention to the examples of Gandhi and Fanon. In particular the role of gendered rhetoric in justifying the claims that Gandhi and Fanon make about non-violence and violence, and argues that to the extent that they both rely on a specifically western, binary model of gender, even as they fundamentally challenge colonialism and imperialism, they nevertheless perpetuate ways of thinking about the meaning of the nation-state and war that are embedded in that imperial and colonial history.