Transcript Making the Personal Political: Towards a Structural

Making the Personal Political:
Towards a Structural Analysis
of the Anti-Violence Movements
of Armenia and the University of
California, Irvine
Laura Wallace
Women’s Studies Senior Seminar
with Lilith Mahmud
June 2nd, 2010
Main Arguments


Typically use interpersonal approaches
→Constructions of womanhood and
survivorhood
I suggest a structural approach
→within a neoliberal context
→to adequately address survivors
along race, class, sexuality and
gender lines
UCI CARE (Campus Assault
Resources and Education)

Personal experiences
→analyze the movements’ dynamics

Seeks the elimination of sexual violence
→Through Peer Education groups
and large-scale outreach
Transnational Feminism



Armenian NGOs fighting domestic violence
→American-funded
→Western feminist expert-informed
Structure of the programs
Armenian families
→Western approaches do not address
specific needs of the diverse
Armenian population
Conclusion

Examine the history of movements
→Legacies of second wave feminism

Towards a structural analysis of antiviolence movements