The Feminist Files

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.

In this episode, Helena Kondak is joined by Professor Shazia Choudhry (University of Oxford) to discuss her two-year comparative European research project on how justice systems and family law deal with domestic abuse cases. Drawing on extensive work with women’s rights organisations and key stakeholders across England & Wales, France, Spain, Italy, and Bosnia & Herzegovina, the research exposes how survivors often face secondary traumatisation within legally sanctioned processes.We unpack how narrow legal understandings of violence, procedural barriers, and the growing reliance on concepts like “parental alienation” systematically discredit mothers and silence survivors, even where abuse is well-documented. Placing family law in conversation with human rights obligations under the ECHR and the Istanbul Convention, this episode asks what states are required to do to truly protect women and children, and why current systems can fail to do so.*Get in touch with us : For any responses, comments, or suggestions, please get in touch via thefeministfiles2025@gmail.com, or on Instagram @the_feminist_files_ *CreditsHosted by Helena KondakJoined by Professor Shazia ChoudhryEdited by Rowan BerkleyCover design by Madeleine BaberMusic by Jacob Carey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Asha Metcalfe and Rosie Hillary sit down with Lauren Sayers and Rosie Freeman after the debate: This House Would Abolish Prisons, held by Gender Agenda, the University of Cambridge’s largest feminist collective. In our first episode out in the field (breaking free from the recording studio), we are joined by two fellow Human, Social, and Political Science students to discuss abolitionism, crime, and systems of power and oppression. We move beyond the prison system to discuss theorists like Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, and Max Weber to explore the ways power and surveillance can be theorised in society. We apply these theories to our lives to examine how relationships and institutions are impacted by systems of power and control. What do we gain from understanding these topics? What is the benefit of social critique? If you are interested in our discussion, consider reading:The Right to Sex by Amia SrinivasanExperiments in Imagining Otherwise by Lola OlufemiThe New Spirit of Capitalism by Luc Boltanski and Ève ChiapelloDecolonial Feminism in Anya Yala: Caribbean, Meso, and Southern American Contributions and Challenges by Espinosa, Lugones and Maldonado Torres - particularly the chapter by Iris Hernandez MoralesIf you enjoyed this episode, please follow us on Instagram and Substack!https://www.instagram.com/the_feminist_files_/https://substack.com/@thefeministfiles  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, hosts Asha Metcalfe and Rosie Hillary are joined by Reese Marley Robinson, a recent Cambridge graduate, to discuss her sociology dissertation exploring the lived experiences of Black girls in Britain’s private schools. Drawing on interviews and her own experiences, Reese explains the “affective cost of inclusion” and the emotional labour of navigating elite, predominantly white institutions which marginalise the experiences of racial minorities. We discuss topics like misogynoir, structural racism, code-switching, hair politics, and the racialised politics of visibility. We explore how Black peer networks can be sites of resistance and care, and talk about what meaningful institutional change could look like for Britain’s education system. Here are some readings that are related to our discussion!  Anti-Community: The Kitchen & Our Cooked Community https://radicalblackbrits.substack.com/p/anti-community-the-kitchen-and-ourThe Brixton Balck Women’s Group https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2024/07/30/book-review-speak-out-the-brixton-black-womens-group-milo-miller/Farleigh’s Place: Wealth, Privilege and Whiteness by Reese Marley Robinson https://www.thecambridgestudent.co.uk/culture/farleighs-place-wealth-privilege-and-whitenessLewis, Amanda E., 1970-. Race in the Schoolyard : Negotiating the Color Line in Classrooms and Communities. New Brunswick, N.J. :Rutgers University Press, 2003.Nash, J.C. (2019). Black Feminism Reimagined: After Intersectionality. Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv111jhd0Carby, Hazel V. (1982) ‘White woman listen!: Black feminism and the boundaries of sisterhood’ in Centre for Contemporary Cultural StudiesDavis, Angela (2016) Freedom is a Constant Struggle Chicago: Haymarket Books.Episode Edited by Rowan BerkleyVote for us in People’s Choice Awards 2026:https://politicalpodcastawards.co.uk/the-peoples-choice-award/Follow The Feminist Files on instagram:https://www.instagram.com/the_feminist_files_/Follow The Feminist Files Substack:https://substack.com/@thefeministfiles Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Women’s college-level football has recently taken the form of an informal intercollegiate league following the banning of transgender women from participation in college-affiliated league matches, in line with the UK Supreme Court ruling earlier this year. What are captains, colleges and Cambridge University doing in light of this legislative pressure? What does this mean for inclusivity and the future of women’s football as a whole? Faith Cunningham discusses this sensitive and complex issue with guests Lara and Tia, members of the college women's football league.For any welfare concerns, please get in contact with Louisa, the CUAFC Welfare Officer. If you have any questions or comments, please email fc5562@cam.ac.ukFollow The Feminist Files on instagram:https://www.instagram.com/the_feminist_files_/Follow The Feminist Files Substack:https://substack.com/@thefeministfiles Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we are joined by Angèle Albrengues to discuss how current EU legal frameworks fail to address the risks of gender discrimination associated with artificial intelligence models. We discuss how AI technology reinforces the biases it is fed, reproducing inequality in both overt and covert ways. We highlight how sexism, misogyny, and gender-based violence cannot be escaped in digital spaces. Despite the prevalence of this issue, we explore how AI’s lack of transparency and lack of legal personhood makes it challenging to legislatively address the discrimination it perpetuates. Angèle discusses how existing frameworks can be used to confront this issue, and we consider whether AI can be reprogrammed to champion the feminist perspective.If you are interested in this topic, here are some further reading suggestions:‘Weight of gender in artificial intelligence models’ implementation in the European Union non-discrimination laws’ by Angèle Albrengues and Lerong Lu https://www.elspub.com/papers/j/1912463123407900672 ‘Generative AI exists because of the transformer’ written by Madhumita Murgia for the Financial Times https://ig.ft.com/generative-ai/ ‘Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence: An Overview’ by Suzie Dunn https://www.cigionline.org/publications/technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-overview/ New Age of Sexism by Laura BatesTo check out the charity Angele works for: https://stopfisha.org/, https://www.instagram.com/stopfisha/ If you enjoyed this episode, please follow our instagram and substack!https://www.instagram.com/the_feminist_files_/https://substack.com/@thefeministfiles Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How does one even begin to rebuild an economy while a war rages on? Faith Cunningham speaks with Vlada Yaremenko, Senior Project Officer at RUSI’s Centre for Finance and Security, about Ukraine’s fight for financial integrity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today’s episode, Barbara Foliot explores the democratisation of online sex work, using OnlyFans as a case study to examine whether it empowers sex workers or glamorises prostitution. Joined by Dr. Harriet Fletcher, a feminist media expert, they discuss how OnlyFans offer autonomy to creators but also raise ethical concerns, such as the lack of support for performers' well-being. While digital sex work has introduced new opportunities, it has also blurred lines between personal and professional content. This new, concise format aims to educate on the evolving landscape of sex work, its societal acceptance, and the challenges surrounding safety and legitimacy. Sources used to make this episode:Sex workers testimonies: - Privacy Issues in Online Sex Work : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy4GszKoYu8- Onlyfans: le commerce du X, nouvelle génération: https://www.la-croix.com/Onlyfans-commerce-X-nouvelle-generation-2022-11-02-1301240382- Creator Testimonials on OnlyFans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMh80ZfRgy0Find the rest of the sources on: https://linktr.ee/gender.agenda?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=d88e9f98-5a2e-43ba-b27e-e720ebcd2b73 Want to respond to something said in this episode? Or propose an episode of your own? Get in touch via our instagram @gender.agenda and @collective.phoenix Credits:Hosted by Barbaria FoliotJoined by Dr. Harriet FletcherEdited by Barbara FoliotCover design by Madeleine BaberMusic by Jacob Carey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.