Course description
For decades, abolitionist thought has been central to feminism, most specifically the tradition of Black feminism. This course offers the opportunity to think about abolitionism through feminist frames, including critique of legal reformist approaches in feminist theories and practices – what sometimes is referred to as ‘carceral’ or ‘punitive’ feminism.
The course focuses on the concept of abolitionism from several angles, exploring the potential and limitations of different traditions within abolitionist thinking. We will map genealogies of the concept in different contexts and explore the most recent surge of engagement with abolitionist thought since the proliferation of the BLM movement in 2020.
A variety of applications of the idea of abolitionism will be studied: from prison abolition, through gender abolition and family abolition, to carbon and border abolition. Here, not only the theoretical potential of the concept will be analysed through some key readings, but also its political use in different struggles for transformative justice. The students will be invited to explore the ways in which their own work might develop through engagement with notions of abolitionism.
Course information
Dates: 3-5 December 2025
Location: Lund University (on campus)
Deadline for applications: 24 October 2025
Applications should be sent to: InterGender Consortium Coordinator Edyta Just (edyta.just@liu.se)
Maximum number of participants: 30
Organised by:
- Local InterGender Course Organizer: Division of Gender Studies, Lund University, Sweden
- InterGender, International Consortium for Interdisciplinary Feminist Research Training
- Course coordinator: InterGender Consortium Coordinator: Edyta Just (edyta.just@liu.se)
Lecturers:
- Maja Sager, Associate Professor in Gender studies, Division of Gender Studies, Lund University
- Marta Kolankiewicz, PhD in Sociology, Division of Gender Studies, Lund University
- Ida Danewid, Associate Professor in Gender and Global Political Economy Director, Centre for Global Political Economy, University of Sussex
Course schedule
3 December, 11am – 5 December, 15 pm
The three-day-long course will be structured in the following way: every day, a lecture will introduce the thematic focus of the day. This will be followed by seminar discussions in which the assigned literature will be discussed and connections made to the own work of the participants. In the afternoons, we will have workshops focusing the submitted papers in groups.
Lectures:
Day 1 (December 3)
Genealogies of abolition and the critique of ‘carceral feminism’, with Marta Kolankiewicz and Maja Sager
Day 2 (December 4)
Unmapping apartheid, with Ida Danewid
Day 3 (December 5)
Family and gender abolition, with Marta Kolankiewicz and Maja Sager
Obligatory preparations after the acceptance to the course
- Course readings (list provided after acceptance to the course), about 1000 pages (600 obligatory and 400 optional).
- Paper (2–5 pages describing a research problem related to the course and the participant’s PhD thesis project or MA thesis project) to be sent to the InterGender Consortium Coordinator Edyta Just (edyta.just[at]liu.se). The deadline will be indicated in due time. Remember to mark it with your name and the course name.
- All participants are expected to read the paper of their fellow group members before the course and be prepared to offer constructive comments. The papers will be made available online.
Optional essay after the end of the course
- An essay of 6000-7000 words to be handed in no later than 3 months after the course. One copy should be sent to maja.sager[at]genus.lu.se and marta.kolankiewicz[at]genus.lu.se and one to the InterGender Consortium Coordinator Edyta Just (edyta.just[at]liu.se). The teacher has 3 months to evaluate the essay.
- The essay should strike a balance between addressing a theme that has been part of the course (lectures, discussions, reading material), and be relevant for participant’s own research.
- The essay should, moreover, be considered as an exercise in doing a written presentation aimed at an academic readership not familiar with the author’s research. The essay should constitute a whole and explain relevant contexts.
Accreditation and examination
- 7.5 ECTS credits are given for active participation and a short paper, 2-5 pages (graded pass/fail) for 3 days course.
- 10 ECTS credits are given for active participation plus an optional essay (graded pass/fail) for 3 days course.
Course certificate
In order to request the certificate, please send an e-mail to Edyta Just(edyta.just[at]liu.se). The Consortium Coordinator issues, upon request, a certificate indicating to how many ECTS credits course participation is considered equal. It is the candidate/student’s own responsibility to ask her/his/their home institution about its accreditation rules and to obtain appropriate credit for participation in InterGender course within the enrolled curriculum.
Applications should be written in English and include:
- name, affiliation, full address, e-mail, phone
- name and affiliation of PhD supervisor or MA supervisor
- brief CV
- description of PhD project or MA project (1-2 pages)
- motivation: why do you want to participate in the course (1-2 pages)
- please, indicate if you are in the first/middle/last phase of your PhD research or if you are advanced MA student
Funding
The event is free. In terms of travel costs, we can offer 3 (three) grants of 2500 SEK each. If you wish to apply for this grant, please provide brief motivation in your application.
Information on Admission
- Participants have to be registered as PhD candidates or advanced MA students.
- The InterGender courses are open for PhD and advance MA students from all disciplines and countries.
- Participants will be selected on the basis of an evaluation of their CV, project description and a letter of motivation.
- If there are more applicants who qualify for participation, than there are places, the places will be distributed along the following criteria:
a)Applicants registered as PhD candidates or advanced MA students at a Partner Unit will be prioritized for a maximum of 90% of places with approximately 25 % of the 90% open to MA-students. When the places are distributed among the Partner Units, a good spread between these units will also be ensured.
b) Applicants registered as PhD candidates in another unit at the Partner Higher Education Establishments will be prioritized for 10 % of the places. When the places are distributed among the Partner Higher Education Establishments, a good spread between these establishments will also be ensured. If places remain of the 90 % prioritized for PhD candidates and advanced MA students registered at a Partner Unit, these places will instead be prioritized for PhD candidates registered at a Partner Higher Education Establishments.
c) If the applicants according to a) and b) do not fill all the places, remaining places will be open for competition between all eligible and qualifying applicants from any higher education establishment.