Girls Take Action: Activism Networks By, For, and with Girls and Young Women

The repression of the rights of girls and women is continuously threatened in a wide range of global cultural contexts. From the rise in laws restricting reproductive freedom to the growth in essentialist ideas about gender and the backlash to the #MeToo movement, the challenges facing girls and young women are as diverse as the activism networks established to address them. Girls Take Action shines light on the myriad ways girls and young women are exercising agency in the face of injustice, considering especially the role of community and collaboration in fostering activism networks and ultimately a more transnational understanding of girlhood.

Catherine Vanner is an Assistant Professor and the VPRI Research Chair for the Faculty of Education at the University of Windsor. Previously, she worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at McGill University and an Education Advisor at Plan International Canada and the Canadian International Development Agency. Specializing in the use of qualitative and participatory methods to examine the relationship between education, gender, and violence, her recent publications include Teaching Peace and Conflict: The Multiple Roles of School Textbooks in Peacebuilding (Springer, 2022), co-edited with Spogmai Akseer and Thursica Kovinthan Levi, and journal articles in Girlhood Studies, Gender & Education, and Pedagogy, Culture & Society.