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What was the rationale\/aim of the project?<\/strong><\/p>\n Teaching a course on the political economy of sexuality means grappling with topics that have\u00a0been historically neglected and marginalised within the field of Global Political Economy (and\u00a0in the discipline of Politics more broadly). My third-year course, Capitalism and Sexuality,\u00a0tries to correct this by exploring the relationship between sexuality and capitalist political\u00a0economy, with a particular focus on the role of empire and colonialism in shaping gendered\u00a0and sexual power relations. The reading list is primarily comprised of women, LGBTQ+,\u00a0Global Majority, and Global South authors, but I am the sole lecturer: a British academic based\u00a0at a British university. I therefore wanted my students to hear from someone who combines\u00a0academic knowledge with extensive experience of organising and activism on the ground, in\u00a0both the UK and the Global South, namely Ghana. That\u2019s why I invited Edem Barbara Ntumy,\u00a0CEO of the NGO Reproductive Justice Initiative, to join us.<\/p>\n Edem’s organisation was started by and for Black and People of Colour working in Sexual and\u00a0Reproductive Health. Initially they worked on Decolonising Contraception, with the aim of\u00a0challenging how colonial legacies continue to shape reproductive healthcare, including\u00a0racialised health inequalities, today. This organisation later became Reproductive Justice\u00a0Initiative. The organisation calls for wealth redistribution, reparations, and the rejection of\u00a0capitalist frameworks\u2014exactly the kind of real-world politics that connects to the theories we\u00a0study in class. My hope was that Edem could help students see how some of the political\u00a0economic phenomena we were studying\u2014and academic concepts and theories used to\u00a0understand these phenomena\u2014actually play out in people\u2019s everyday lives and in social justice\u00a0movements.<\/p>\n What was the output of the project? How was it delivered?<\/strong><\/p>\n The session took place in week 9 of the course, when we usually focus on development,\u00a0colonialism, and sexual and reproductive health. We structured the session as part lecture, part\u00a0workshop. Edem shared insights about her activism and the work of the Reproductive Justice\u00a0Initiative, then she facilitated a discussion where students could explore what it actually means\u00a0to decolonise sexual and reproductive health. The session was strategically timed ahead of their\u00a0final essay preparations. Students write extended essays on questions like \u201cAre development\u00a0interventions on sexuality neocolonial?\u201d and \u201cHow have neoliberal rationalities shaped the\u00a0global HIV response?\u201d Hearing from Edem gave them concrete examples to draw on when\u00a0writing their essays. The session was a great opportunity for the students to move beyond just\u00a0reading about sexuality and capitalism to hear from someone doing the work of challenging\u00a0(colonial-)capitalist systems in practice.<\/p>\n How was the session received by students?<\/strong><\/p>\n The session was well-received by students. The question-and-answer session with Edem was\u00a0lively and interactive with students asking wide-ranging questions about Edem\u2019s political\u00a0activism and NGO work, the current political landscape surrounding reproductive justice,\u00a0including the transnational anti-gender movement, and what it is like to be a radical activist in\u00a0civil society and policy spaces in the UK. After the session several students approached me to\u00a0say how useful the session was and asked if an additional topic could be introduced on abortion\u00a0rights and struggles over decriminalisation. I will add this topic in for students in future years.<\/p>\n What challenges did we face?<\/strong><\/p>\n There are some tensions in inviting activists into university spaces\u2014given the ways in which\u00a0academic institutions in the Global North have historically excluded and extracted from\u00a0marginalised communities\u2014so I wanted to make sure this wasn\u2019t just about using Edem\u2019s work\u00a0as a \u2018case study\u2019. Activist knowledge is just as valuable as academic knowledge and indeed the\u00a0two are often co-constitutive, as in the case of Edem\u2019s organisation, which draws on Black\u00a0Marxist feminist theorising and the broader Black radical tradition. There are also practical\u00a0hurdles. Guest speaker fees, travel costs, and time for collaborative planning all require\u00a0resources. Securing ongoing funding for annual speakers\u2014especially those from outside\u00a0conventional academic networks\u2014is therefore a key issue. Finally, one session can easily feel\u00a0disconnected from the rest of the course. It takes work to integrate it properly, through readings, contextualising discussions beforehand, and follow-up activities that help students connect the\u00a0guest lecturer\u2019s insights to the course material.<\/p>\n \\What are the next steps?<\/strong><\/p>\n Going forward, I\u2019m hoping to invite more guest speakers linked to different course topics,\u00a0while keeping race and colonialism as central themes. This approach serves multiple purposes;\u00a0it will help to diversify the teaching team, introduce students to different perspectives on\u00a0activism and civil society organising, and keep the course connected to real-world practice. Where possible, speakers will be involved in activism or community organising, and priority\u00a0will go to people from Global Majority or other marginalised backgrounds. I\u2019m also hoping to\u00a0build a network of potential speakers and maintain relationships with organisations like\u00a0Reproductive Justice Initiative. This could open possibilities for student placements or even\u00a0collaborative teaching or research. In this sense, the project was about more than just changing\u00a0one week\u2019s lecture on one course. It aimed to show how we can better centre historically\u00a0marginalised perspectives in Politics, connect academic study to social justice activism and\u00a0movement work, and help students see themselves as potential drivers of change, rather than\u00a0just observers of inequality and injustice<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_comments _builder_version=”3.17.6″ show_avatar=”on” show_reply=”on” show_count=”on” background_layout=”light” header_font_size_tablet=”51″ header_line_height_tablet=”2″ custom_button=”on” button_icon_placement=”right” button_text_color=”#ffffff” button_use_icon=”off” locked=”on” parent_locked=”off” button_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_text_size__hover=”null” button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_size__hover=”null” button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_size__hover=”null” button_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_text_color__hover=”null” button_one_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_color__hover=”null” button_two_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_color__hover=”null” button_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_width__hover=”null” button_one_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_width__hover=”null” button_two_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_width__hover=”null” button_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_color__hover=”null” button_one_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_color__hover=”null” button_two_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_color__hover=”null” button_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_radius__hover=”null” button_one_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_radius__hover=”null” button_two_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_radius__hover=”null” button_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_letter_spacing__hover=”null” button_one_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_letter_spacing__hover=”null” button_two_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_letter_spacing__hover=”null” button_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_bg_color__hover=”null” button_one_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_bg_color__hover=”null” button_two_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_bg_color__hover=”null” \/][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_sidebar _builder_version=”3.0.106″ area=”sidebar-1″ orientation=”left” show_border=”off” background_layout=”light” locked=”on” \/][et_pb_post_nav _builder_version=”3.0.106″ in_same_term=”off” show_prev=”on” show_next=”on” prev_text=”Previous” next_text=”Next” locked=”off” parent_locked=”off” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Connect Title” custom_padding=”0px||0px|” _builder_version=”3.0.90″ background_color=”#1d1d1d” module_class=”footer-section” prev_background_color=”#ffffff” global_module=”380″][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” global_parent=”380″ locked=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”off” parallax_2=”off” parallax_method_2=”off” parallax_3=”off” parallax_method_3=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” use_custom_gutter=”off” make_equal=”off” module_id=”footer-row” _builder_version=”3.0.89″][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Contact Us Title” global_parent=”380″ background_layout=”dark” text_text_color=”#ffffff” parent_locked=”off” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial” _builder_version=”3.17.6″]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Contact Us” global_parent=”380″ text_text_color=”#aaaaaa” parent_locked=”off” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” module_class=”contact-us” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”]<\/p>\n +44 (0) 161 306 6000<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Find Us Title” global_parent=”380″ background_layout=”dark” text_text_color=”#ffffff” parent_locked=”off” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Address” global_parent=”380″ background_layout=”dark” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” module_id=”address” parent_locked=”off” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial” _builder_version=”3.17.6″]<\/p>\nContact Us<\/h4>\n
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