It’s the first week of Women’s History Month — a month devoted to commemorating and encouraging the study, observance and celebration of the vital role of women in American history. March 8th is also International Women’s Day — a global holiday commemorating the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of women. To celebrate, we’re sharing an updated release of Upstream’s audio documentary: Feminism for the 99 Percent.
There are many ways women across the world have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. The pandemic has simultaneously increased the demand for unpaid labor from women, including childcare and homeschooling while decimating industries like retail, leisure, hospitality, education, and entertainment which are their main employers.
So many of the jobs lost during the pandemic were held by women, that the resulting economic recession has been called a “shecession” — or even an example of “disaster patriarchy.”
But our current economic system has had a history of harming women disproportionately — in fact, in many ways, COVID-19 has simply revealed and exacerbated already existing inequalities. But where there is a crisis, there is also opportunity. And in this space, some are asking what a feminist response to COVID-19 could look like?
But, of course, there are multiple kinds of feminism, and in this podcast documentary by Upstream, the team takes a deep dive into what kind of feminism could not only lead us beyond this present crisis, but also offer us a vision of a more just world where equality and liberation are premises, not aspirations: a feminism for the 99%.
- Khara Jabola-Carolus — Executive Director of the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women
- Tiek Johnson — Reproductive Justice Advocate and Doula
- Sarah Jaffe — Type Media Center reporting fellow and an independent journalist and author of Work Won’t Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted and Alone
- Tithi Bhattacharya — Associate Professor of History and the Director of Global Studies at Purdue University and author of Feminism for the 99 Percent: A Manifesto
- Nicole Aschoff — Editor at large at Jacobin Magazine, senior editor at Verso Books, and author of the book, The New Prophets of Capital
Music by:
Thao and the Get Down Stay Down
Marissa Kay
Chris Zabriskie
Founded in 2016, Upstream is a radio documentary and interview series offering themed episodes that explore a wide variety of topics pertaining to our tumultuous and thrilling 21st-century economy. Through a mixture of heartfelt stories, expert interviews, and rich sound design, Upstream challenges traditional assumptions and invites listeners to imagine what a democratic, just, and sustainable economy might look like.
The new season is currently in production and will feature new audio documentaries focused on Defunding the Police and the Sharing Economy, Pt. 2, which will look at the gig-economy landscape five years after Pt. 1. Find out more here.
Additional Listening:
