Digital Spaces, Online Activism

Developed by Amelia Teske, GWSL Student Employee
University of Wisconsin
January 2024

This bibliography is number 105b in the series “Bibliographies in Gender and Women’s Studies,” published by the University of Wisconsin System Office of the Gender and Women’s Studies Librarian.

Introduction

Digital spaces and the politics, activisms, and pedagogies they contain have radically and irrevocably transformed the way we participate in and interact with feminism and WGSS, both in and out of the classroom. These ideas and programs are introduced to the vast network of internet users daily. Feminists have embraced the virtue of malleability and adapted to this ever-changing mode of communication, keeping a finger on the pulse of communication, consumption, and content trends, as well as the politics and perceptions surrounding feminism that are readily available via these digital spaces. When COVID-19 limited our ability to gather in physical spaces, we found ways to show up for each other digitally and learned valuable lessons of digital accessibility. To immerse oneself into the digital spaces of social media, the internet, and even augmented reality is to gain access to the multitude of individuals sharing feminist and WGSS knowledge, criticisms, commentaries, and resources. This bibliography engages with the notion of digital spaces and how they have shaped feminism and the direction of WGSS as an activist and academic discipline over the past 40+ years.