www.msvu.ca/atlantis ŶƑ 36.1, 2013 1
Editorial
Welcome to volume 36.1²Atlantis¶
first open access electronic issue after thirtysix years of publication of the journal! This
means that, from now on, work published in
Atlantis will be widely indexed and disseminated, and accessible to a broad audience.
The digitization of back issues of the journal
also continues, so please check out the Atlantis archives at http://journals.msvu.ca/i
ndex.php/atlantis/issue/archive. In addition,
there are other exciting new changes to the
journal, including, as you will notice, a change
in the name! Atlantis¶ VXEWLWOHLV QRZ ³&ULWLFDO
Studies in Gender, Culture, and Social JusWLFH´DQDPHZHWKLQNFDSWXUHVIRUQRZWKH
EURDG GHYHORSPHQWV LQWKHILHOG RI:RPHQ¶V
and Gender Studies.
This issue consists of two clusters: a
series of open topic articles that cover a
broad spectrum of themes and issues; and a
group of shorter articles that pay tribute to the
work and contributions of Canadian feminist
historian, Veronica Strong-Boag.
In the open topic cluster, the first two
articles examine important questions related
WR UHVHDUFK PHWKRGRORJLHV ,Q ³7RZDUGV D
Methodology of Intersectionality: An Axiom-
%DVHG$SSURDFK´+HDWKHU+LOOVEXUJGLVFXsses the emergence of intersectional feminist
theory as well as the challenges of translating
intersectionality into a research methodology.
Rather than proposing a single intersectional
methodological approach, the author sugJHVWV WKUHH D[LRPV WKDW KLJKOLJKW ³ZKDW D
researcher must avoid as they conduct intersectional reseDUFK´7KLVSLHFHLVIROORZHGE\
an article by Maki Motapanyane entitled,
³1RVWDOJLD DQG 3RHWU\ 5HIOHFWLRQV RQ 5Hsearch, Creative Expression and Fieldwork
$FURVV %RUGHUV´ +HUH WKH DXWKRU FRQVLGHUV
issues related to insider/outsider status and
expatriate nostalgia in the context of conducting transnational fieldwork, in this case in
6RXWK$IULFD6KH DUJXHVWKDW ³SRHWU\LQWKH
IRUP RI D ILHOGZRUN MRXUQDO´ FRQVWLWXWHV ³D
productive outlet for nostalgia; a method of
feminist self-reflexivity that can strengthen the
UHVHDUFKHU¶V FULWLFDO LQWXLWLRQ FODULI\ standpoint and interpretive approach, and mediate
WKHFRQGLWLRQRIPXOWLSOHEHORQJLQJ´
The next two articles explore pertinent issues in the context of post-secondary
institutions. ,Q ³&RXQWHU-storytelling: The Experiences of Women of Colour in Higher EduFDWLRQ´%HJXP9HUMHH GUDZV RQ FULWLFDO UDFH
and feminist theorizing, as well as counterstorytelling, to examine the experiences of
systemic exclusion of women of colour students, staff, faculty, and community members
affiliated with the University of British
Columbia (UBC). The author maintains that,
despite the existence of university diversity
mission statements and policies, these stories highlight the ongoing workings of white
privilege, racialization, racism, marginalization, and silencing in the structures and practices of post-secondary institutions. Victoria
%URPOH\ DQG $DO\D $KPDG LQ ³:RPHQ¶V
6WXGLHV $UH :H µ%URDG¶ (QRXJK´ FRQVLGHU
WKH GHEDWHV DERXW WKH QDPLQJ RI :RPHQ¶V
Studies in the context of the neo-liberal corporatization of universities. The authors contend that of the various permutations being
adopted by programs in North America,
:RPHQ¶Vand Gender Studies has the potential to register the transformational politics of
the discipline; however, they maintain that, to
fully realize this political potential, such a renaming must be combined with the developPHQW RI VWURQJHU OLQNV ZLWK ZRPHQ¶V DQG
social justice activist groups outside of the
academy.
The subsequent four articles engage,
in various ways, with diverse forms of cultural
SURGXFWLRQ ,Q ³:KLWH DV Milk: Proposition 8
DQG WKH &XOWXUDO 3ROLWLFV RI *D\ 5LJKWV´
Suzanne Lenon analyzes the cultural significance of the film, Milk (2008), in the context
of legal politics of and gay activism around
Proposition 8 in California. She argues that
WKHILOP³UHSURGXFHVWKHORJLFRIDVLQJOH-axis
identity and politics that racializes gay as
white, one that ultimately works to entrench
whiteness at the heart of lesbian and gay
equaOLW\ VHHNLQJ SURMHFWV´6DUDK 5XGUXPLQ
³-R\DQG3DLQ$Q$IIHFW6WXGLHV3HUVSHFWLYH
RQ 1DWXUDO %LUWK )LOPV´ GUDZV RQ DIIHFW
2 www.msvu.ca/atlantis ŶƑ 36.1, 2013
theory to critically analyze two documentaries: The Business of Being Born (2008)
and Orgasmic Birth (2008). In so doing, she
unpacks natural birth discourse and essentialized constructions of what constitutes a
³JRRG ELUWK´ WKURXJK DQ H[SORUDWLRQ RI VXFK
topics as joy/pain, choice/systemic change,
DQG³QDWXUDOPHGLFDOL]HG´ELUWK,Q³,6HH<RX
Sisters Like Yesterday Today: The Unnatural
and Accidental Women´ 6KDURQ 6XOOLYDQ
offers a reading of Métis playwright Marie
&OHPHQWV¶ZRUNThe Unnatural and Accidental Women (2000), focusing on how the play
interrogates the intersections of gender,
racialization, indigeneity, and class, and emphasizes the importance of solidarity,
alliance, and community. Finally, Chantal
)DXFKHULQ³,PDJHVRI'HOLQTXHQW*LUOV*HQder Stereotyping in Canadian news representations, 1900±´H[SORUHV&DQDGLDQ
print media portrayals of female delinquency
between 1900 and 1979. In tracing the continuities of gendered representations over this
period, the author identifies gender nonconformity and sexual deviance as key elements
shaping newspaper accounts of female misconduct.
The final three articles tackle questions related to global structures and the
operations of and organizational responses to
state policies.
-HQQLIHU / -RKQVRQ LQ ³*HQGHULQJ
Trade Negotiations: Elite Spaces of Work as
5HJXODWRU\ 1RGHV LQ WKH *OREDO (FRQRP\´
provides an intersectional analysis of particular transnational elite sites of work, through
an examination of the first person accounts of
men and women involved in the Free Trade
of the Americas (FTAA) negotiation process
between 1994 and 2005 as well as in World
Trade Organization (WTO) trade negotiations
PRUH JHQHUDOO\ 6KH PDLQWDLQV WKDW ³WUDGH
negotiations are one of the key nodes of
activity that shape transnational flows of trade
EHWZHHQ FRXQWULHV´ XQGHU JOREDO FDSLWDO DQG
are highly mediated by such factors as genGHUQDWLRQDQGFODVV,Q³5LVN\'HSHQGHQF\
Social Welfare and Dependency in French
3ROLWLFVRQ$JLQJ´0RQLTXH/DQRL[H[DPLQHV
the development of French governmental policies on eldercare beginning in the 1980s,
with a particular focus on how notions of dependency and solidarity have been conceptualized and embedded in more recent
)UHQFK SROLFLHV .HOO\ 3DVROOL LQ ³5HIUDPLQJ
WKH ,VVXH &KLOG &DUH $GYRFDF\ LQ $OEHUWD´
uses the concept of framing to analyze how
child care advocates in Alberta have atWHPSWHG WR ³QHJRWLDWH WKH JDS EHWZHHQ WKHLU
desires for policy change and their knowledge
of what advances are feasible given the
SROLWLFDOUHDOLWLHVRIWKHSURYLQFH´6KHDUJXHV
that child-centred and economic frames that
emphasize the development and economic
benefits of childcare have emerged as dominant in the Alberta context.
The open cluster ends with an
interview Jennifer Roth conducted with Liz
Millward, the winner of the 2009 CWSA/
ACÉF (now WGSRF) Book Prize for her
work, Women in Imperial Airspace, 1922±
1937 (2008). This is followed by four articles
by Nancy Forestell, Lara Campbell, Kristina
R. Llewellyn, and Kathryn McPherson, who
discuss the contributions of Veronica StrongBoag to Canadian feminist history.
The editors would like to extend a big
thank you to Olivia Ashbee, Victoria, BC, for
providing as cover art the beautiful photo
entitled Autumn Leaf Silhouette.
Enjoy the issue!
Annalee Lepp & Ann Braithwaite
Editors