Abstract
Activisms, the theme for this special issue of WSQ, emerged from the many conversations, experiences, and events that we have observed and participated in as scholars working in the Global South. From the garment industry to legal aid societies, from university gender institutes to informal songs and dance performances, from urban factories to rural homesteads, we have witnessed the creative activisms and vibrant networks of women's groups, coalitions, and performances in Africa, Asia, and South America. Some individuals and groups identify themselves as explicitly "feminist," while others strongly refute the label, yet advocate for social justice, gender equity, legal rights, the end of sexual violence, and other progressive agendas that selfidentified feminists would support.
These diverse forms and agendas, and their increasingly translocal connections, however, raised questions for us: Who is an activist? What counts as activism? What are the localities that constitute sites of activism, and how do those "localities" articulate with regional and international activisms, movements, and organizations? How, in turn, are the agendas and practices of transnational groups shaped by insights and involvement from local activists? Do certain issues and institutional forms encourage collaboration and coalition-building, while others foster conflict and tension? Are differences between women bridged, ignored, or exacerbated? How do activists and activisms engage questions of representation, rhetoric, and symbolic practice? What forms of activism are effective and why?