Pumla Dineo Gqola & Jacqueline Rose: The Female Fear Factory

There has recently been a marked increase in violence against women in many parts of the world, and the lockdowns have created a shadow pandemic of domestic violence, according to the UN. Joining us to discuss the problem is Pumla Dineo Gqola, one of South Africa’s best-respected scholars of gender and feminism. Gqola is currently working on a new book, Female Fear Factory: Gender and Patriarchy under Racial Capitalism which will be published in early 2022. In advance of that she joins us to discuss a topic which knows no boundaries or borders. ‘Patriarchy,’ she has said, creates a ‘female fear factory’ which conspires to subjugate women. Appearing alongside her is celebrated critic Jacqueline Rose who has recently published an insightful study, On Violence and On Violence Against Women. Tracking the multiple forms of today's violence – historic and intimate, public and private – as they spread throughout our social fabric, she offers a new and radically original account of violence in our time. The two writers share their work with Sharon Cowan - Professor of Feminist and Queer Legal Studies at the University of Edinburgh, in this event filmed live at the 2021 Edinburgh International Book Festival. Some of the participants of this event were on stage, and some took part remotely.