Introduction : the fourth wave of feminism : from social networking and self-determination to sisterhood

Abstract

This monographic issue aims at analysing, from different perspectives, the 4th wave of feminism, in the frame of the rise of the new populism. Several issues characteristic of the second wave of feminism re-emerged during the contemporary worldwide mobilization of women: gender-based violence, abortion, sisterhood and self-determination. These topics, while characteristic of previous waves of feminism, are framed by the 4th wave in the backlash against women’s freedom and rights achieved in the last decades. The papers describe genealogies and changes in feminist repertoires, action and subjectivation: the emerging of “Hashtag Feminism” and the “call-out” culture focus on vulnerability as a socially shared condition, challenging the relationship with law and building new forms of recognition and solidarity between women. As a result, sisterhood came back to the discussion as an anti-essentialist bond based on trust and an expression of free will, with a potential of converting new mutual practices into common action.