Alison Phipps (sociologist) explained

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Alison Phipps is a British political sociologist, gender studies scholar and feminist theorist, who is a professor of sociology at Newcastle University's School of Geography, Politics and Sociology.

Career

Phipps was formerly director and professor of gender studies at the University of Sussex.[1] She was Chair of the Feminist and Women's Studies Association of the UK and Ireland from 2009 to 2012[2] and was one of the co-founders of Universities Against Gender-Based Violence.[3] [4] She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.[5]

Research and interests

Phipps' research concerns feminist theory, sexual violence, reproduction, and institutional cultures.[6] [7] [8] According to Google Scholar her work has been cited over 2,500 times.[9] Her latest book Me, Not You is a critique of mainstream feminist activism against sexual violence, especially its reliance on criminal punishment, and puts forward the concept of 'political whiteness' in its analysis of how the movement operates.[10] [11] The book has been endorsed by Mariame Kaba and Mona Eltahawy and critiqued by Julie Bindel.[12] [13]

Phipps co-authored the 2013 National Union of Students report on 'lad culture' in UK universities and was subsequently a member of the NUS strategy group on this issue alongside Laura Bates and others.[14] [15] [16] [17] With her project Changing University Cultures, she has led interventions at Imperial College London and Sussex University, amongst other institutions, designed to tackle inequalities and issues such as bullying, harassment and violence.[18] [19] [20] [21] She worked closely with Universities UK on the issue of cultural change at universities to tackle sexual harassment and violence,[22] before withdrawing from this relationship during the 2018 pensions strikes in protest at Universities UK's involvement in and actions on this issue.[23]

Phipps has researched and has been active in debating the anti-gender movement and far-right attacks on LGBT rights. She is also a well-known opponent of carceral feminism and trans-exclusionary feminism, and is a supporter of sex workers' rights.[24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] As Director of Gender Studies at Sussex University, she entered a collaborative partnership with the Sex Worker Advocacy and Resistance Movement (SWARM, then named the Sex Worker Open University) and supported a campaign led by the English Collective of Prostitutes to decriminalise the sex industry.[32]

Phipps has been subject to attacks from trans-exclusionary feminists, prompted particularly by her former Sussex colleague Kathleen Stock. Stock claimed to be the target of harassment after Phipps asked colleagues to display trans flags as a gesture of solidarity, following Donald Trump's proposal to roll back the Obama-era reforms and codify gender in law as binary and determined by biological sex.[33] Stock has described Phipps as a 'fervent transactivist' [34] and allies of Stock have accused Phipps of being partly responsible for Stock's resignation from Sussex University.[35]

Phipps has not spoken about this openly, but in September 2023 she told openDemocracy that other academics in her field can give her a 'wide berth' due to her outspoken stance in support of trans rights.[36] In 2021, Phipps was interviewed by gal-dem magazine on transphobia in the VAWG (violence against women and girls) sector in the UK, and said that some members of this sector were 'living in the past', and the crusade against trans women was 'tragic.'[37] In 2023, Open Democracy reported that Phipps had been 'a vocal trans ally for the past decade.'[38] Phipps has linked transphobia in feminism to 'political whiteness', which is to do with privileging white, middle class and cisgender women as victims and seeing the political claims of other marginalised groups as a threat.[39]

Recognition and media

Phipps won the 2015 FWSA Book Prize from the Feminist Studies Association for the book The Politics of the Body.[40] Alongside her academic writing, she has been published in The Guardian,[41] [42] [43] [44] openDemocracy,[45] the New Statesman,[46] [47] and Times Higher Education.[48] [49] She has been interviewed on Radio 4's Thinking Allowed[50] and Woman's Hour.[51]

Books

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Alison Phipps . University of Sussex . 8 November 2021.
  2. Web site: The Politics of the Body: Gender in a Neoliberal and Neoconservative Age Wiley. 2021-11-27. Wiley.com. en-gb.
  3. Web site: Universities against Gender Based Violence (UAGBV). 2022-01-30. socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk.
  4. Web site: UAGBV - Universities Against Gender Based Violence. 2022-01-30. UAGBV - Universities Against Gender Based Violence. en.
  5. Web site: Alison Phipps. 2022-01-30. profiles.sussex.ac.uk.
  6. Web site: Professor Alison Phipps . Newcastle University . 8 November 2021.
  7. Chamberlen . Anastasia . Book Review: The Politics of the Body: Gender in a Neoliberal and Neoconservative Age by Alison Phipps . . 2014 . 29 . 5 . 749–751 . 10.1177/0891243214559519. 142992467 .
  8. News: The myth of choice: some ways of giving birth aren't "more feminist" than others . 8 November 2021 . New Statesman.
  9. Web site: Alison Phipps . . 8 November 2021.
  10. Web site: The Trouble with Mainstream Feminism. 2021-11-12. tribunemag.co.uk. en-GB.
  11. 2021-09-28. She Was Walking Home: How Sarah Everard's Murder Revealed Feminism's Fault Lines. 2021-11-12. Vanity Fair. en-US.
  12. Web site: Manchester University Press - Me, not you . 2023-08-07 . Manchester University Press . en-US.
  13. Web site: Bindel . Julie . 2020-03-26 . The latest gender studies literature is indistinguishable from satire . 2023-08-07 . The Spectator . en-US.
  14. Web site: Thats What She Said - Full Report @ NUS Connect. 2021-11-12. www.nusconnect.org.uk. en.
  15. Web site: Strategy Advisory Panel @ NUS Connect. 2021-11-12. www.nusconnect.org.uk. en.
  16. Web site: Williams. Sally. 2014-10-11. Campus nightmare: female students on the rise of sexual harassment. 2022-02-05. The Guardian. en.
  17. News: Machell. Ben. Lad culture on campus — should it end?. . en. 2022-02-05. 0140-0460.
  18. Web site: 2016-12-14. London university accused of 'ingrained misogyny' after female students 'humiliated' by sexist behaviour. https://web.archive.org/web/20161221074838/http://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/imperial-college-london-accused-ingrained-misogyny-female-students-sexism-humiliated-a7474166.html . 2016-12-21 . limited . live. 2021-11-12. The Independent. en.
  19. Web site: Stirling. James. 2016-12-21. Imperial provost: we will confront our problems head on. 2021-11-12. Times Higher Education (THE). en.
  20. Web site: 2018-08-02. Bullying 'endemic' at Sussex, report warns. 2021-11-12. Times Higher Education (THE). en.
  21. Web site: 2019-03-03. Adam Tickell says 'dramatic change' is needed to tackle bullying on Sussex campus. 2021-11-24. University of Sussex. en-GB.
  22. Web site: Changing the culture. 2021-12-07. Universities UK. en.
  23. Phipps. Alison. McDonnell. Liz. 2021-08-08. On (not) being the master's tools: five years of 'Changing University Cultures'. Gender and Education. 34 . 5 . 512–528. 10.1080/09540253.2021.1963420. 238783494. 0954-0253. free.
  24. News: 13 troubling problems with white feminism, according to a white feminist who's seen them firsthand. Pink News. 8 November 2021.
  25. News: Schwoerer. Lili. Book Review: Me, Not You: The Trouble with Mainstream Feminism by Alison Phipps. LSE. 8 November 2021.
  26. Web site: Strudwick. Patrick. These Women Are Making The Feminist Case For Trans Rights. 2021-11-11. BuzzFeed. en-gb.
  27. Web site: 2018-10-04. What the 'grievance studies' hoax is really about. 2021-11-12. Times Higher Education (THE). en.
  28. Web site: TERF War: Transphobia In the British Media, Gender Critical Feminism and Its Effects on Trans Rights. 2021-11-12. www.vice.com. en.
  29. Web site: 2021-02-01. 'If they sound like a man, hang up' – how transphobia became rife in the gender-based violence sector. 2021-11-25. gal-dem.
  30. Web site: The Carceral Feminism Of Linda Fairstein. 2021-11-25. The Appeal. en.
  31. Web site: Strudwick . Patrick . 2023-05-29 . Channel 4's Gender Wars fails both women and trans people – while missing the real story . 2023-08-07 . inews.co.uk . en.
  32. Web site: Prostitutes. English Collective of. 2015-08-03. Centre for Gender Studies backs campaign to decriminalise the sex industry. 2022-02-05. English Collective of Prostitutes. en-GB.
  33. Web site: Duffy . Nick . 2020-01-07 . 'Gender critical' academic claims she was personally victimised by transgender flags put up to protest Donald Trump . 2023-08-07 . PinkNews . en-US.
  34. Web site: Stock . Kathleen . 2022-04-11 . Five rules for fighting transactivism . 2023-08-07 . UnHerd . en-GB.
  35. News: Swerling . Gabriella . 2021-11-04 . Kathleen Stock: Trans row professor 'forced out' by tweets . en-GB . The Telegraph . 2023-08-07 . 0307-1235.
  36. Web site: Trans-inclusive academics say they face abuse and censorship . 2023-10-07 . openDemocracy . en.
  37. Web site: 'If they sound like a man, hang up' – how transphobia became rife in the gender-based violence sector – gal-dem . 2023-10-07 . gal-dem.com.
  38. Web site: Trans-inclusive academics say they face abuse and censorship . 2023-10-07 . openDemocracy . en.
  39. Web site: 'If they sound like a man, hang up' – how transphobia became rife in the gender-based violence sector – gal-dem . 2023-10-07 . gal-dem.com.
  40. Web site: 2015: Dr Alison Phipps for 'The Politics of the Body: Gender in a Neoliberal and Neoconservative Age' . Feminist Studies Association . 8 November 2021.
  41. Web site: Phipps. Alison. 2017-12-13. Tackling sexual harassment on campus is about more than naming and shaming Alison Phipps. 2022-01-30. The Guardian. en.
  42. Web site: Phipps. Alison. 2015-06-24. Universities, don't conflate 'lad culture' with 'drink culture'. 2022-01-30. The Guardian. en.
  43. Web site: Phipps. Alison. 2015-02-02. Universities are reluctant to tackle sexual violence for fear of PR fallout. 2022-01-30. The Guardian. en.
  44. Web site: Phipps. Alison. 2014-10-15. Lad culture thrives in our neoliberal universities. 2022-01-30. The Guardian. en.
  45. Web site: 'Disappearing' sex workers in the Amnesty International debate. 2022-01-30. openDemocracy. en.
  46. Web site: 2021-06-09. Why feminism needs trans people and sex workers. 2022-01-30. New Statesman. en-US.
  47. Web site: 2014-05-19. What's driving the new sexism?. 2022-01-30. New Statesman. en-US.
  48. Web site: 2018-10-04. What the 'grievance studies' hoax is really about. 2022-01-30. Times Higher Education (THE). en.
  49. Web site: 2014-12-04. The dark side of the impact agenda. 2022-01-30. Times Higher Education (THE). en.
  50. Web site: BBC Radio 4 - Thinking Allowed, 'Lad culture' in higher education - Fugitives from the law in Philadelphia. 2022-01-30. BBC. en-GB.
  51. Web site: BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, Natural Childbirth Backlash, Gender-Neutral Clothing, Jill Leovy . 2022-03-26 . BBC . en-GB.

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