Marching for Change: Intersectional Coalition Building, Counter Voices, and Collective Action at the U.S. Women’s March on Washington and Beyond

Authors

Wendy A. Burns-Ardolino, Grand Valley State UniversityFollow

Disciplines

Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | Gender and Sexuality | Politics and Social Change

Abstract

This study of the U.S. Women’s March on Washington engages a feminist cultural studies lens to examine my own participant observations and multiple lived accounts published by women in open blogs, op-ed pieces, and online articles to produce a critical analysis of collective resistance and action. Photos from the march offer a gritty core sample of American cultural identities in terms of race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, ethnicity and religion with marchers standing shoulder to shoulder in coalition against misogyny, heterosexism, white supremacy, xenophobia, and the very real threat to recognizing women’s rights as human rights. Drawing on the strength of collective resistance and coalition building across difference, the march created a space for galvanizing women to engage in political change making. This change is evidenced through a variety of political actions taken after the march including: record numbers of women running for and winning political nomination, dramatic swells in activist trainings for organizations like Planned Parenthood, increases in voter registration drives linked to #PowerToThePolls, and the proliferation of conversations about sexual harassment connected to the #MeToo movement.

Recommended Citation

Burns-Ardolino, Wendy A. (2019) "Marching for Change: Intersectional Coalition Building, Counter Voices, and Collective Action at the U.S. Women’s March on Washington and Beyond," Journal of Interdisciplinary Feminist Thought: Vol. 11: Iss. 1, Article 1.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.salve.edu/jift/vol11/iss1/1