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From theory to activism, the feminist mission of Lilia Giugni

“I like to imagine a future in which all people live with dignity and in the name of equality”. Lilia Giugni she is 35 years old, was born in Naples and today lives in London where she works as a researcher at the University of Cambridge. Lilia co-founded GenPol, Gender & Policy Insights, think tank of which he is CEO: it is a team that looks at gender issues and their evolution in the current landscape.

How did you approach gender issues?
“I have a personal experience of gender-based violence behind me, lived when I was very young.

After the age of 25, I felt the need to elaborate this experience, and activism helped me to transform it into a proactive energy and the desire to fight for a different tomorrow. I found myself animating campaigns for sexual and reproductive rights, participating in battles of movements for women’s rights in Italy and the United Kingdom and collaborating with associations and NGOs ».

How has your studies helped you?
“The doctorate has provided me with the theoretical tools to analyze gender issues in a historical and sociological key, while, with my current post as a research fellow, I am concentrating on the intertwining of the various types of oppression, a topic that is very interesting to me. by heart. In addition to academic training, I consider politics to be very important: I have learned a lot in every single assembly or initiative in which I have participated. It is from the interactions and the commitment in the field that my intellectual activity originates ».

What is the focus of GenPol?
«We produce studies from an intersectional point of view, that is sensitive to the various forms of marginalization and to how they, unfortunately, intersect and reinforce each other. Awareness is raised on various levels and aims at better laws, but also at transformations in the economic sphere, within companies and in culture. We operate a lot in Great Britain, in Brussels, and recently in Italy ».

Projects in progress?
“I’m writing a book, due out for Longanesi in 2022, in which I explore the effects of three great forces such as patriarchy, capitalism and technology. How perhaps the latter can amplify the misogyny and prejudices present in our society. In my opinion, theoretical study and activism complement and complement each other ».

How?
“For example, I am focusing on the correlation between gender-based violence and areas with a strong mafia presence and, at the same time, I am examining the appropriation of
feminist language from the corporate sphere, the so-called gender washing. On both fronts, I work closely with social groups in the reference territories and “return” the fruit of my research through training meetings, public interventions and written contributions ».

How can a feminist future be realized?
«I imagine it based on the practice of care, traditionally associated with women, and therefore devalued. While in my opinion taking care of others, of the community, of the planet is a revolutionary act. An action that, shared equally between genders, can really change the world ».

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