Solidarity in Action: A Global Response to Invisible Violence

   Message for the Conference’s Floral Image In selecting national flowers as the frame of our conference’s image we create a symbolic representation of the diverse and interconnected nature of transnational feminist resistance against contemporary forms of violence. Each flower is carefully chosen to reflect the nationalities of our panelists and the geographical contexts where their work unfolds. By weaving these blooms together in this vibrant arrangement, we aim to highlight the distinctiveness of each contributor's journey while simultaneously celebrating the interconnectedness of our collective efforts. This visual metaphor underscores that our collective resistance is deeply rooted in the multifaceted experiences of individuals from different corners of the world. It encourages us to engage in nuanced conversations that honor the specificities of each context while recognizing the common threads that bind us together.   We commence our conference with a profound sense of recognition and gratitude for the vital work of the artists, scholars, and activists who share this space with us. The colorful arrangement of national flowers represents both the diversity of our voices and the beautiful harmony that emerges when solidarity flourishes. We hope that this image sparks meaningful conversations and fosters a sense of interconnectedness among our conference participants and collaborators, inspiring continued cooperation, and shared efforts in the ongoing pursuit of a more just and equitable world. Special thanks to Saturn Peppers (Undergraduate, Department of Sociology) and Amaury J. Rijo Sánchez (PhD Candidate in Department of Sociology) for illustrating the conference design.  Introduction Co-hosted by Women and Gender in Global Perspectives (WGGP) and the Department of Gender and Women's Studies (GWS), "Common Differences 2: Transnational Feminist Resistance(s) Against Contemporary Violence(s)" celebrates and follows in the spirit of the pioneering graduate-student organized conference on “Common Differences” 41 years ago at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Maintaining the original conference’s emphasis on the interconnectedness of struggles and the importance of solidarity across different borders, graduate-student organized “Common Differences 2” focuses on addressing contemporary forms of violence through an antiracist, transnational feminist lens. The conference endeavors to unpack shared confrontation with systems of oppression that manifest differently across contexts and embodies the spirit of transnational feminism, championing a movement that is both diverse in its membership and united in its purpose. The conference hopes to serve as a call to action—a rallying point for feminists worldwide to come together, learn from each other, and build a more inclusive and equitable future. Conference Co-Sponsors We are grateful for the support provided by the conference co-sponsors listed. College of Liberal Arts & Sciences; School of Social Work; Humanities Research Institute; Illinois Global Institute; Illinois International Programs; Center for African Studies; Center for Global Studies; Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies; Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies; and Women’s Resources Center. This event was supported in part by grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education’s Title VI grant program. The content of this event does not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Program Committee Organizing Committee Nehal Elmeligy  PhD Candidate, Department of Sociology, and graduate minor in Gender Relations in International Development (GRID) Mahbubeh Moqadam  PhD Student, Department of Sociology, and graduate minor in Gender Relations in International Development (GRID) Marina Moscoso Arabía PhD Student, Department of Geography and Geographic Information Science, and graduate minor in Gender Relations in International Development (GRID) Amaury J. Rijo Sánchez  PhD Candidate, Department of Sociology Administrative Support Anita Kaiser Colleen Murphy Mimi Thi Nguyen Oksana Leonidovna Popova Special thanks to our ATLAS Interns Isabel Dube, Di Lan Johnson, Saturn Peppers, and Rebekah Wakayama Conference Website The conference has a dedicated website where additional information and last-minute changes are posted. The link to the conference website is http://go.illinois.edu/CommonDifference2024. Events, Locations, and Facilities Conference Venue All conference activities other than lunches and afterparty will be held in Illini Room A of the Illini Union located at 1401 W. Green Street, Urbana. IL. The detailed schedule of the presentations is provided on Page 8-10. Lunches, April 4 and 5 Lunch will be available for all the speakers and registered attendees. The hope is to have this be a time to network with presenters and attendees, as well as visit the conference displays. The lunches will be in Illini Room B. starting at 12:30 pm on April 4th at 12:15 pm on April 5th. Common Differences Afterparty Thursday, April 4th immediately following the keynote lecture by Dr. Amina Mama, there will be an afterparty from 7:30-8:30pm. This event will take place in Latzer Hall, University YMCA, located at 1001 S. Wright Street, Champaign Conference Displays (Illini Room A) Mehri Jamshidi Mehri Jamshid, a documentary photographer from Iran, was invited to join us at this conference to discuss her experiences in Afghanistan, Turkey, and Iran. However, due to a very complicated visa process, she was unable to travel to the US to be with us. This, however, does not mean that we have given up on the idea of having her here to speak about her life's work and the lives of those depicted in her photographs. With this in mind, we suggested she send us a small sample of her work, which included a series of photographs, a video, and several short texts. To offer a sense of the multiplicity of (extra)ordinary scenes that Mehri Jamshid can capture with her lens, we organized a small gallery located in Illini Room A. The gallery under four main themes: Family/Friendship, Women in Private, Women in Public, and Men. In this way, we have transformed what seemed like a limitation into an opportunity. We hope you will appreciate and enjoy it! The video is available here: https://www.instagram.com/p/C2KquV-N0pj/ Mehri Jamshidi ’s Website: https://mehrijamshidi.com/ Honoring those no longer with Us As we convene for the 'Common Differences 2: Transnational Feminist Resistance(s) Against Contemporary Violence(s)' conference, we remember and honor the foundational efforts of feminist activists from the original 1983 gathering. This event bridges four decades of feminist thought and action, celebrating the enduring legacies of figures like bell hooks and Nawal El Saadawi. Their pioneering work in challenging and redefining feminist discourse through a transnational lens continues to inspire our current endeavors to combat contemporary forms of violence and injustice. This conference, held at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, reaffirms our commitment to the principles of transnational feminism—recognizing that our diverse struggles are interconnected and that solidarity across borders is vital. As we reflect on the past and look to the future, we underscore the importance of an inclusive feminist movement that is sensitive to the 'Common Differences' that define our shared yet distinct experiences. For a more in-depth appreciation of the activists, we're commemorating and to learn more about the history of the first conference, including original program details and photographs, please visit the dedicated 1983 conference webpage. There, you will also find brief biographies that celebrate the contributions of those who have since passed but whose influence still resonates in our collective pursuit of a just and equitable society. CONFERENCE PROGRAM Wednesday, April 3 4:00pm Film Screening & Discussion with Filmmaker Rasha Azab, “Trapped” Thursday, April 4 8:00-8:30 Registration /Coffee 8:30-8:40 Welcome Remarks Colleen Murphy, Women & Gender in Global Perspectives Program Mimi Nguyen, Gender & Women’s Studies 8:40-9:05 Common Differences Then and Now: Geographies of Feminist Journeys Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Syracuse University Ann Russo, DePaul University 9:10-10:40 Session One: Voicing the Invisibles Moderator: Daniela Morales Evelyne Accad, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Lebanese American University Healing Cultures in War Times Hayriye Kara, Kaos GL Refugee Rights Program Coordinator/Lawyer Solidarity Knows No Border Just the Like Rainbow Raiza Kolia, Reaching Across Borders When looking away and not doing anything is not an option! Amaury Rijo Sánchez, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign “Podemos ser otro tipo de hombre”: Deconstructing Toxic Masculinities Through Feminist Media Activism 10:50-12:20 Session Two: Role of Academia, Alt. Forms of Research & Ethics Moderator: Amaury Rico Sánchez Jessica Greenberg, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Feminist Mentoring: Institutionalizing Best Practices Annah Mayo, Center for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation Transitional Justice and Gendered Dimensions of Violence and Harm: African Perspectives on How Far We Have Come in Incorporating Feminist Approaches to TJ Marina Moscoso Arabía, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Ni pías ni putas: A tale of imaginaries and omissions  Shimaa Tantawy, Feminist writer and researcher, Co- Founder of Barah Aman Foundation The importance of monitoring and documentation in advocacy efforts for legislative reform and societal change, and the impact of language and discourse on public awareness in Egypt regarding gender-based violence in private spaces. Thursday, April 4 (CONTINUED) 12:30-1:15 Lunch and networking 1:15-2:45 Session Three: Formal Politics & Changes from Within Moderator: Andrea Pimentel Rivera Rep. Mariana Nogales Molinelli, House of Representatives of Puerto Rico Women activists, the fight to protect the environment, affirm the public access to beaches and the consequences we face  Tania Rosario, Taller Salud Taller Salud: a multilevel political advocacy model to achieve health equity and end all forms of violence in Puerto Rico. Nayereh Tohidi, Professor Emeritus, California State University, Northridge Transnational Solidarity through glocal feminisms  3:00-4:30 Session Four: Artivisms & Media Moderator: Mahbubeh Moqadam Rasha Azab, Writer/Script-writer and journalist (freelancing)                             Modern Forms of Violence Against Women in Egypt Christine Choy, NYU Tisch School of the Arts Dare to Challenge: A talk with Christine Choy, Pioneer of Asian American Filmmaking Nehal Elmeligy, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Re-Mapping #MeToo’s Global Timeline: Orientalist Discursive Violence and #MeToo in Egypt Maryam Kashani, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Mobile Responsibilities: Care-full Strategies of Palestinian Solidarity and Image-Making 6:00-7:15           Keynote Lecture:  Dr. Amina Mama, UC Davis Transnational Feminist Praxis in an Age of Genocide 7:30-8:30            Common Differences Afterparty                                 Latzer Hall, University YMCA                                 1001 S. Wright Street Friday, April 5 8:30-9:00 Registration /Coffee 9:00-10:30 Session Five: Diaspora, Exile & International Solidarity Moderator: Nehal Elmeligy Miguel Avalos, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign "Lo cansado no es el trabajo, lo cansado es esto": Navigating Temporal Sequestration at a U.S. Land Port of Entry Damian Vergara Bracamontes, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Abolish or Adapt: Pinkwashing ICE through Transgender “Care” Nadine Naber, University of Illinois Chicago Decolonial Abolitionist Feminist Solidarities: From Turtle Island to Palestine  Mahbubeh Moqadam, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Solidarity in Action: A Global Response to Invisible Violence  10:40-12:10 Session Six: Memory & Reparations Moderator: Marina Moscoso Arabía Juanita Diaz-Cotto, Binghamton University Chicanas, Latinas, Latin American Women Prisoners’ Agency and Resistance Mayki Gorosito, ESMA Museum and Site of Memory MEMORY AND WOMEN: 40 years of struggles and conquests. Questions and experiences about the past, present, and future from the ESMA Museum and Site of Memory Daniela Morales, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Mar Brava: women's struggles against climate injustice Magdalena Novoa, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign What land & planning has to do with memory and reparations in post-authoritarian contexts?  12:15-1:00 Lunch and networking 1:00-2:20 Film Screening of “Period. End of Sentence” with Director Rayka Zehtabchi Moderator: Dr. Kate Clancy, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 2:30-3:15 Common Differences 1983-2024:  Further Weaving of a Transnational Feminist Agenda in the Face of New and Enduring Challenges  3:15-3:30 Closing Remarks by Student Organizers Presenters and Attendees from 1983 Conference Special thanks to the presenters and attendees at this conference that were part of the 1983 Conference. Presenters with an * next to their name also were involved in the original 1983 conference. In addition to the presenters, we would like to acknowledge attendees at this conference that played a role in the 1983 conference. Miriam Cooke, Duke University Ruth Hottell, The University of Toledo Beth Stafford, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Bios of Conference Organizers and Speakers Conference Organizers Nehal Elmeligy (she/her) Nehal Elmeligy is a Sociology PhD candidate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She holds an MA in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from the University of Cincinnati. She was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt where she earned her BA in English literature. She has three published articles, one of which won two awards in 2022 and 2023 at the American Sociological Association.   Mahbubeh Moqadam (she/her) Mahbubeh is a Ph.D. student in Sociology with a specialization in Social Movements and Gender Studies at UIUC who has done extensive research and activism across Iran, Turkey, and the United States. Her research in Iran focused on the genealogy of women's resistance and struggles, which led to her collaboration with Harvard University’s digital archive project, Women's Worlds in Qajar Iran project. She also worked with Afghan refugees to foster women’s and children’s education and empowerment.  She continued her studies in Turkey where her research centered on transnational feminist solidarities. During this period, she also worked with the UN on projects supporting LGBTQI refugees, blending her academic pursuits with activism. At Syracuse University in the U.S., she earned a Master's degree in Sociology and an advanced certification in G&W Studies and engaged in the Feminist Freedom Warriors project. Her current research focuses on the role of youth in contemporary social movements. Conference Organizers (continued) Marina Moscoso Arabía (she/her) Marina has a strong academic background in Social Sciences and Urban Studies. She has studied and/or conducted research in San Juan (Puerto Rico), Barcelona (Catalonia), Buenos Aires (Argentina) and the United States. Her dissertation research project focuses on the past and present of the squatting movement in Puerto Rico and the instrumentalization of the governmental apparatus as a real estate business. She is the co-founder of Casa Taft 169 (2013), a grassroots initiative pursuing the "off' grid" rehabilitation of a long standing "public nuisance", and Centro para la Reconstrucción del Habitat (2017), a nonprofit conceived to support access to nuisance properties for community benefit. She is currently a fellow of the 2nd cohort of Interseminars, a three-year interdisciplinary initiative of the Humanities Research Institute funded in part by the Mellon Foundation. Marina is also one of the graduate students co-leading the organization of the 2nd. Transnational Feminist Conference.   Amaury J. Rijo Sánchez (he/el) Amaury (AJ) is an interdisciplinary scholar seeking his doctorate’s degree in the discipline of Sociology. His research interests look at gender and sexualities, transnational feminisms, Latinx and Puerto Rican studies, and social inequalities. His teaching has been recognized by institutional awards such as the Outstanding TA Award (2023). Similarly, his writing has been supported by internal awards such as the sociology's departmental Summer Writing Scholarship (2023). His modest and growing publication record has shined in both solo and collaborative papers. Mr. Rijo Sánchez is currently in the process of writing his dissertation and hopes to continue working in academia.   Conference Speakers Evelyne Accad (she/her)* Dr. Evelyne Accad was born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon. Professor Emerita from the University of Illinois and the Lebanese American University in Comparative Literature, African Studies, Women Studies, French, Middle-East Studies, and the Honors Program.  Selected publications include:  La Maison de la Tendresse/House of Tenderness, Un amour tissé dans la tourmente, L’Excisée/ The Excised, Femmes du Crépuscule, The Wounded Breast:  Intimate Journeys through Cancer, Voyages en Cancer, Blessures des Mots:  Journal de Tunisie, Wounding Words:  A Woman’s Journal in Tunisia, Des femmes, des hommes et la guerre: Fiction et Réalité au Proche-Orient. Five edited volumes, seventeen book chapters, seventy-eight articles and more than one hundred book reviews. Several awards among which: Prix Phénix 2001, France-Liban Award 1994, and International Edicator's Award. Co-Founder with Dr Jacqueline Hajjar of Beit-el-Hanane, a women’s shelter in Beirut, Lebanon since 2008.  Miguel Avalos (he/him) Miguel A. Avalos is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His interdisciplinary dissertation project explores how transborder commuters navigate the U.S.-Mexico Border Regime (USMBR) in the San Diego-Tijuana region. Miguel is a 2023-24 Humanities Research Institute (HRI) Graduate Student Fellow. His research has been published in The Sociological Review, Mobilities, and has a forthcoming (2024) article in GLQ. Rasha Azab (she/her) Rasha Azab is an Egyptian journalist, activist, and writer. She received a B.A. in Media Education from Cairo University, where she studied journalism, theater and visual arts. She is one of the founders of the political social movement “Kefaya “against the Mubarak regime in 2004. She wrote the screenplay for the film Hammam Sokhn “Trapped”, that has been screened in 2021, for the first time in South by Southwest Film Festival, Texas. Alongside her career as a scriptwriter and researcher, Azab has worked in local journalism since 1999, focusing on culture journalism in 2002 before moving to investigative reporting in 2013. Rasha Azab wrote her first fictional book, “A Heart of Salt,” published by Al Kotob Khan in January 2022. Christine Choy (she/her)* Christine Choy was trained as an architect; she received her Master of Science degree from the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University, and a Directing Certificate from the American Film Institute. Choy is a full professor at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. She also taught at Yale and Cornell Universities as well as SUNY Buffalo. Choy has made more than eighty-five films and has received over sixty international awards including an Oscar nomination. A pioneer Asian American filmmaker, she has produced/directed/photographed works in various forms. Her works have been broadcast on HBO, PBS, Sundance Channel, Lifetime, NHK, and many other stations. Her works have also been featured at Berlin, Cannes, Toronto, Chicago, Montreal, Hong Kong, and Busan International festivals, as well as the Asian American International Festival in S.F., L.A. and New York. She is the founding director of Third World Newsreel and The School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong, a member of Project Vetting committee of the Film Development Fund, Hong Kong, and was an International Trustee Member of the Asia Society from 1995 to 2002. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of the United States of America.  Juanita Díaz-Cotto (she/her)* Juanita Díaz-Cotto, is an activist and Professor of sociology, women and gender studies, and Latin American and Caribbean Area Studies at the State University of New York in Binghamton.  She is the author of: Gender, Ethnicity, and the State: Latina and Latino Prison Politics (1996); Chicana Lives and Criminal Justice; Voices from El Barrio (2008) (winner of an International Latino Book Award and a ForeWord Book Award); and editor, under the pseudonym of Juanita Ramos, of Compañeras: Latina Lesbians (An Anthology/Lesbianas latinoamericanas (1st ed, 1987, 3rd ed., 2004, Routledge Ed. 2023) and Sinister Wisdom 74: Latina Lesbians (2008).  Her current book-in-progress is entitled, Women, Criminal Justice, and Colonialism: Puerto Rico 1898-2016. Mayki Gorosito (she/her) She is currently the Executive Director of the ESMA Museum and Site of Memory - Former Clandestine Center of Detention, Torture and Extermination. Before taking on that position, she was the International Cooperation Coordinator of the ESMA Museum and Site of Memory's candidacy for the UNESCO World Heritage List. She led the process of incorporating the Museum Site into that List and the Cultural Heritage of MERCOSUR. Her main areas are: regional public policies, international cooperation for development, subnational entities and social participation in MERCOSUR, didactics and educational sciences. She is a Professor of and Graduate in Educational Sciences from the National University of Lomas de Zamora (UNLZ, Argentina), with postgraduate studies at the National University of Buenos Aires (UBA, Argentina), the National University of Tres de Febrero (UNTREF, Argentina) and at the Center d'Etudes et de Recherche Amérique Latine Europe (France). Jessica Greenberg (she/her) Jessica Greenberg is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. Her first book, After the Revolution: Youth, Democracy, and the Politics of Disappointment in Serbia analyzes how democratic organizing changes in the shift from popular resistance to political institutionalization. She is currently finishing her second book, Justice in the balance: democracy, human rights, and rule of law in Europe. This book is an ethnographic analysis of the European Court of Human Rights. In 2017, Greenberg earned a Masters in Law as a University of Illinois fellow for study in a second discipline. She recently served as co-editor of the Political and Legal anthropology review (PoLAR), and is the recipient of multiple grants, including two Fulbright Fellowships, and an NSF in Law and Science.  Mehri Jamshidi (she/her) Mehri Jamshidi, born in 1984 in Tehran, Iran, is a photographer focusing on intimate moments, sharing the stories of underestimated communities, portraiture, and self-reflective narratives. She earned her BA in Photography from the Art and Architecture Azad University of Tehran in 2006. From 2008 to 2019, Mehri worked with various Iranian media outlets, while contribute global publications. With a shift in focus, she now dedicates her lens to unveiling often overlooked facets of her surroundings and delving into more personal stories. Hayriye Kara (she/her) In 2008, I graduated from Ankara University Law Faculty. After completing my legal internship at the Ankara Bar Association, I obtained my lawyer's license in 2010. In 2010, I started working professionally at Kaos GL Association, where I was previously a volunteer. Until 2017, I played a significant role in coordinating Kaos GL's activities, specifically in the areas of refugee rights and legal issues. I provided legal counseling to refugee LGBTI+s and LGBTI+s from Turkey.   Kaos GL Association is the first and leading LGBTI+ association in Turkey. Kaos GL has been the implementing partner of UNHCR Turkey since 2017. Since 2017, I have been the coordinator of Advancing Human Rights of LGBTI+ Refugees in Turkey project, which is carried out with UNHCR. I am also a member of Ankara Bar Association LGBTI+ Rights Center and Refugee Rights Center, and I am actively involved in the activities of these centers.  Maryam Kashani (she/her) Maryam Kashani is a filmmaker and associate professor in Gender and Women’s Studies and Asian American Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is an affiliate with Anthropology, Media and Cinema Studies, the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, and the Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory. Her book Medina by the Bay: Scenes of Muslim Study and Survival (Duke University Press, 2023) is based on ethnographic research and filmmaking conducted with Muslim communities in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Her films and video installations have been shown at film festivals, universities, and museums internationally and include things lovely and dangerous still (2003), Best in the West (2006), las callecitas y la cañada (2009), and Signs of Remarkable History (2016); she is currently working on two film duets with composer/musician Wadada Leo Smith that examine the ongoing relationships between the struggles for Black freedom, creative music, and spirituality. Kashani is also in the leadership collective of Believers Bail Out, a community-led effort to bailout Muslims in pretrial and immigration incarceration towards abolition.  Raiza Kolia (she/her) Dr. Kolia is a senior-level healthcare industry leader with more than 25 years of experience as a hospital executive and healthcare consultant, focused on health systems operations efficiency and strategy, including access, quality of care, value-based care, and performance improvement. She also serves as an international Mental Health Consultant, advising on mental health programs. Most recently, she served as the Director of Mental Health Psycho-social Support (MHPSS) programs in Lebanon for a large US-based nonprofit organization, and as Mental Health Consultant to their regional offices. Dr. Kolia is also a gender and development expert. Her Ph.D. work on gender equality and international development emerged out of the UN World Conferences on Women in the 1970’ and 1980’s. Her expertise involves evaluating the impact of international development programs and policies on gender equality. She has also done extensive academic research and has published on domestic violence and the role of culture in help-seeking behaviors and in healing. Dr. Kolia was born in South Africa where she completed her studies through her Master’s degree and then went to the US to complete her Ph.D. and MBA. Her Ph.D. is from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Social Work and International Development Policy. Amina Mama (she/her) Amina Mama is a Nigerian/British feminist with a Ph.D. in Organizational and Applied Psychology from Birkbeck College (1987). Her notable appointments include the, inaugural Chair in Gender Studies at the University of Cape Town (1999-2009); inaugural Barbara Lee Distinguished Chair in Women’s Leadership at Mills College; the Prince Claus Chair in Development and Equity at the ISS and University of Utrecht (2004), the Angela Davis Guest Professor in Social Justice at University of Frankfurt (2016), and the Kwame Nkrumah Chair at the University of Ghana’s Institute of African Studies (2020-current). She is Professor in the Dept of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies at the University of California, Davis. Daniela Morales Fredes (she/her) Daniela is PhD Student in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. Daniela has more than ten years of experience working in Chilean public institutions and as a private practitioner supporting grassroots organizations and local communities. She has also participated in and led several research projects and consultancy on cultural heritage, human rights, and environmental planning, applying participatory design and planning methods.     Daniela’s research analyzes the role of planning and environmental policies in Chile’s evolution and consequences of extractive industries. She explores the legacies and effects of regulatory frameworks and space creation/normalization structures such as the Environmental Impact Assessment System: how racialized territories and colonial continuities shaped the regulatory framework to produce industrialized landscapes that perpetuate displacement and systematic human rights violations.  Annah Moyo-Kupeta (she/her) Annah Moyo-Kupeta is the Executive Director at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR). Ms Moyo-Kupeta is also a human rights lawyer with extensive experience working in the legal, transitional justice, human rights, peace and security, gender, social justice and violence prevention fields. She obtained her LLB and LLM with Specialisation in Human Rights and Constitutional Practice at the University of Pretoria. Ms Moyo has worked with AU institutions, supporting the development of soft law instruments, in various capacities and is an expert trainer at national, regional and continental levels on Human Rights, Transitional Justice, peacebuilding and gender thematic areas. Prior to her current position at CSVR, she was the Advocacy Programme Manager at CSVR where she led the process of developing and finalizing the African Union Transitional Justice Policy which was adopted by the African Union Heads of State and Government in February 2019, a process that took almost 10 years. In her previous capacity, in 2017, she also led the process of establishing the African Transitional Justice Forum, a multi-stakeholder platform co-hosted with the African Union Commission that brings together TJ scholars, policy makers, member states, AU organs and Regional Economic Communities, TJ practitioners and experts as well as victim networks, to deliberate and reflect on the “State of Transitional Justice in Africa”. This year, CSVR and the African Union will convene the 8th Edition of the Forum. Currently Ms Moyo champions CSVR’s transitional justice work in 18 African countries.  Nadine Suleiman Naber (she/her)  Dr. Nadine Naber is a Professor in the Gender and Women's Studies Program and the Global Asian Studies Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago and founder of Liberate Your Research Workshops. At UIC, she is the Co-PI of the Middle East and Muslim Societies Cluster and Co-Organizer of the Global Middle East Studies Working Group. She is author/co-editor of five books, including Arab America: Gender, Cultural Politics, and Activism (NYU Press, 2012); Race and Arab Americans (Syracuse University Press, 2008); Arab and Arab American Feminisms, winner of the Arab American Book Award 2012 (Syracuse University Press, 2010); The Color of Violence (South End Press, 2006), and Towards the Sun (Tadween Press/George Mason University, 2020). She is lead author of the policy reports, “Beyond Profiling and Erasure: Cultivating Strong and Vibrant Arab American Communities in Chicagoland.” (IRRPP/UIC, 2022) and “The Paradox of Social Development in the Arab Region” (United Nations, 2015). She is the recipient of major awards such as the 2022 Lifetime Achievement Prize from the American Studies Association; the 2002 YWCA’s Y-Women’s Leadership Award; and the 2021 Andrew W. Mellon Humanities without Walls Award. Dr. Naber is the co-founder of Arab and Muslim American Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. At UIC and faculty founder/former director of the Arab American Cultural Center at UIC. She is currently writing a book entitled, “Pedagogies of the Radical Mother” (under contract with Haymarket University Press) and a book entitled, “Social Movement Led Research Methodologies” (under contract with Essays in the Critical Humanities (EtCH Collective Press). She is an editorial board member of the Journal of Palestine Studies and she; serves on the boards of organizations such as the Arab American Action Network, Al-Shabakah, the National Council for Arab Americans, and the Feminist Peace Initiative; and has been a columnist for news outlets such as the Chicago Reporter and regularly publishes OpEds for Truthout. For more information, see: www.nadinenaber.com  Mariana Nogales-Molinelli (she/her) Mariana Nogales-Molinelli is the Representative at large and minority whip for Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana, elected in November 2020. She graduated from University of Puerto Rico School of Law in 2010, as president of Law School Student Council while actively participating in the landmark student strike that effectively stopped an increase in tuition. Thurgood Marshall Award and International Law recipient 2010.  Since 2016 a group of lawyers including her started to get involved in active legal representation and assistance of persons, especially young people and students detained, arrested, or intervened by the Police during protests and exercising the right to protest and freedom of speech.  This group of lawyers and Law students incorporated a non-profit organization called Brigada Legal Solidaria.  BLS keeps lists of people detained and makes sure each person detained or intervened has effective legal representation.  “No person without a lawyer” and “No person is abandoned” are BLS mottos.  BLS also publicly denounces repression and the limitations of our freedoms by the government and the Federal Fiscal Control Board.  BLS won the National Lawyers Guild’s Arthur Kinoy Award for their work representing demonstrators specially during the Summer of 2019 protests that ousted then governor, Ricardo Rosselló.  Nogales-Molinelli was also a founding member of Comité de Amigos y Familiares de Nina Droz Franco, a group of people who offered support to Nina and her family and denounced her confinement conditions and her case as the only imprisoned person under federal jurisdiction for the May 1st of 2017 protests.  As a legislator she has specialized in environmental crimes investigations and denounce in the coastline, among others, the Jobos Bay Estuarine Reserve where mangroves and the ecosystems were damaged by people who illegally occupied land.  The legislative office has specialized in helping people and presenting complaints in the Puerto Rico Natural Resources Department, the Permit Office for permit violations, the Environmental Protecion Agency (EPA) and has requested information including FOIAs regarding natural resources, agriculture, housing, federal funds, USGS Earth MRI study, and Department of Security, investigations on corruption and political donors who get favors in the Permit Office, and has advocated for the repeal of Act 22/ now Act 60 of 2019 tax haven and gentrification effects.  For her monitoring, oversight and tough scrutiny of the government, corruption, and the political party in power, she faces persecution including the fabrication and pressing of criminal charges. In resistance.  Magdalena Novoa (she/her) Magdalena Novoa is an Assistant Professor in the department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her work focuses on the intersections of cultural heritage and social justice, industrial heritage and gender, and the politics of memory, human rights and grassroots organizing in the Americas. She is particularly interested in how various actors mobilize cultural heritage and planning to integrate or segregate historically marginalized groups and the challenges that arise from the changing landscapes impacted by extractive economies, deindustrialization and state repression. As a community-engaged scholar, she combines ethnographic, historical, and participatory arts-based methods to assist communities in making their places, narratives, and actions more visible in policy, practice, and academy. Magdalena is currently a Humanities Research Institute fellow, she is a founding member of the public memory and history collective Monumentos Incómodos, member of Illinois Landmarks board of director, and co-investigator of the transnational partnership Deindustrialization and the Politics of Our Times.  Tania Rosario-Mendez (she/her/ella) Tania is an artist, educator, public health specialist and women and girls’ rights activist, born and raised in Puerto Rico. She holds a B.A. on Humanities with a double major in Drama and History and a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Puerto Rico. With over 18 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, she has a solid background integrating project management, cultural work, community organizing, popular education and human rights activism. She currently leads the work of historical feminist organization Taller Salud, focused in reducing health inequities, achieving gender equality and preventing violence in the communities that suffer from greater social exclusion. Her goal is to build a Puerto Rico where there is health, peace and economic development for all. Author of two books, several articles and conferences. Theatre director and professor, community organizer and cultural worker. Trained full-spectrum doula and a certified childbirth educator. Proud mother of a teen boy and a tween girl. She is immensely and fiercely happy to be alive.  Ann Russo (she/her)* Ann Russo is a Professor and Interim Chair of the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies and the Director of the Women’s Center at DePaul University. Her scholarship, teaching, and organizing focus on queer, antiracist, and feminist movement approaches to building alliances and coalitions for social change. Her most recent book Feminist Accountability: Disrupting Violence and Transforming Power explores transformative justice, prison abolition, and community accountability as practices that cultivate communal healing, intervention, accountability, and movement building in response to systemic intimate, interpersonal and state violence.  She is also the author of Communities Engaged in Resisting Violence (2007), Taking Back Our Lives: A Call to Action in the Feminist Movement (2001) and co-editor of Talking Back and Acting Out (2002) and Third World Women and Feminist Perspectives (1990). And she is has published in a number of books, journals, and feminist periodicals. Chandra Talpade Mohanty (she/her)* Chandra Talpade Mohanty is Distinguished Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and Dean’s Professor of the Humanities at Syracuse University.  Her work focuses on transnational feminist theory, anti-capitalist feminist praxis, anti-racist education, and the politics of knowledge.  She is author of Feminism Without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity (Duke University Press, 2003), and co-editor of  Third World Women and the Politics of Feminism (Indiana University Press, 1991),   Feminist Genealogies, Colonial Legacies, Democratic Futures (Routledge, 1997),  Feminism and War: Confronting U.S. Imperialism, (Zed Press, 2008),  The Sage Handbook on Identities (Sage Publications, 2010), and Feminist Freedom Warriors (Haymarket Books, 2018).  Her writing has been translated into Arabic, German, Dutch, French, Italian, Spanish, Farsi, Chinese, Russian, Swedish, Thai, Korean, Turkish, Slovenian, Hindi, Czech, Slovakian, Armenian, Greek, Portuguese, and Japanese.   Mohanty is co-series editor with Dana Olwan of “Reimagining Comparative Feminist Studies” for Palgrave/Springer and Co-creator with Linda Carty of the feminist freedom warriors digital video archive (http://feministfreedomwarriors.org ).  Mohanty was a member of the Indigenous and Feminist of Color Solidarity delegation to Palestine in 2011 and is working on a book forthcoming from Duke University Press entitled Insurgent Feminism: imperial Regimes, Racial Capitalism and Solidarity Across Borders.  Shimaa Tantawy (she/her) Shimaa Hegazy Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed Tantawy is a feminist writer and researcher based in Cairo. I have extensive experience working with women and the LGBTQ+ community, including program management, research, and advocacy. During my career, I have worked with various organizations, including Nazra for Feminist Studies, Bedaya Organization, and Barah Aamen. My skills include writing research articles, advocacy, and project management. I have also studied family counseling and mental health.  Nayereh Tohidi (she/her)* Nayereh Tohidi is a Professor Emeritus and former Chair of Gender & Women’s Studies Department and the Founding Director of the Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies (2011-2021) at California State University, Northridge. She is also a Research Associate in the Program of Iranian Studies at UCLA coordinating its “Bilingual Lecture Series on Iran” since 2003. She has also joined the faculty board of the online Iran Academia of the Institute for Social Sciences based in the Hague, Netherlands (2015+). Tohidi received her BS, MA and Ph.D. from the Universities of Tehran and Illinois in Urbana-Champaign in Sociology and Ed Psych. She is a recipient of several post-doctoral fellowships and research awards, including a year of Fulbright lectureship and research at the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan; universities of Harvard and Stanford, the Kennan Institute of the Woodrow Wilson Center, and Keddie-Balzan Fellowship at UCLA. She also received an NEH grant to establish the Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Program at CSUN. Her teaching and research expertise include gender and sustainable development; women’s movements and feminisms; women and Islam; globalization, ethnicity, and democracy in Iran and the post-Soviet Caucasus.    Tohidi’s extensive publications (written in Persian and English) include authorship or editorship of three books and numerous articles and interviews in peer-reviewed academic and policy-oriented journals. Some of her articles have been translated into Spanish, Arabic, Turkish, Russian, German, and French. She has served as transcript reviewer for several academic journals and book publishers and has been on the advisory or editorial boards of journals such as Feminist Studies in Religion (Harvard), the bilingual Journal of Azadi Andisheh, and Ms. Magazine. Tohidi has integrated academic excellence with transnational human/women’s rights activism. She represented women NGOs at the UN-sponsored third and fourth World Conferences on Women in Nairobi (1985) and Beijing (1995). She has also served as a consultant for the UN agencies (UNICEF and UNDP) on issues concerning children and women’s rights and status in the Caucasus and the Middle East.  In recognition of such human rights and civil society activism, she has been honored by receiving awards such the Eleanor Roosevelt (2017); the Phenomenal Woman (2018); and the Freedom Dance (2024) plaques.    Damian Vergara Bracamontes (he/him) Damian Vergara Bracamontes is an Assistant Professor in the Gender and Women’s Studies Department at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Vergara Bracamontes is a scholar of Latinx migration studies, critical prison studies, and queer and trans of color critique. He is currently working on two book projects, one on LGBTQ immigrant detention and his current manuscript, The Administration of Illegality and Mexican Migrant Life, which traces the formation and consolidation of illegality in a new phase of prolonged social exclusion and control. His work has appeared in Ethnic Studies Review, Routed Magazine, and The Abusable Past. Rayka Zehtabchi (she/her) Rayka Zehtabchi is an Iranian-American director and producer working in both documentary and fiction. Her passion lies in telling human stories that bring awareness and action to little-known social causes. Rayka’s Oscar-winning Netflix short documentary, Period. End of Sentence. is about a group of village women in Northern India who start a sanitary pad-making business in an effort to improve feminine hygiene and de-stigmatize menstruation. Rayka has also directed multiple branded documentary shorts, including United O for the Special Olympics, Ours To Tell for Planned Parenthood, and A Woman’s Place for KitchenAid, which can be seen on Hulu. Outside of branded work, Rayka’s films (SHn(y)o͞of), Just Hold On, Are You Still There?, and Long Line of Ladies have all received Vimeo Staff Picks and have screened and won Jury awards at prestigious festivals such as SXSW and AFI Fest. Rayka continues to work in both documentary and fiction, pushing the boundaries of each form with every project she helms.  24 2