Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 47 minutes ago
João Manuel de Oliveira is a non binary queer feminist. S/he is currently an Integrated Researcher at ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon, teaching in the doctoral programs in Psychology and in the Masters in interdisciplinary studies on gender and sexualities. Conducts research at CIS – University Institute of Lisbon. Holds a Habilitation (agregação) in Psychology, as well as a Ph.D. and Masters in Social Psychology. Their research focuses on Gender Studies, Critical Sexuality Studies, and Feminist Theory. Recent publications address topics such as intersectionality and hyphenation, homo/heteronormativity, subjugated and dis/subjugated knowledges, eccentric genealogies, anti-racist and anti-essentialist feminist theories, queer theory, trans* studies, contemporary art and dance, and the intricate relations among knowledge, bodies, politics, and power within the framework of neoliberal political economies. João has published widely on these topics, over 120 publications mostly dealing with feminist thought.
"FEMINISMS AS COMMUNAL SPACES: CHALLENGES AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF SOCIALIST FEMINISMS FIGHTING FASCISMS"
Having read the literature and actively participation in the movement since the late 1990s, very few people like me would have believed it possible that, by the late 2010s and early 2020s, fascist forces contending in the political arena could find points of connection with feminist groups. Yet today, various strands of liberal feminism flirt openly with neoliberalism, and several transphobic feminist groups have shown themselves willing not only to accept funding from fascist and anti-choice movements but also to present themselves publicly as the only legitimate form of feminism. These gendered phantoms resurfacing over time have met their strongest resistance in other feminist currents. Feminisms that dare to move beyond the fragments (Rowbotham, Segal & Wainwright, 2013) and take their historical subject seriously: a collective of people who, through social processes of oppression, exploitation, recognition, and intelligibility, have become a class treated as women (Beauvoir, 1949). Any attempt to define woman a priori through conceptualisations grounded in genitalia, chromosomes, reproductive capacity, or other elements naturalised as biological, reflects a narrow and restrictive intelligibility of gender. Such assumptions neglect the fundamental premise that women constitute a class of people shaped by social relations, living conditions, and material realities — the foundation of socialist feminism. Gender, as a social relation marked by intersectionalities, is a conceptual achievement born of this theoretical and political legacy of struggle. Therefore, especially at a time when gender fascism is becoming increasingly embedded in a broader rise of fascist ideologies — and as inequalities intensify — we cannot allow these fascist modes of organising gender, promoted by gender-fascist and self-proclaimed “anti-gender” movements, to contaminate feminism, particularly in its socialist and progressive forms and strength. There can be no rupture in solidarity with trans women and non-binary people, just as there can be none with Palestinian and Sudanese women — nor can we cede a single millimetre in our solidarity with all women. This does not deny differences — which are vital for affirming feminisms — but understands them as reflecting the immense heterogeneity within us. Instead, we are witnessing mounting pressure for a restrictive definition of the feminist subject, led by groups that have made trans women the scapegoat through which they articulate their gender fascism. A politics that seeks to sever the notion of women as a sign of alliance and class, replacing it with exclusionary and narrow definitions of what they take to be a woman. Socialist feminist politics cannot serve the interests of such exclusion, nor those of the liberal or fascist groups advancing it. Rather, socialist and Marxist feminisms are guided by the commitment to fight all struggles, as we say in Bloco de Esquerda. Feminism is a space of the common.
João Manuel de Oliveira is a non binary queer feminist. S/he is currently an Integrated Researcher at ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon, teaching in the doctoral programs in Psychology and in the Masters in interdisciplinary studies on gender and sexualities. Conducts research at CIS – University Institute of Lisbon. Holds a Habilitation (agregação) in Psychology, as well as a Ph.D. and Masters in Social Psychology. Their research focuses on Gender Studies, Critical Sexuality Studies, and Feminist Theory. Recent publications address topics such as intersectionality and hyphenation, homo/heteronormativity, subjugated and dis/subjugated knowledges, eccentric genealogies, anti-racist and anti-essentialist feminist theories, queer theory, trans* studies, contemporary art and dance, and the intricate relations among knowledge, bodies, politics, and power within the framework of neoliberal political economies. João has published widely on these topics, over 120 publications mostly dealing with feminist thought.
"FEMINISMS AS COMMUNAL SPACES: CHALLENGES AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF SOCIALIST FEMINISMS FIGHTING FASCISMS"
Having read the literature and actively participation in the movement since the late 1990s, very few people like me would have believed it possible that, by the late 2010s and early 2020s, fascist forces contending in the political arena could find points of connection with feminist groups. Yet today, various strands of liberal feminism flirt openly with neoliberalism, and several transphobic feminist groups have shown themselves willing not only to accept funding from fascist and anti-choice movements but also to present themselves publicly as the only legitimate form of feminism. These gendered phantoms resurfacing over time have met their strongest resistance in other feminist currents. Feminisms that dare to move beyond the fragments (Rowbotham, Segal & Wainwright, 2013) and take their historical subject seriously: a collective of people who, through social processes of oppression, exploitation, recognition, and intelligibility, have become a class treated as women (Beauvoir, 1949). Any attempt to define woman a priori through conceptualisations grounded in genitalia, chromosomes, reproductive capacity, or other elements naturalised as biological, reflects a narrow and restrictive intelligibility of gender. Such assumptions neglect the fundamental premise that women constitute a class of people shaped by social relations, living conditions, and material realities — the foundation of socialist feminism. Gender, as a social relation marked by intersectionalities, is a conceptual achievement born of this theoretical and political legacy of struggle. Therefore, especially at a time when gender fascism is becoming increasingly embedded in a broader rise of fascist ideologies — and as inequalities intensify — we cannot allow these fascist modes of organising gender, promoted by gender-fascist and self-proclaimed “anti-gender” movements, to contaminate feminism, particularly in its socialist and progressive forms and strength. There can be no rupture in solidarity with trans women and non-binary people, just as there can be none with Palestinian and Sudanese women — nor can we cede a single millimetre in our solidarity with all women. This does not deny differences — which are vital for affirming feminisms — but understands them as reflecting the immense heterogeneity within us. Instead, we are witnessing mounting pressure for a restrictive definition of the feminist subject, led by groups that have made trans women the scapegoat through which they articulate their gender fascism. A politics that seeks to sever the notion of women as a sign of alliance and class, replacing it with exclusionary and narrow definitions of what they take to be a woman. Socialist feminist politics cannot serve the interests of such exclusion, nor those of the liberal or fascist groups advancing it. Rather, socialist and Marxist feminisms are guided by the commitment to fight all struggles, as we say in Bloco de Esquerda. Feminism is a space of the common.
