Beginning on May 13th and ending on August 31st, DPA, the Data Feminism Network (DFN) and Eureka facilitated the Book Club “Counting Feminicide with Catherine D’Ignazio”. This free-of-charge initiative attracted over 600 English, Spanish and Portuguese speaking participants from around the world, thanks to the generous support of MIT Press and the collaboration of Professor Catherine D’Ignazio, Director of the MIT Data + Feminism Lab and co-founder of the Data Against Feminicide Project.
Below are the highlights from the Book Club, as well as the access to the recorded sessions.
Theme of the Club
This Book Club focused on discussing the recently launched book “Counting Feminicide: Data Feminism In Action“, written by Catherine D’Ignazio. Catherine is an Associate Professor of Urban Science and Planning as well as the Director of the MIT Data + Feminism Lab at MIT, co-founder of the Data Against Feminicide Project, and co-author (with Lauren F. Klein) of the 2020 book “Data Feminism.”
“Counting Feminicide: Data Feminism in Action” documents the work of grassroots feminist data activists as they engage in documenting feminicide and gender-related killings, particularly across the Americas. The book explores the intersection of data science and social activism, revealing the power of restorative and transformative data science to bring about social justice and challenge the status quo. Catherine adopts an intersectional approach to address how feminicide is linked to racism, colonialism, and economic injustice. It also highlights the specific challenges faced by Indigenous and Black women, who often lead the fight against this phenomenon.
The book underscores the need to understand feminicide within these broader systemic contexts to effectively address and prevent it, aiming for a world where gender-related killings are eradicated because the political and economic conditions that produce such violence no longer exist.
Featured Book and Movie
Ad mentioned, the Club’s main focus of discussion was the book “Counting Feminicide: Data Feminism in Action”. You can download the free PDF version here – or purchase the PDF or physical book here.
To accompany and complement the discussion, we selected the documentary “The Three Deaths of Marisela Escobedo”, directed by Carlos Pérez Osorio and available in Netflix. It recounts Marisela Escobedo’s unwavering quest for justice after her daughter’s murder in Mexico, exposing the flaws in the country’s justice system and the dangers of confronting corruption and organized crime.
Synchronous Online Conversations
Throughout the Book Club’s duration, we had the honor of hosting eight online discussions, all featuring Catherine D’Ignazio, to explore each chapter of her book. We also invited special guests to various sessions, who enriched the conversations by sharing insights from their work as activists. Below, you’ll find the main theme of each session, the guest speakers, and links to watch the discussions.
- Conversation 1: Introduction + Chapter 1 “A Short Genealogy of Feminicide and Data Activism”.
- Special guests: Helena Suárez and Silvana Fumega, co-founders, alongside Catherine, of the Data Against Feminicide project.
- Watch the session here.
- Conversation 2: Chapter 2 “Official Data, Missing Data, Counterdata”.
- Unfortunately the recording is not available.
- Conversation 3: Chapter 3 “Resolving”.
- Watch the session here.
- Conversation 4: Chapter 4 “Researching”.
- Conversation 5: Chapter 5 “Recording”.
- Watch the session here.
- Conversation 6: Chapter 6 “Refusing and Using Data”.
- Special guest: Martha Muñoz Aristizabal, from Colectiva SJF.
- Watch the session here.
- Conversation 7: Chapter 7 “Co-Designing for Restorative/Transformative Data Science”.
- Watch the session here.
- Conversation 8: Chapter 8 “A Toolkit for Restorative/Transformative Data Science”, and “Conclusion: Putting Data Science in Its place.”
- Special guest: Ivonne Carlos, from Ellas Tienen Nombre.
- Watch the session here.
Future Events
If this discussion sparked your interest, follow us on social media for updates on future events and book clubs. If you are interested in organizing a Book and Movie Club using the Eureka platform, please let us know here.
