By: Dr. Gisela Carrasco-Miró – Principal Researcher in Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI)
Feminism is not just a set of ideas or a point of view; it is a political practice—a movement with the power to transform the world. Feminism reimagines the future. But what does this mean in practice? Are feminist futures possible?
As a political movement, feminism places us in a subversive relationship with systems of domination and its power structures. It creates spaces for extraordinary relationships, shaped not by identity but by the desire and determination to change the world. Feminism challenges a colonial, (hetero)patriarchal, and unjust system that endangers life itself. It happens in the streets. It happens in factories. It happens in forests. Feminism is a struggle. Thus, feminism is not just about thinking or debating—it is about doing. It has taught us that action is not solely defined by visible outcomes, victories, or defeats, but by the continuous process of doing and undoing. This ongoing, generative practice is inherently transformative.
We must speak of feminism in the plural, recognizing them as an array of social and political movements with long, rich, and complex histories. The genealogies of feminisms are multiple and simultaneous. They remind us that struggles are not private property, nor are words, and that feminism did not originate in France or elsewhere in Europe. Feminisms emerge—and re-emerges—wherever the patriarchal system is resisted. As decolonial and communitarian feminisms remind us, meanings are constructed and contested. This, too, is autonomy. This, they tell us, is what it means to decolonize our bodies and minds.
Feminism, therefore, is the name for a movement that politically embraces and sustains us, while its boundaries remain fluid and its roots multiple. The challenge lies in understanding feminisms not as an ideological alliance where agreement is the ultimate goal but as ethical alliances that interrogate the very foundations of their construction.
This involves shifting our focus from the “what” to the “how”: What political practices must feminisms develop, nurture, and share to build more just and equitable societies and communities across the planet?
Shaping Feminist Futures Together
I pose this question, knowing it may seem naive, but it is not. It invites us to connect with the critical “how” of feminisms. It is not only about what we demand but also about what we are building together through feminisms. This is not just a matter of thought and action; it is also, fundamentally, a matter of imagination—a collective imagining of feminist futures.
Imagination here is understood not an individual faculty, a fantasy, or an isolated or spontaneous act. It is a social, emancipatory practice, rooted in the present and capable of generating meaningful relationships. Only when we can imagine a different world can we identify the current one as unjust. Imagination allows us to take a position, critique existing systems and structures, and propose new scenarios and narratives. Repeating the same patterns stifles this capacity, leaving us trapped in the same cycles. Ursula K. Le Guin (2004: 184) reminds us:
“We will not know our own injustice if we cannot imagine justice. We will not be free if we do not imagine freedom. We cannot demand that anyone try to attain justice and freedom who has not had a chance to imagine them as attainable.”
The act of imagining is inherently dangerous to those who benefit from the status quo, as it reveals that what exists is neither permanent, universal, nor necessary. Feminisms boldly embrace imagination because they are grounded in the conviction that alternatives exist, that other, better, futures are possible, and that they are worth fighting for.
Join us in this collective journey of imagining feminist futures. Share your thoughts, ideas, and practices with us on our platform as we build equitable and just worlds together. This platform is a space for feminist, anti-patriarchal, and decolonial movements worldwide to share their feminist imaginaries.
If imagining means making the absent present, let us ask:
What feminist and anti-patriarchal practices must we cultivate to build more just and equitable futures? What proposals can we craft together to imagine and transform our shared realities into a fairer world?
References:
Le Guin, U.K., 2004. The wave in the mind: talks and essays on the writer, the reader, and the imagination. Boston: Shambhala