The School of Journalism and Communication congratulates Dr. Nasreen Rajani on the successful defence of her PhD dissertation, “Our experiences are different… our risks are different’: Racialized women’s online activism to end violence against women in Canada.” Nasreen successfully defended her dissertation on April 29, 2022.
Nasreen’s dissertation asks, “why and how do racialized women in Canada participate in online activism to end violence against women?” Grounded in a theoretical framework exploring how race, gender, sexuality, and disability shape approaches to online activism, and based on interviews with online activist women in Canada, the study places intersectional experiences of combatting violence at the foreground of analysis.
“This research came from a place of frustration,” Nasreen explains. “So much of the scholarship in this area suffers from excessive optimism or pessimism about online activism and efforts to end violence against women.” She also argues that much of the scholarship in this area overlooks the complex ways that differences in identity (race, gender, sexuality, (dis)ability) shape opportunities to advocate and effect change.
As someone who was involved in anti-violence activism as a volunteer for many years, Nasreen wanted to add to this literature by confronting its dominant frame. “There is far more to anti-violence activism than the experiences of white women feminists in the United States,” she argues.
Nasreen’s research is a call for empirically grounded, ethically responsible approaches to online media activism that emphasizes the voices of women.
“In doing this research it was important to listen directly to women, and to learn about their experiences in online anti-violence activism. These women are mobilizing and creating a variety of digital media technologies, from personal websites to social media pages, to podcasts and more, all which draw attention to the intersectional nature of the violence they experience.”
Dr. Rena Bivens, who supervised the dissertation, says the study offered “great context and a depth of analysis” to help us better understand what it means to be a racialized woman working within Canada’s violence against women movement, and how necessary it is to create additional networks of support.
“Nasreen’s research demonstrates the importance of private spheres within social media platforms to facilitate space for racialized women to support one another in this challenging work,” Bivens says.
Bivens also notes that a major contribution of Nasreen’s research is how it “expands our theoretical approach” to the study of violence. “Her intersectional analysis shows that the traffic of violence flows in multiple directions, infiltrating the wider media environment, the relationship between non-profit organizations and the settler colonial state, and the social media platforms where so much of this work is conducted.”
Dr. Yasmin Jiwani, Concordia University Research Chair in Intersectionality, Violence and Resistance, whose own work focuses on the intersecting influences of race and gender in shaping how media portray violence against marginalized women, was Nasreen’s external examiner. In her report to the university, Jiwani noted the important ways in which Nasreen shifted analytical attention from the “what” of digital media activism on ending violence against women, to emphasizing questions of “how” and “why” racialized women do this important work. Jiwani found the dissertation “extremely well-written and well-organized” and noted that it makes a “compelling argument” about racialized women’s online activism.
“Rajani’s methodological approach was rigorous, her overview of the theoretical literature was robust, and she presented a thorough account of the ethical implications and challenges she encountered in conducting her research,” Jiwani says. “Intersectional approaches are highly challenging, but the candidate successfully highlighted the complex dynamics that shape the experiences of racialized women online activists.”
Nasreen currently works in the Government of Canada as an Inclusive Design expert, while continuing her advocacy work around anti-violence. She provides advice and recommendations to local ending violence organizations about BIWOC (Black, Indigenous, and Women of Colour) experiences, perspectives, and needs relating to ending violence. She also sits on the advisory committee of the national Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) on their technology-facilitated violence project.
