Critical feminist zine-making as method and pedagogy: reflections on a zine workshop series

Abstract

Zine-making is a longstanding grassroots feminist practice that merges creativity, activism, and critical inquiry. This article examines the methodological and pedagogical potentials of feminist zine-making and zines, reflecting on the Affect, Knowledge and Embodiment (AKE) workshop series (and zine) held periodically in Australia since 2018. We discuss our experience of facilitating this workshop series and co-editing the six volumes of the AKE zine, guided by creative and feminist understandings of affect, knowledge, and embodiment. We explore the iterative process of zine-making as a critical feminist method and pedagogy, highlighting its value for generating collective knowledge from material and embodied practices and opening new possibilities for critical feminist praxis and pedagogies in the neoliberal academy. In detailing our process, this article aims to contribute to feminist discussions of zines by exploring how zine-making enables and enhances feminist methods and pedagogies.