Does Knowledge Have a Gender? A Festschrift for Liisa Husu on Gender, Science and Academia

The title of this volume captures a central question in contemporary Gender Studies and Sociology. It has, in different ways, preoccupied the researchers who contribute to this special volume for many years. Inspired by feminist theory and practice, it addresses the gendering, the complex gendering, of knowledge, science, research, policy, equality, academia, universities and higher education, along with many interlinked reflections and memories on working together, collegiality and friendship. This book is special in three ways. First, what it is: it is for Liisa, but it is not about Liisa. It is about work inspired by her work, and includes chapters drawing on her work, applying her work in different contexts, and describing how Liisa as a person has inspired the contributors and their texts. The volume thus gives multiple responses and reflections on questions around the gendering of knowledge, as a celebration of all that work that has affected and inspired many. Second, what it covers: it very much spans the specifically academic and the specifically personal, as well as some more hybrid academic-personal contributions. Indeed, we, as editors, had some discussions about whether to organise the book into three such sections. Eventually, we decided that categorisation was too absolute, and that the mixing of academic and personal was part of the play; the personal is political, after all. Also, rather than simply using alphabetical order of authors, we thought that it in the spirit of the book to reverse and subvert that order — after all, why should Zamboanga Bulbul always so unfairly come after Aardvark? Third, how it was produced: because of how it came about and was produced during special times of Covid-19, with a lot of e-mails, covert phone calls, secret meetings, and discreet discussions in next-door rooms.