Resolution for Counterfire Conference 2014. Submitted by Katya Nasim, seconded by Elly Badcock and Tansy Hoskins

Resolution

• That the last few years have seen a significant new swell in feminist movements, dubbed the ‘fourth wave’. Evidence suggests that thousands of people are being touched by the ‘fourth wave’.
• In 2013, 500 people attended the Feminism 2013 conference organised by UK Feminista. A day of dialogues between Women’s Liberation activists and younger feminists held at the British Museum in October sold out within 48 hours, was moved to a room four times bigger, and sold out again. The Everyday Sexism Project generated unprecedented media attention and has been rolled out to 17 countries in its first year. The No More Page 3 petition was signed by 128,000 people. Feminist societies sprang up in secondary schools. Thousands of women marched for Million Women Rise, Reclaim the Night, and One Billion Rising. A chorus rose against online misogyny.
• The feminist consciousness of the fourth wave has also been forged through the years of the financial crash and the coalition government, and many activists have been politicised and influenced by other movements, particularly the student campaign against fees, Occupy, and the wider campaign against the cuts.

Conference believes:

• That feminism is right now a key point of entry to radical politics, particularly for young women.
• New possibilities have opened up that those attracted to even the broadest tenets of feminism can be pulled towards more radical politics, if there is a pole of attraction.
• That clearly assessing the ground opened by the new feminist movements, and relating to them in an up to date and considered manner, theoretically and practically is vital to our work. To do otherwise would make us appear out of touch, and place us in the back seat of a nascent but significant movement.

Conference resolves:

• To fully support promote and engage with the Women’s Assembly Against Austerity (WAAA) called for February 22.
• To recognise that the WAAA should not be the extent or limit of our work in this area – we need to ensure that relating to the new feminist movements is a natural part of Counterfire work.
• That beyond the women’s caucus at this conference, Counterfire continues to meet to specifically discuss and forge ways of doing this.