In [political activism], we were told that if issues like revolution and class warfare were sorted out, women would subsequently have access to their rights. For me, the concepts are backwards; ensuring women’s rights is the revolution that will reshape society.
Preserving Women's History
Without a record, we cannot learn from the journey we have taken.
WLP has preserved a vast collection of primary source materials to educate and inspire generations of scholars and activists about the experiences of feminists in the Global South.
Selected Resources
Program Highlights
33 Oral Histories
40+ Documentary films from around the world
70+ Interviews with women leaders
50+ Recordings of events related to global women's movement
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While the women’s rights movement in the West has been well-documented, from the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 to the enlightened political movements of the 20th Century, the vision, voices, and campaigns of feminists in the Global South, particularly in the Muslim world, have received less attention from scholars and activists.
Feminists across the globe have been navigating the complex intersections between culture, religion, history, sex roles, modernity, and globalization for decades. But, while international conferences and social media have given Global South advocates the opportunity to network and learn from each other’s campaigns, there are few permanent recordings of their experiences. Beyond a few dozen celebrated women leaders, the struggles and accomplishments of thousands of women in the Global South have been scantily documented in books, films, recorded interviews, or other mediums.
WLP is collecting and preserving the stories and lessons of women’s rights activists from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South America who have left their mark on the struggle for women’s advancement. WLP has collected hundreds of hours of diverse, multilingual materials and recordings pertaining to the global movements for peace, democracy, and women’s human rights. We are documenting case studies, oral histories, witness commentary, and analyses of women’s rights issues in Arabic, English, Farsi, and other languages.
Digital Archive of Interviews and Events
WLP maintains a collection of archival materials and recordings that include conversations with women leaders from the Global South and North, media interviews, documentary films, conferences, training workshops, and other events.
Since May 2014, WLP has collaborated with the Internet Archive scanning centers in Toronto and Washington, D.C., to create a public, online repository for WLP’s digital collections. For this project, we have developed a comprehensive cataloguing system and have reviewed and edited hundreds of text, video, and audio resources on a variety of biographical and historical subjects relating to important women, leadership, human rights, democratic development, and the global women's movement. The project is ongoing, and aims to create globally accessible resources for activists, trainers, researchers, and the general public.
Oral Histories of the Global Women's Movement
For our Oral History Project, WLP is collecting narratives of prominent and grassroots women’s rights activists to chronical events that have had an impact on the lives of women worldwide. Since 2014, WLP has collaborated with the Sound Archive of the British Library to host the repository, and to provide controlled access for scholars and educators. To date, we have collected nearly three dozen oral histories from 25 countries. As part of this endeavor, we train activists on how to conduct interviews and record the sessions, for our archives and for other similar efforts around the globe. This WLP project is ongoing.
WATCH About the WLP Oral History Archive