Feminist Geography 30 Years on – They Came, They Saw But Did They Conquer?

Feminist geography emerged in A ustralia in the 1980s, spurred on by the local W omen's L iberation M ovement and inspired by the academic activism emanating from E ngland, C anada, and the U nited S tates. Producing critical evaluations of male‐dominated geography departments, curriculum, and journals, feminist geographers proceeded to stake claims in each of these spheres while also substantially revising the content of geographical research. There were significant interventions into urban, social, cultural, and economic geography and in environmental discourses, as well as into the gendered research process. Having arrived, identified, and addressed these issues, the discipline was critiqued and transformed over the 1980s and 1990s. Crucial to the strength of this critique were key individuals, the G ender and G eography G roup within the I nstitute of A ustralian G eographers, and the role played by journals such as G eographical R esearch and the A ustralian G eographer in providing spaces for feminist work. However, as the new century dawned, the agenda changed and the anger and urgency dissipated as the broader and university contexts altered. It was a period of consolidation, as feminist insights and approaches were focused on key subject areas – such as the home, identity, and sexuality – and became more mainstream. However, is this work and the presence of women in the academy an indication of success or of co‐option? This paper will trace these various shifts – from the arrival to the mainstreaming of feminist geography – and analyse what might be read as a retreat from feminist politics and practice within the discipline in A ustralia. I will conclude by re‐stating the case to advance a new feminist agenda in the face of continuing gender inequality within the academy, in A ustralia, and across the globe.