Feminist Investigations
The Feminist Investigations research group welcomes interdisciplinary research and collaboration grounded in contemporary feminist theories and methodologies. This platform for the exchange of ideas is inspired by shared interests, critical perspectives, and collective efforts to imagine liveable futures.
Co-ordinator
Group members
Manager, Social Sciences Research Centre
Lead Researcher, Faculty of Social Sciences
Aims
- Enhance the perspective of gender and intersectionality within the university’s established research areas in social anthropology, sociology, media studies and more, enriching and diversifying them
- In dialogue with medical science, promote women-centered approaches with a particular focus on reproductive rights, the double burden, and gender-based violence
- Highlight, explore and push forward the intersections of postcolonial and postsocialist feminist scholarship, in relation to local, national and regional frameworks
- Explore the overlaps of intersectional feminism with other contemporary theories, such as plant studies, atmosphere studies, food studies, sisterhood studies, disability studies, environmental humanities, new materialism, posthumanism, and more
- Embrace the potential of contemporary art, activism and culture by organizing feminist interventions to bridge and mutually enrich artistic and academic approaches
The group's name is inspired by Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations (1953), while its commitment to feminist interventions pays tribute to Griselda Pollock.
Photo: Herbal Monster. Valdis Jansons and Eva Vēvere . 2020. Courtesy of the artists.
Group events
Reproductive Justice in the Climate Crisis: Lecture at the Papardes zieds Summer School (31 August 2026)
Seminar: 'Intersectionality in Research and Institutional Change' (23 October 2025)
Promoting gender equality and inclusion at RSU (21 August 2025)
Book launch: Transnational Visual Activism in Support of Women’s Reproductive Rights: My Body, My Choice (21 March 2025)
Book launch: Visceral Aesthetics: Affects and Feminist Art in Post-Socialism (10 September 2024)
Projects
Augu aģence un laikmetīgā māksla: ilgtspējīgas attiecības ar vairāk-kā-cilvēka pasauli
Fostering INCLUsive biomeDicine gEps in research and higher education institutions
Articles
Kukaine, Jana and Natalia Anna Michna. Uneventful and Obscured: Housewife in Postsocialist Feminist Art. Journal of Aesthetics & Culture (2026), 18 (1).
Kukaine, Jana. It’s your fault! feminist art, foodwork, and the postsocialist kitchen. In: Deepwell K (ed.) Re-Evalution in Feminism and Contemporary Art. Wilmington, DE: Vernon Press, 2026, pp. 263–283.
Kukaine, Jana un Anne Sauka. Augu un ūdens aģence latviešu pirts rituālos: domāt kopā ar Ivetas Gabalinas fotoprojektu “Riti raiti rīta rasa”//Vegetal and Water Agency in Latvian Sauna Rituals: Thinking with the Photo Project Roll, Roll, Morning Dew by Iveta Gabalina. Letonica (2026), 59:36-63.
How identity shapes research: a conversation with Prof. Victoria Showunmi (8 December 2025)
Feral Intimacy: Feminist Transformations Through Solitary Forest Walks (9 June 2025)
My First Year Too: Obstetric Violence and Maternal Subjectivity (2024)
