Collective as a method: experiences of feminist collectives in universities

Abstract

This article focuses on the actions of the Coletivo Feminista Carmen Portinho in the debate about gender-based violence at the Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Escola da Cidade. We investigate the similarities between its history and the experiences of the Coletivo Feminista Mayumi Watanabe, at the Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Universidade de São Paulo (FAU-USP), and the Coletivo Feminista Zaha, affiliated with the Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie (FAU-Mack), thus providing a systematization of the strategies used in addressing gender-based violence and inequality by women architects in both professional and academic fields. The understanding of gender as a structuring factor in power relations is considered, thus examining gender conflicts in the academic environment as fundamental to the production of knowledge, situating this framework within a broader context that discusses the presence of women and feminist action in the field of Architecture and Urbanism at various scales.