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Associate Professor Bronwyn Winter

PhD, LèsL, MèsL (ParisIII), RSADip TEFLA (Lond)
Chair of Department

A18 - Brennan MacCallum Building
The University of Sydney

Telephone +61 2 9351 5643

Biographical details

I have been working in the Department of French Studies for over two decades. I also participate in the European Studies and International and Comparative Literary Studies programs in SLC, and in the Bachelor of International and Global Studies (SSPS). The dominant themes in my research and teaching can be found at the intersection of gender, sexuality, race, religion and the state, often within the context of postcolonial history, politics and cultural production, and in relation to international discourses concerning rights and violence.


Although my research is mainly on France and the francophone world, I have also published work on Australia, the Philippines, Afghanistan and Turkey.

I am author of Hijab and the Republic: Uncovering the French Headscarf Debate, and am currently working on a follow-up monograph to my co-edited anthology September 11, 2001: Feminist Perspectives. I am also working on the issue of gay and lesbian political asylum in France and the EU, and am developing two new projects: one on sex, race and the political class in France, and another, with Lucia Sorbera in the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, on women in the “Arab spring”.

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Research interests

  • Colonisation, decolonisation and the postcolonial French-speaking world (esp. North Africa and the Caribbean)
  • Twentieth century political theories and social movements, esp. antiracist, feminist, gay/lesbian and anti-globalisation movements, in France, Australia, North Africa, the Philippines and Israel/Palestine
  • Feminist theory esp. transnational feminism
  • Culture, religion and politics esp. although not solely in relation to the Muslim world and diaspora
  • Women and political participation
  • The State, nationalism and internationalism, esp. in relation to human rights, women, war, globalisation, and ethnicity/cross-cultural issues in a “post-9/11” world
  • Comparative literature in particular postcolonial, feminist and lesbian literature, and the history, esthetics and critiques of orientalism in literature and in dance
  • Gay and lesbian studies
  • The ideals and ideology of the French republic

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Teaching and supervision

  • Colonisation/decolonisation/postcolonialism
  • Francophone Studies: The Maghreb, West Africa, The Caribbean
  • The politics and theory of race and gender in France
  • Post world-war-II social movements
  • Le grand siècle (17th century)
  • The ideology of the French Revolution and of the First and Third Republics
  • Comparative literature esp. history and theories of the discipline; orientalism in literature and dance; lesbian and gay literature; literature, culture and politics; and representations of Paris in literature
  • International and Global Studies, esp. international institutions, transnational social movements and the politics of transculturation

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Current projects

  • Book 9/11 Emergency: Has September 11, 2001 changed the world for women?
  • Lesbian and gay asylum in France and Europe
  • Women in the “Arab spring”: trans-Mediterranean perspectives
  • Member of International Editorial Board, The Encyclopedia of Gender and Sexuality Studies, ed. N. Naples et al (5 volumes plus online version), to be published by Wiley-Blackwell.

Other Professional Contributions

Research Organisation

  • Co-convenor, “Transcultural Mappings: Emerging Issues in Comparative, Transnational and Area Studies”, University of Sydney, April 2010
  • Member of organising committee, 17th George Rudé seminar on French history and civilization, University of Sydney, July 2010
  • Co-convenor, “History, Modernity and the Muslim World between Europe and Asia”, Symposium, University of Sydney, September 2008
  • Member of organising committee, 2008 conference of the Law and Society Association of Australia and New Zealand, University of Sydney, December 2008
  • Co-convenor, “Homosexual Histories”, University of Sydney 2004
  • Membre du comité scientifique international. 3ème colloque international de la recherche féministe francophone: “Ruptures, Résistances et Utopies” Toulouse, 17-22 septembre 2002
  • Member of organising committee of "Workers Out!", the Second International Conference on Trade Unionism and Homosexuality: University of Sydney Oct 31 - Nov 2, 2002

Invited lectures and seminars

  • Keynote speaker, Brisbane International Feminist Conference, September 2008
  • “Simone de Beauvoir”. Public lecture, University of Sydney Research Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences “Key Thinkers” lecture series, September 2005
  • Howard Falls memorial lecture in French Studies, University of Maryland, 2005
  • Panel member, “Where were you in 1984” keynote panel, Brisbane Women’s Legal Service Conference to mark the 20th anniversary of the Sex Discrimination Act, Brisbane, October 2004
  • Plenary speaker on violence against women, Pacific regional NGO preparatory conference for the UN ten-year review of the Beijing Platform for Action, co-organised by HREOC, the University of NSW and the Australian National Council for Refugee Women, UNSW, June 2004
  • Keynote Speaker, international conference “Poverty, Violence and Women's Rights: Setting a Global Agenda”, James Cook University,Townsville 3-7 July 2002
  • Plenary speaker, international conference “Cinquantenaire du Deuxième sexe de Simone de Beauvoir”, Paris, 1999

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Selected grants

2007

  • Islam & the West; Winter B; RIHSS (Inter-disciplinary research networks and clusters)/RIHSS Internal Research Grant Allocations.

2002

  • Womens NGOs, the United Nationa and expanding civil society: a feminist critique, with reference to four UN member countries; Winter B; University of Sydney (Sesqui)/Bridging Support.
  • Women s NGOs, the United Nations and expanding civil society: a feminist critique, with reference to four UN member countries.; Winter B; Australian Research Council (ARC)/Discovery Projects (DP).

2001

  • Women, culture and human rights: a study of harmful western and nonwestern cultural practices in France, the UK and Australia; Winter B; Australian Research Council (ARC)/Earlier schemes: Large Grants.
  • Women and the politics of religion and culture in France: A feminist analysis, with reference to three monotheistic cultures; Winter B; University of Sydney (Sesqui)/Research & Development.
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Selected publications & creative works

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Books

  • Winter, B. (2008). Hijab & the republic: uncovering the French headscarf debate. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
  • Winter, B., Hawthorne, S. (2003). After shock: September 11, 2001: Global feminist perspective. Vancouver: Raincoast Books.

Edited Books

  • Winter, B., Hawthorne, S. (2002). September 11, 2001: Feminist Perspectives. Australia: Spinifex Press.

Book Chapters

  • Winter, B. (2013). Public and Private: Politicizing the Personal - Questioning the Public/Private Divide. In Liz Conor (Eds.), A Cultural History of Women In The Modern Age, (pp. 97-118). New York: Bloomsbury Academic, imprint of Bloomsbury.
  • Winter, B. (2013). Secularism and Religious Freedom: Challenging the "Postsecular". In Lily Rahim (Eds.), Muslim Secular Democracy: Voices from Within, (pp. 141-164). New York: Palgrave MacMillan.
  • Winter, B. (2012). Foulard or cocarde? Gendered Imagery of Radicalized Women in Postcolonial France. In Alison M. Moore (Eds.), Sexing Political Culture in the History of France. New York: Cambria Press.
  • Winter, B. (2012). International Versus Transnational? The Politics of Prefixes in Feminist International Relations. In Tonia St. Germain, Susan Dewey (Eds.), Conflict-Related Sexual Violence: International Law, Local Responses. Sterling, Virginia: Kumarian Press.
  • Winter, B. (2012). Lily Pads and Leisure Meccas: The Gendered Political Economy of Post-Base and Post-9/11 Philippines. In Christine de Matos, Rowena Ward (Eds.), Gender, Power, and Military Occupations: Asia Pacific and the Middle East since 1945, (pp. 79-97). New York, USA: Routledge imprint of Taylor & Francis.
  • Winter, B. (2011). Defauts et indignites: burqa et politique en France. In Philippe Rygiel (Eds.), Politique et administration du genre en migration, (pp. 169-186). Paris, France: Editions Publibook.
  • Winter, B. (2009). One hijab does not fit all: recontexualising the case for secularism. In T Dreher and C Ho (Eds.), Beyond the hijab debates: new conversations on gender, race and religion, (pp. 195-207). Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
  • Winter, B. (2006). The Social Foundations of the Sacred: Feminists and the Politics of Religion. In Kathy Davis, Mary Evans and Judith Lorber (Eds.), Handbook of Gender and Women's Studies, (pp. 92-108). London: Sage Publications.
  • Winter, B. (2002). If Women Really Mattered.. In Susan Hawthorne and Bronwyn Winter (Eds.), September 11, 2001: Feminist Perspectives, (pp. 451-480). Australia: Spinifex Press.
  • Winter, B. (2002). Pauline and Other Perils: Women in Australian Right-Wing Politics. In Paola Barchetta and Margaret Power (Eds.), Right-Wing Women: From Conservatives to Extremists Around the World, (pp. 197-210). New York and London: Routledge imprint of Taylor & Francis.
  • Winter, B. (2002). Who Will Mourn on October 7? In Susan Hawthorne and Bronwyn Winter (Eds.), September 11, 2001: Feminist Perspectives, (pp. 360-371). Australia: Spinifex Press.

Journals

  • Winter, B. (2012). Sur de rien: les demandeurs/euses d'asile homosexuels et lesbiennes face a l'idee des "pays surs". Australian Journal of French Studies, 49(3), 280-294.
  • Winter, B. (2011). Guns, Money and Justice: the 2005 Subic Rape Case. International Feminist Journal of Politics, 13(3), 371-389.
  • Winter, B. (2011). Ruin: What Happens When You Keep On Buying the Same Old Line. Women's Studies Quarterly.
  • Winter, B. (2010). Women and the 'Turkish Paradox': What the Headscarf is Covering Up. Modern Greek Studies (Australia and New Zealand), 14(2010), 216-238.
  • Winter, B. (2007). Preemptive Fridge Magnets and Other Weapons of Masculinist Destruction: The Rhetoric and Reality of "Safeguarding Australia". Signs: journal of women in culture and society, 33(1), 25-51.
  • Winter, B. (2006). 'Uncovered Meat' meets 'Mr Lust'. On Line Opinion, 7 Nov 2006.
  • Winter, B. (2006). Religion, culture and women's human rights: Some general political and theoretical considerations. Women's Studies International Forum, 29(4), 381-393.
  • Winter, B. (2006). Secularism aboard the Titanic: Feminists and the Debate over the Hijab in France. Feminist Studies, 32(2), 279-298.
  • Winter, B. (2006). The Great Hijab Coverup. Off Our Backs: a women's news journal, 36(3), 38-40.
  • Winter, B. (2006). The politics of assimilation: are we really ‘family too’? Rain and Thunder, (31), 20-23.
  • Winter, B. (2006). Women see Red on White Ribbon Day. On Line Opinion.
  • Winter, B. (2005). Australian media hypocrisy over French inferno. On Line Opinion.
  • Winter, B. (2002). Afghanistan: The War is Not Over for Women. NTEU Frontline, 10, 21-24.
  • Winter, B., Thompson, D., Jeffreys, S. (2002). The UN Approach to Harmful Cultural Practices: Some Conceptual problems. International Feminist Journal of Politics, 4(1), 72-94.
  • Winter, B. (2002). Women's Rights, Globalisation and the Nation-State: Are Human Rights and Democracy Enough? The Australian Feminist Law Journal, 17(1), 1-16.
  • Winter, B. (2001). Fundamental Misunderstanding: issues in Feminist Approaches to Islamism. Journal of Women's History, 13, 9-41.

Conferences

  • Winter, B. (2009). Marianne goes multicultural: Ni putes ni soumises and the republicanisation of ethnic minority women in France. 15th George Rude Seminar in French History and Civilization, University of Adelaide: George Rude Society.
  • Winter, B. (2001). L’essentialisation de l’Altérité et l’invisibilisation de l’oppression: l’histoire bizarre mais vraie de la déformation d’un concept. Cinquantenaire du Deuxième sexe, France: Syllepse.

Original Creative Work

  • Winter, B. (2007). Poetry published in: Perverse Verse 2007. Australia.
  • Winter, B. (2006). Poetry published in: Perverse Verse 2006. Australia.
  • Winter, B. (2004). Birthday Pome: Where were you in 1984?. Australia.

Magazine / Newspaper Articles

  • Winter, B. (2005). The Vicious Underbelly of Urban Culture. The Sydney Morning Herald.

Reference Works

  • Winter, B. (2011). Cesaire, Aime: Discours sur le colonialisme. The Literary Encyclopedia. The Literary Dictionary Company Limited.

2013

  • Winter, B. (2013). Public and Private: Politicizing the Personal - Questioning the Public/Private Divide. In Liz Conor (Eds.), A Cultural History of Women In The Modern Age, (pp. 97-118). New York: Bloomsbury Academic, imprint of Bloomsbury.
  • Winter, B. (2013). Secularism and Religious Freedom: Challenging the "Postsecular". In Lily Rahim (Eds.), Muslim Secular Democracy: Voices from Within, (pp. 141-164). New York: Palgrave MacMillan.

2012

  • Winter, B. (2012). Foulard or cocarde? Gendered Imagery of Radicalized Women in Postcolonial France. In Alison M. Moore (Eds.), Sexing Political Culture in the History of France. New York: Cambria Press.
  • Winter, B. (2012). International Versus Transnational? The Politics of Prefixes in Feminist International Relations. In Tonia St. Germain, Susan Dewey (Eds.), Conflict-Related Sexual Violence: International Law, Local Responses. Sterling, Virginia: Kumarian Press.
  • Winter, B. (2012). Lily Pads and Leisure Meccas: The Gendered Political Economy of Post-Base and Post-9/11 Philippines. In Christine de Matos, Rowena Ward (Eds.), Gender, Power, and Military Occupations: Asia Pacific and the Middle East since 1945, (pp. 79-97). New York, USA: Routledge imprint of Taylor & Francis.
  • Winter, B. (2012). Sur de rien: les demandeurs/euses d'asile homosexuels et lesbiennes face a l'idee des "pays surs". Australian Journal of French Studies, 49(3), 280-294.

2011

  • Winter, B. (2011). Cesaire, Aime: Discours sur le colonialisme. The Literary Encyclopedia. The Literary Dictionary Company Limited.
  • Winter, B. (2011). Defauts et indignites: burqa et politique en France. In Philippe Rygiel (Eds.), Politique et administration du genre en migration, (pp. 169-186). Paris, France: Editions Publibook.
  • Winter, B. (2011). Guns, Money and Justice: the 2005 Subic Rape Case. International Feminist Journal of Politics, 13(3), 371-389.
  • Winter, B. (2011). Ruin: What Happens When You Keep On Buying the Same Old Line. Women's Studies Quarterly.

2010

  • Winter, B. (2010). Women and the 'Turkish Paradox': What the Headscarf is Covering Up. Modern Greek Studies (Australia and New Zealand), 14(2010), 216-238.

2009

  • Winter, B. (2009). Marianne goes multicultural: Ni putes ni soumises and the republicanisation of ethnic minority women in France. 15th George Rude Seminar in French History and Civilization, University of Adelaide: George Rude Society.
  • Winter, B. (2009). One hijab does not fit all: recontexualising the case for secularism. In T Dreher and C Ho (Eds.), Beyond the hijab debates: new conversations on gender, race and religion, (pp. 195-207). Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

2008

  • Winter, B. (2008). Hijab & the republic: uncovering the French headscarf debate. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.

2007

  • Winter, B. (2007). Poetry published in: Perverse Verse 2007. Australia.
  • Winter, B. (2007). Preemptive Fridge Magnets and Other Weapons of Masculinist Destruction: The Rhetoric and Reality of "Safeguarding Australia". Signs: journal of women in culture and society, 33(1), 25-51.

2006

  • Winter, B. (2006). 'Uncovered Meat' meets 'Mr Lust'. On Line Opinion, 7 Nov 2006.
  • Winter, B. (2006). Poetry published in: Perverse Verse 2006. Australia.
  • Winter, B. (2006). Religion, culture and women's human rights: Some general political and theoretical considerations. Women's Studies International Forum, 29(4), 381-393.
  • Winter, B. (2006). Secularism aboard the Titanic: Feminists and the Debate over the Hijab in France. Feminist Studies, 32(2), 279-298.
  • Winter, B. (2006). The Great Hijab Coverup. Off Our Backs: a women's news journal, 36(3), 38-40.
  • Winter, B. (2006). The politics of assimilation: are we really ‘family too’? Rain and Thunder, (31), 20-23.
  • Winter, B. (2006). The Social Foundations of the Sacred: Feminists and the Politics of Religion. In Kathy Davis, Mary Evans and Judith Lorber (Eds.), Handbook of Gender and Women's Studies, (pp. 92-108). London: Sage Publications.
  • Winter, B. (2006). Women see Red on White Ribbon Day. On Line Opinion.

2005

  • Winter, B. (2005). Australian media hypocrisy over French inferno. On Line Opinion.
  • Winter, B. (2005). The Vicious Underbelly of Urban Culture. The Sydney Morning Herald.

2004

  • Winter, B. (2004). Birthday Pome: Where were you in 1984?. Australia.

2003

  • Winter, B., Hawthorne, S. (2003). After shock: September 11, 2001: Global feminist perspective. Vancouver: Raincoast Books.

2002

  • Winter, B. (2002). Afghanistan: The War is Not Over for Women. NTEU Frontline, 10, 21-24.
  • Winter, B. (2002). If Women Really Mattered.. In Susan Hawthorne and Bronwyn Winter (Eds.), September 11, 2001: Feminist Perspectives, (pp. 451-480). Australia: Spinifex Press.
  • Winter, B. (2002). Pauline and Other Perils: Women in Australian Right-Wing Politics. In Paola Barchetta and Margaret Power (Eds.), Right-Wing Women: From Conservatives to Extremists Around the World, (pp. 197-210). New York and London: Routledge imprint of Taylor & Francis.
  • Winter, B., Hawthorne, S. (2002). September 11, 2001: Feminist Perspectives. Australia: Spinifex Press.
  • Winter, B., Thompson, D., Jeffreys, S. (2002). The UN Approach to Harmful Cultural Practices: Some Conceptual problems. International Feminist Journal of Politics, 4(1), 72-94.
  • Winter, B. (2002). Who Will Mourn on October 7? In Susan Hawthorne and Bronwyn Winter (Eds.), September 11, 2001: Feminist Perspectives, (pp. 360-371). Australia: Spinifex Press.
  • Winter, B. (2002). Women's Rights, Globalisation and the Nation-State: Are Human Rights and Democracy Enough? The Australian Feminist Law Journal, 17(1), 1-16.

2001

  • Winter, B. (2001). Fundamental Misunderstanding: issues in Feminist Approaches to Islamism. Journal of Women's History, 13, 9-41.
  • Winter, B. (2001). L’essentialisation de l’Altérité et l’invisibilisation de l’oppression: l’histoire bizarre mais vraie de la déformation d’un concept. Cinquantenaire du Deuxième sexe, France: Syllepse.
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