The Loneliness of the Long-distance Runner: Long-term Feminist Planning Initiatives in London, Melbourne, Montréal and Toronto

Abstract

This article develops a framework to evaluate organizational longevity, change and success amongst feminist planning initiatives. It takes a comparative approach, reviewing the histories of four long-lived planning organizations, based in Toronto, Melbourne, Montréal and London. It investigates questions of how feminist planning organizations survive and thrive over the long haul, how they replenish membership and leadership, and how success and limitations can be comparatively analysed.

Keywords:

• Feminism
• feminist organizations
• urban planning advocacy
• Melbourne
• London
• Toronto
• Montréal

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Wendy Davis, Roz Hansen, Anne Michaud and Regula (Reggie) Modlich, for the time they put into their interviews and also for pointing to resources about their organizations. Travel assistance from the Association for Canadian Studies in Australia and New Zealand is gratefully appreciated in supporting the research for this article. Thanks are also due to the three anonymous reviewers for very helpful comments on the draft article.

Notes

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