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Performance, Feminism and Affect in Neoliberal Times pp 25–38Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

‘Not Now, Not Ever’: Julia Gillard and the Performative Power of Affect

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Part of the book series: Contemporary Performance InterActions ((CPI))

Abstract

Denise Varney traces the relentless gender-based attacks on Julia Gillard, Australia’s first female prime minister (2010–2013). Effectively engendered as a type of biopolitical subject, stripped of personhood and made fair game for political opponents, Gillard, in her widely circulated ‘Misogyny Speech’ of October 2012, denounced the sexist and misogynistic remarks mobilized to destabilize her leadership. Varney analyses the performative power of Gillard’s speech in the patriarchal context of Australian neoliberalism. Delivered in the ‘theatre’ of the Australian parliament, with an intensity that carried it around the world (more than 2.5 million views on YouTube) as a heightened feminist event, the Misogyny Speech recirculates the hateful affects directed at Gillard into a resistant and transgressive act.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Denise Varney

Authors
  1. Denise Varney
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of English, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Elin Diamond

  2. School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Denise Varney

  3. Department of English, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

    Candice Amich

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© 2017 The Author(s)

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Varney, D. (2017). ‘Not Now, Not Ever’: Julia Gillard and the Performative Power of Affect. In: Diamond, E., Varney, D., Amich, C. (eds) Performance, Feminism and Affect in Neoliberal Times. Contemporary Performance InterActions. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59810-3_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59810-3_3

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-59809-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-59810-3

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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