Zanaan Wanaan

Zanaan Wanaan are Kashmiri words for ‘women speak.’ ZW engages in feminist activism on the ground, produces independent scholarship, supports creative work, and works towards strengthening the women’s movement in Kashmir. ZW’s action-research based approach is rooted in the commitment to upholding principles of peace, equality, and justice. We also work on building transnational feminist solidarities, forging alliances and creating cross-movement conversations. Areas of focus: Producing independent scholarship Engaging in feminist activism and advocacy Promoting civil discourse Encouraging critical inquiry Supporting and platforming Kashmiri women cultural practitioners Fostering creative expression What We Do: ZW is a cross-section of art, academia, media and activism. Our work facilitates, amplifies and advocates for women’s involvement in socio-political discourse. We publish original works in the annual issues in the ZW Journal. These issues are thematic collections of works by Kashmiri women from diverse backgrounds in the form of academic articles, narrative essays, investigative reports, auto-ethnographic accounts, interviews, artworks, photo-essays, video stories, and more. We are a network of women on ground and across the world working collaboratively on interdisciplinary projects ranging from gender based violence, peace and security, climate crisis, public health, and so on. ZW is focussed on women and youth-led activist action through critical initiatives required to build and sustain social change. We support/produce creative and artistic expression for civic action and information dissemination. In addition to this, we conduct capacity-building workshops, film-screenings, provide skill-based training programmes and also introductory courses on research and methodologies to young women as a part of our grassroots collective action.