School of Law and Social Justice

Location: School of Law and Social Justice Building

www.liverpoolaccesstoadvicenetwork.org.uk 

Free, independent, high-quality advice plays a vital role in tackling injustice and inequality. It helps people - particularly those in marginalised communities - to understand and secure their rights and entitlements. Community-based organisations are often at the heart of this work, providing information, support and advice on the issues which can affect our lives. These may include problems with housing, income, employment, benefits, debt, immigration, education, or social care.

In the UK today, there is a growing sense that some narratives seek to stoke and exploit social division. At the same time, some voices are calling for changes to long-standing rights and protections. Growing income inequality and the pressures of the housing and cost-of-living crisis can provide fertile ground for those seeking to divide our communities.

In this context, it is more important than ever for community organisations and advice providers to work together. By doing so, we can help protect people's rights and demonstrate a powerful, positive vision of inclusion, justice and common values.

A joint conference from the LEX, VAWGRN, FRAN, and CSEL research networks.

Activism, Change and Feminist Futures: At the Intersection of the Personal and Political, is a two-day joint conference from: The LEX Network, Violence Against Women and Girls Research Network (VAWGRN), Feminist Legal Research and Action Network (FRAN), and the Centre for the Study of Emotion and Law (CSEL).  

Date: 5 - 6 November 2026

Location: School of Law and Social Justice Building, University of Liverpool

The feminist slogan ‘the personal is the political’ was key to second wave feminism, as a rallying cry which emphasised the dynamic and reciprocal relationship between issues experienced as personal and those traditionally constructed as political. 

This conference explores how we as feminists can take these foundational ideas forward in authentic ways to carve new ways forward against increasingly contested political backdrops.  Emphasising the value of responses grounded in lived experiences of intersectional oppressions and inequalities, this conference also provides a space to interrogate, as well as celebrate, feminist networks and the support they give in providing space to develop these grassroots concepts which are so central to feminist research and activism.