Research
I am a historian of ideas and a gender studies scholar and my work focuses on feminist philosophy and theory in their historical contexts. I am interested in questions about how notions of gender, time, and history intersect in feminist theory and I have analyzed how feminist thinkers are influenced by and transform modern notions of temporality and change. For example, I have studied the philosophy of time of the French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, demonstrating the presence of existential and phenomenological aspects in her notion of temporality. I have a strong interest in the reception of German philosophy in mid-20th century France and its significance in an American context in the following decades, with a special focus on Judith Butler's influential thinking.
I also have an interest in the history of the women's movements in the Nordic countries and more specifically their knowledge production. In an ongoing project, I examine the view of the relationship between knowledge and politics in the so-called “women's circles” in the independent academic institution Nordic Summer University.
My work has been published in academic journals such as Slagmark, Ideas in History, and NORA and I have also contributed to publications like Glänta, Ord & Bild and Salongen. Together with gender studies scholar Evelina Johansson Wilén, I am the editor of the anthology Vad är en kvinna? Språk, materialitet, situation(Daidalos, 2021). Together with the historians of ideas Synne Myrebøe and Valgerður Pálmadóttir, I coordinated the network Feminist Philosophy: Time, history and the transformation of thought (2017-2019). In 2022, an anthology will be published based on our activities.
Teaching
I currently teach history of ideas in the Department of Political, Historical, Religious and Cultural Studies. Previously I have also taught courses in gender studies.
Selected publications
Sjöstedt, Johanna, ”Framtid eller upprepning? Heidegger och ’ögonblicket’ i Simone de Beauvoirs 1940-talsessäer”, Slagmark no 83 (2) 2021: 57-75.
–––. ”Kritiken mot kritiken – Att utgå från det vardagliga”, Respons 7 (6) 2018: 40-43.
–––. ”Les inséparables”, Ord&Bild, publicerad online 2021-03-16. http://www.tidskriftenordobild.se/ordoblogg/category/kritik-les-insepara...
–––. ”Measuring Identity: Critique and the Notions of Truth and Violence in the Philosophy of Judith Butler”, Ideas in History 9 (1-2) 2015: 107-120.
–––. & Valgerdur Pálmadóttir, ”Nordic Feminism Reconsidered: Activism, scholarly endeavours, and women’s research networks at the Nordic Summer University 1971-1990”, Nora: Nordic Journal on Feminist and Gender research, 30 (1) 2022, DOI: 10.1080/08038740.2021.1973557
–––. ”Vad är en kvinna? Beauvoir och frågans former”, Vad är en kvinna? Språk, materialitet, situation, red. Evelina Johansson Wilén och Johanna Sjöstedt, Göteborg: Daidalos 2021.