Overview

Definition of Terms

Postcolonial Feminist Theories

Chandra Mohanty

Terms Colonialism- control by one power over a

dependent area

Imperialism- the policy, practice, or advocacy of extending the power and dominion of a nation by direct territorial acquisition or indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas

Hegemony-The predominant influence, as of a state, region, or group, over another or others

Terms Ethnocentrism- based on the attitude that

one’s own group is superior

Third World- specific geographical areas and “imaginary spaces”

Latin America, the Caribbean, African, Southeast Asia, China, Oceania

Also includes people of color in the US, Europe and Australia- black, indigenous, Latino, Asian

Postcolonial Feminist Theories Thinkers: Trinh T. Minh-Ha, Gayatri Spivak,

Chandra Mohanty, Maria Fernandez-Kelly, Maria Mies, Ester Boserup, Uma Narayan

Description of Problem:– Undercutting of women’s traditional

economic base by colonialism– Exploitation of women workers in the post-

colonial economy– Lack of education for girls– Inadequate maternal and child health care

Postcolonial Feminist Theories Analysis:

– Sexism, racism, imperialism, capitalism, colonialism

– Patriarchal family structures– Traditional cultural practices that are

harmful to women Remedies:

– Protection of women’s economic resources in modernization

– Education, health care, family planning– Community women’s organizing– Eradication of practices such as female

genital mutilation

Postcolonial Feminist Theories Contributions:

– Gender analyses of modernization and economic restructuring

– Data on exploitation of women and children workers

– Women’s rights as human rights– Understanding of connection between 1st

and 3rd world Shortcomings:

– Western ideas of women’s independence can undercut community

– Cultural diversity vs. universal women’s rights (micro vs. macro change)

Chandra Mohanty “Feminism Without Borders: Decolonizing

Theory, Practicing Solidarity”

“Discursive colonization” of much Western feminist theory and scholarship

– Global hegemony of western scholarship

She provides:1. A critique of how Western feminists construct

the 3rd world and 3rd world women2. Creation of feminisms that are historically and

culturally grounded

Chandra Mohanty Critique of Western Feminist Theory about 3rd

world women– Western feminists have created a binary of

Western vs. non-western– Produced work that has created a

monolithic, singular, universal 3rd world woman

– This 3rd world woman is uneducated, traditional, powerless, family-oriented, outside history, evolutionarily backward, and has no choices

– This conception limits knowledge of women globally and limits coalition-building

Chandra Mohanty Invisibility of 3rd world feminism in

literature Creation of new types of feminisms and

feminist theories that include:– Local, cross-national, cross-cultural

analyses– Race, class, state, liberation struggles

• Examples/immigration laws, multinational companies and labor forces participation

– Imagined community- horizontal comradeship

• Political alliances rather than biological or cultural