Feminism without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity

311 Pages·2003·1.383 MB·English

by  Chandra Talpade Mohanty

feminism without borders

ChandraTalpadeMohanty
feminism without borders
DecolonizingTheory,PracticingSolidarity
duke university press durham & london 2003
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contents
Acknowledgments,vii
Introduction:Decolonization,Anticapitalist
Critique,andFeministCommitments,1
PartOne.DecolonizingFeminism
(cid:2).UnderWesternEyes:FeministScholarship
andColonialDiscourses,17
(cid:3).CartographiesofStruggle:ThirdWorldWomenand
thePoliticsofFeminism,43
(cid:4).What’sHomeGottoDowithIt?(withBiddyMartin),85
(cid:5).Sisterhood,Coalition,andthePoliticsofExperience,106
(cid:6).GenealogiesofCommunity,Home,andNation,124
PartTwo.DemystifyingCapitalism
(cid:7).WomenWorkersandthePoliticsofSolidarity,139
(cid:8).PrivatizedCitizenship,CorporateAcademies,
andFeministProjects,169
(cid:9).Race,Multiculturalism,andPedagogiesofDissent,190
PartThree.ReorientingFeminism
9.‘‘UnderWesternEyes’’Revisited:FeministSolidarity
throughAnticapitalistStruggles,221
Notes,253
Bibliography,275
Index,295

acknowledgements
This book has been a long time in the making, and it would not have
been possible without the community of feminist, social justice activists
andscholarstowhomIamprofoundlyindebted.Fortheirintegrity,friend-
ship,andgenerosityinwalkingthispathwithme,IthankJacquiAlexander,
ZillahEisenstein,AyeshaKagal,ElizabethMinnich,SatyaMohanty,Margo
Okazawa-Rey,andSusanSanchezCasal.Affection,support,andconversa-
tionsovertheyearswithnumerousdisparateindividualsplayedasignificant
roleinmythinkinginthisvolume.IhavelearnedmuchfromAnnRusso,
EllaShohat,AvtarBrah,GailLewis,LilianeLandor,LeslieHill,PaulaRothen-
berg,AudreLorde,RhodaLinton,PapusaMolina,LindaCarty,PiyaChatter-
jee,GloriaJoseph,SiKahn,MinnieBrucePratt,NormanRosenberg,Gwyn
Kirk,MelanieKaye-Kantrówitz,LisaLowe,GloriaWatkins(bellhooks),Biddy
Martin,RisaLieberwitz,LeslieRoman,PaulaMoya,NancyRabinowitz,Mar-
garet Gentry,Wendy Jones, Shelley Haley, Amie Macdonald, Angela Davis,
AmberHollibaugh,BeverlyGuy-Sheftall,SaraswatiSunindyo,VivyanAdair,
andLeilaFarrah.
SueKimwasawonderfulearlyreaderofmyessays,andIthankher,Amy
Gowans,NickDavis,andMagMelvinfortheirinvaluablehelpwithsections
ofthemanuscript.Themany,manystudentsIhavetaughtandlearnedfrom
over these two decades at Oberlin College and Hamilton College occupya
specialplaceinmyheart—theyalwayschallengedmetogreaterclarity.My
dearfriendZillahEisensteinread,reread,andofferedfeedbackonnumerous
draftsofthesechapters—Ithankherforherboundlessheartandspiritaswell
ashardworkonmybehalf.ThankstoWendyJonesandAmieMacdonaldfor
theirgenerousandperceptiveresponsestopartsofthisbook.
Myfamilyhasnurturedandsustainedmeintheirownuniquewaysand
in multiple languages and foods over theyears—my parents, Pramila and
Madhukar;mybrother,Salil;sister-in-law,Medha,mycousinsEla,Roopa,
andSonali;mymother-in-law,Kamala,andtheentireMohantyclaninBhu-
baneswarandCuttack;andLal,Tilu,andthekids.Ithankthemallfortheir
unwaveringaffectionandpresenceinmylife.Last,butcertainlynotleast,I
thankSatyaMohantyforovertwodecadesoflove,companionship,challenge,
andsuperbvacationplanning.Heremainsmytruestandmostvaluablereader
andcritic.Mydaughter,UmaTalpadeMohanty,bringsenormousjoy,curi-
osity,andunanswerablequestionsandconundrumsintomylife—Ithankher
forthegiftofparenting.AndofcourseShakti,ourchocolatelab,whobrings
boundlessenergyandaffectionintoourlifeathome—hetoosustainsmein
hisownway.
viii Acknowledgments
introduction
Decolonization,AnticapitalistCritique,andFeministCommitments
This volume is the product of almost two decades of engagement with
feministstruggles.Itisbasedonadeepbeliefinthepowerandsignificance
offeministthinkinginstrugglesforeconomicandsocialjustice.Anditowes
whateverclarityandinsightthereadermayfindinthesepagestoacommu-
nityofsistersandcomradesinstrugglefromwhomIhavelearnedthemean-
ing,joy,andnecessityofpoliticalthinking.WhilemanyoftheideasIexplore
hereareviewedthroughmyownparticularlenses,alltheideasbelongcollec-
tivelytothevariousfeminist,antiracist,andanti-imperialistcommunitiesin
whichIhavebeenprivilegedtobeinvolved.Intheend,Ithinkandwritein
conversationwithscholars,teachers,andactivistsinvolvedinsocialjustice
struggles.Mysearchforemancipatoryknowledgeovertheyearshasmademe
realizethatideasarealwayscommunallywrought,notprivatelyowned.All
faultshowever,aremine,forseekingthekindofknowledgethatemergesin
thesepagesbringswithititsowngaps,faults,opacities.TheseIacceptinthe
hopethattheytooproveusefultothereader.
FeministCommitments
Why‘‘feminismwithoutborders?’’First,becauseitrecalls‘‘doctorswith-
outborders,’’anenterpriseandprojectthatembodiestheurgency,aswellas
1
theinternationalistcommitment thatIseeinthebestfeministpraxis.Sec-
ond,becausegrowingupaspartofthepostindependencegenerationinIndia
meantanacuteawarenessoftheborders,boundaries,andtracesof British
colonialismontheonehand,andoftheunboundedpromiseofdecoloniza-
tionontheother.Italsomeantlivingthecontradictionofthepromiseof
nationalismanditsvariouslimitsandfailuresinpostcolonialIndia.Borders
suggestbothcontainmentandsafety,andwomenoftenpayapricefordaring