Postcolonial feminism
Encyclopedia
Postcolonial feminism, often referred to as Third World feminism, is a form of feminist
philosophy which centers around the idea that racism
, colonialism
, and the long lasting effects (economic, political, and cultural) of colonialism in the postcolonial
setting, are inextricably bound up with the unique gendered realities of non-white,and non-Western women. Postcolonial feminists criticize Western
feminists because they have a history
of universalizing women's issues, and their discourses are often misunderstood to represent women globally.
Thus, one of the central ideas in postcolonial feminism is that by using the term 'woman' as a universal group, they are then only defined by their gender and not by social classes and ethnic identities. Also, it is believed by postcolonial feminists that mainstream Western feminists ignored the voices of non-white, non-western women for many years, thus creating resentment from feminists in developing nations.
Postcolonialism can provide an outlet for citizens to discuss various experiences endured during colonialism. These can include: "migration, slavery, suppression, resistance, representation, difference, race, gender, place and responses to the influential discourses of imperial Europe." Postcolonial feminists see the parallels between recently decolonized nations and the state of women within patriarchy - both take the "perspective of a socially marginalized subgroup in their relationship to the dominant culture."
Postcolonial feminists have had strong ties with black feminists because colonialism usually contains themes of racism. Both groups have struggled for recognition, not only by men in their own culture, but also by Western feminists.
norms on colonized regions. In the 1940s and 1950s, after the formation of the United Nations
, former colonies were monitored by the West for what was considered "social progress". The status of women in the developing world has been monitored by organizations such as the United Nations and as a result traditional practices and roles taken up by women—sometimes seen as distasteful by Western standards—could be considered a form of rebellion against colonial oppression.
Third-world feminism has been described as a group of feminist theories developed by feminists who acquired their views and took part in feminist politics in so-called third-world countries.
and liberal feminism
and their universalization of women's experiences. Postcolonial feminists argue that cultures impacted by colonialism are often vastly different and should be treated as such. Colonial oppression may result in the glorification of pre-colonial culture, which, in cultures with traditions of power stratification along gender lines, could mean the acceptance of, or refusal to deal with, inherent issues of gender inequality. Postcolonial feminists can be described as feminists who have reacted against both universalizing tendencies in Western feminist thought and a lack of attention to gender issues in mainstream postcolonial
thought.
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
philosophy which centers around the idea that racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, colonialism
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
, and the long lasting effects (economic, political, and cultural) of colonialism in the postcolonial
Postcolonialism
Post-colonialism is a specifically post-modern intellectual discourse that consists of reactions to, and analysis of, the cultural legacy of colonialism...
setting, are inextricably bound up with the unique gendered realities of non-white,and non-Western women. Postcolonial feminists criticize Western
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
feminists because they have a history
History of feminism
The history of feminism involves the story of feminist movements and of feminist thinkers. Depending on time, culture and country, feminists around the world have sometimes had different causes and goals...
of universalizing women's issues, and their discourses are often misunderstood to represent women globally.
Thus, one of the central ideas in postcolonial feminism is that by using the term 'woman' as a universal group, they are then only defined by their gender and not by social classes and ethnic identities. Also, it is believed by postcolonial feminists that mainstream Western feminists ignored the voices of non-white, non-western women for many years, thus creating resentment from feminists in developing nations.
Postcolonialism can provide an outlet for citizens to discuss various experiences endured during colonialism. These can include: "migration, slavery, suppression, resistance, representation, difference, race, gender, place and responses to the influential discourses of imperial Europe." Postcolonial feminists see the parallels between recently decolonized nations and the state of women within patriarchy - both take the "perspective of a socially marginalized subgroup in their relationship to the dominant culture."
Postcolonial feminists have had strong ties with black feminists because colonialism usually contains themes of racism. Both groups have struggled for recognition, not only by men in their own culture, but also by Western feminists.
History
Postcolonial feminism emerged from the gendered history of colonialism: colonial powers often imposed WesternWestern culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
norms on colonized regions. In the 1940s and 1950s, after the formation of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, former colonies were monitored by the West for what was considered "social progress". The status of women in the developing world has been monitored by organizations such as the United Nations and as a result traditional practices and roles taken up by women—sometimes seen as distasteful by Western standards—could be considered a form of rebellion against colonial oppression.
Third-world feminism has been described as a group of feminist theories developed by feminists who acquired their views and took part in feminist politics in so-called third-world countries.
Relationship to Western feminisms
Postcolonial feminism is critical of Western forms of feminism, notably radical feminismRadical feminism
Radical feminism is a current theoretical perspective within feminism that focuses on the theory of patriarchy as a system of power that organizes society into a complex of relationships based on an assumption that "male supremacy" oppresses women...
and liberal feminism
Liberal feminism
Liberal feminism asserts the equality of men and women through political and legal reform. It is an individualistic form of feminism and theory, which focuses on women’s ability to show and maintain their equality through their own actions and choices...
and their universalization of women's experiences. Postcolonial feminists argue that cultures impacted by colonialism are often vastly different and should be treated as such. Colonial oppression may result in the glorification of pre-colonial culture, which, in cultures with traditions of power stratification along gender lines, could mean the acceptance of, or refusal to deal with, inherent issues of gender inequality. Postcolonial feminists can be described as feminists who have reacted against both universalizing tendencies in Western feminist thought and a lack of attention to gender issues in mainstream postcolonial
Postcolonialism
Post-colonialism is a specifically post-modern intellectual discourse that consists of reactions to, and analysis of, the cultural legacy of colonialism...
thought.
Postcolonial feminist authors
Postcolonial feminist authors include:- Gayatri Spivak, with her important "Can the Subaltern Speak?" (1988)
- Giannina BraschiGiannina BraschiGiannina Braschi is a Puerto Rican writer. She is credited with writing the first Spanglish novel YO-YO BOING! and the poetry trilogy Empire of Dreams , which chronicles the Latin American immigrant's experiences in the United States...
, with her mixed-genre critique of Puerto Rico's colonial status "United States of Banana" (2011) - Trinh T. Minh-haTrinh T. Minh-haTrinh T. Minh-ha is a filmmaker, writer, academic and composer. She is a world-renowned independent filmmaker and feminist, post-colonial theorist. She teaches courses that focus on women's work as related to cultural politics, post-coloniality, contemporary critical theory and the arts...
, with her essay "Infinite Layers/Third World?" (1989), and her book "Woman, Native, Other: Writing Postcoloniality and Feminism" (1989) - Chandra Talpade MohantyChandra Talpade MohantyChandra Talpade Mohanty is a prominent postcolonial and transnational feminist theorist. She became well known after the publication of her influential essay, "Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses" in 1988...
, with her influential essay "Under Western Eyes" (1988) - Uma NarayanUma NarayanUma Narayan is a feminist scholar, and Chair of Philosophy at Vassar College. She is the author of Dislocating Cultures: Identities, Traditions and Third World Feminism in which Narayan disputes feminism as a solely Western notion, while challenging assumptions that East Indian feminism is based...
, with her book Dislocating Cultures (1997) and her essay "Contesting Cultures" (1997) - Kwok Pui-lan, with her book Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology (2005)
- Sara SuleriSara SuleriSara Suleri Goodyear, born Sara Suleri, is an author and, since 1983, professor of English at Yale University, where her fields of study and teaching include Romantic and Victorian poetry as well as a recent interest in Edmund Burke. Her special concerns include postcolonial literatures and...
, Boys Will Be Boys: A Daughter's Elegy (2003) - Lata Mani, Contentious Traditions: The Debate on Sati in Colonial India (1998)
- Kumkum Sangari, Recasting Women: Essays in Colonial History (1989)
- Anne McClintockAnne McClintockAnne McClintock is a renowned writer, feminist scholar and public intellectual who has published widely on issues of sexuality, race, imperialism, and nationalism; popular and visual culture, photography, advertising and cultural theory. Her work has influenced a wide variety of disciplines...
, Imperial Leather: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the Colonial Contest (1995) - Gloria Anzaldúa, Borderlands/La frontera: The new mestiza (1987) And the recopilations: This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color(1981) Making Face, Making Soul/Haciendo Caras: Creative and Critical Perspectives by Feminists of Color(1990)
- Audre LordeAudre LordeAudre Lorde was a Caribbean-American writer, poet and activist.-Life:...
- June JordanJune JordanJune Millicent Jordan was a Caribbean American poet, novelist, journalist, biographer, dramatist, teacher and committed activist...
- Theresa Hak Kyung ChaTheresa Hak Kyung ChaTheresa Hak Kyung Cha was an Korean American novelist and artist most famous for her 1982 work, Dictee....
Postcolonial feminist quotes
Many feminists have contributed to postcolonial feminism by using written words to express their ideas and opinions - which have been of great importance to the postcolonial feminist movement.- "The juncture I am proposing, therefore, is extreme. It is a location wherein the praxis of U.S. third-world feminism links with the aims of white feminism, studies of race, ethnicity, and marginality, and with post-modern theories of culture as they crosscut and join together in new relationships through a shared comprehension of an emerging theory and method of oppositional consciousness." - Chela Sandoval
- "Given the significant dangers that varieties of cultural essentialism pose to feminist agendas, I believe that the development of a feminist perspective that is committed to antiessentialism both about 'women' and about 'cultures' is an urgent and important task for a postcolonial feminist perspective. Such a perspective must distinguish and extricate feminist projects of attending to differences among women from problematically essentialist colonial and postcolonial understandings of 'cultural difference' between Western culture and its 'Others.' - Uma Narayan
- "While a politics of inclusion is driven by an ambition for universal representation (of all women's interests), a politics of partiality does away with that ambition and accepts the principle that feminism can never ever be an encompassing political home for all women, not just because different groups of women have different and sometimes conflicting interests, but, more radically, because for many groups of 'other' women other interests, other identifications are sometimes more important and politically pressing than, or even incompatible with, those related to their being women." - Ien Ang
See also
- History of feminismHistory of feminismThe history of feminism involves the story of feminist movements and of feminist thinkers. Depending on time, culture and country, feminists around the world have sometimes had different causes and goals...
- PostcolonialismPostcolonialismPost-colonialism is a specifically post-modern intellectual discourse that consists of reactions to, and analysis of, the cultural legacy of colonialism...
- Third-world feminism
- Transnational feminismTransnational feminismTransnational Feminism is a contemporary paradigm. The name highlights the difference between international and transnational conceptions of feminism, and favours the latter...
- Global feminismGlobal feminismGlobal Feminism is a feminist theory closely aligned with postcolonial theory and postcolonial feminism. It concerns itself primarily with the forward movement of women's rights on a global scale...
- Sex segregation and Islam
- Islamic feminismIslamic feminismIslamic feminism is a form of feminism concerned with the role of women in Islam. It aims for the full equality of all Muslims, regardless of gender, in public and private life. Islamic feminists advocate women's rights, gender equality, and social justice grounded in an Islamic framework...
- Chicana feminismChicana feminismChicana feminism, also called Xicanisma, is a group of social theories that analyze the historical, social, political, and economic roles of Mexican American, Chicana, and Hispanic women in the United States.- Overview :...
- Black feminismBlack feminismBlack feminism argues that sexism, class oppression, and racism are inextricably bound together. Forms of feminism that strive to overcome sexism and class oppression. The Combahee River Collective argued in 1974 that the liberation of black women entails freedom for all people, since it would...
- WomanismWomanismThe word womanism was adapted from Pulitzer Prize winning author Alice Walker's use of the term in her book In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose...