Scandinavian Nepali Diaspora

Mohanty’s ‘Feminism Without Borders’: Decolonizing Third World Feminism

Prabin K. Prajapati

Introduction:

At first, feminism is broadly understood as a study of women’s movements in terms of gender equality and emancipation. Wikipedia defines feminism as it comprises a number of social, cultural and political movements, theories and moral philosophies that concerned with gender inequalities and equal rights for women. In this paper, I would like argue that the text created by Western scholarship on feminism is a hegemonic manifestation of imperialism. Despite late twentieth century observed decolonization process in Africa and South East Asia, the women of these worlds yet feel that they have been homogenized and categorized as passive, ignorant and uneducated agent for feminist movement. I agree with the arguments that Chandra Talpade Mohanty’s writes in her work ‘Feminism without Border’. Mohanty highlights post colonial perspective of feminism and its theoretical framework for feminism. Mohanty (1984:5) indicates that all the feminist scholars from West demarcated a new ground in the theorization of feminism in terms of racism, immigration, Eurocentrism, critical white-studies, heterosexism and imperialism. These feminist studies mostly see the new developments of feminist movement from Eurocentric perspective. The integrating factor of Eurocentric feminism is mainly of color, racism and sexism since it was of second wave of feminist movement in American by middle class women. Many of feminists before late 80s built a common concept of feminism through the textuality that was shaped by capitalistic mode of knowledge production. This Western feminist’s scholarship still pertains with the same issues of feminism from second wave feminist movement and relates it to third world feminism. On the other hand, when in the late twentieth century, the colonial world struggled for freedom, the feminists of post colonized world argue that oppression relating to the colonial experience, particularly racial, class, and ethnic oppression, has marginalized women in postcolonial societies. They assume that the sexism of post colonial world has been the product of gender oppression which historically is the primary force of patriarchy. In addition, postcolonial feminists object to portrayals of women of non-Western societies as passive and voiceless victims and the portrayal of Western women as modern, educated and empowered[i]. They don’t see it from ideological and cultural perspective rather of economic and structural perspective. The power of politics through feminism through the text and praxis according to Mohanty is problematic to bring solidarity between women of two different feminisms.

Western Feminism and Post colonialism:

Mohanty takes six theoretical models of western feminism that demarcate third world women. She takes different texts from feminist scholars such as Fran Hosken’s model of African women in which female genital mutilation for controlling women’s sexuality and violence. The second model Mohanty identifies, Beverly Lind’s perspective women as universal dependents. In the next model, it says, women are victims of colonial process. Similarly, another theoretical interpretation is that women as victims of Arab familial system. The fifth theoretical model according to Mohanty is Islamic code; finally she takes the economic process. All these theoretical models categorize women as a social group which reflect women as a powerless group due to the socio-cultural constructions whereas Western feminism claims itself liberated, secular and having control over their lives. Mohanty sees that there is no class, color and ethnicity among the third world women so that there is a problem of resisting their victimization. Mohanty, therefore suggest that feminism of third world is be understood from its history and context.  

Feminism has been a discourse of power politics for the Western scholars. The text of Western feminism which focuses sexism and heterosexism are external tools to see the world of feminism. It is therefore, Mohanty only applauses Mies study of women in context of lace workers in India. In this respect, Mohanty indicates, ‘a particular world balance of power within which any analysis of culture, ideology and socioeconomic conditions necessarily has to be situated’ (20).  She discusses in favor of universalism saying  that  ‘the assumption of women as an already constituted, coherent group with identical interests and desires, regardless of class, ethnic, or racial location or contradictions, implies a notion of gender or sexual difference or even patriarchy that can be applied universally and cross-culturally’(21).

Understanding Feminism from Third World:

In this concluding part, feminist movement in the third world has to be observed from its history and context. Since the colonialist powers have penetrated feminism from their own perspective in the third world, the women of third world have lost the identity of self. The imposition of feminist ideas through the text and scholarship has misled the feminists of third world. Late nineties’ wave has deconstructed the early set notion of homogenization of women into the categories as subservient, victims, passive, traditional, uneducated and ignorant and created a space to rethink about the feminism from a new perspective. The differences of sex and feminism in cultural practices of third world can only be understood through the context and history.  In this respect, Mohanty redirects the feminist movement from North to South. Essentially, she urges that until the voice of South is heard and known their histories, the Western feminism would only be the hegemonic representation of imperialism that is a bi-product of capitalism which considers women only as materialistic object. Finally, I would like to quote Loomba, as ‘when we discuss feminism in the light of colonial discourses, the cultural/racial differences form a different ideological standpoint, we are fingering, these are tricky questions and we will approach them by examining various discourses about racial differences and how they work in relation to class, gender, sexuality and other social hierarchies (Loomba, 92).  With the new way of production of knowledge and raising voices from the third world, the feminism is an incomplete process. In this process, third world women’s perspective has to be included into the mainstream of universalism rather one way trafficking concept of feminism which is broadly understood as hegemonic imperialism.

References:

Mohanty, C.T (2003). Feminism without Borders. London. Duke University Press.

Loomba, A. (2005). Colonialism/Post colonialism. New York. Routledge.

Websites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism retrieved 16 Feb 2008.

http://social.chass.ncsu.edu/wyrick/DEBCLASS/mohant.htm