Theorizing Feminist Futures

Our reading and our class meetings since November 5th have been all about feminism’s encounter with QUEER THEORY, and vice versa. In particular, I have encouraged you to understand the political causes and consequences of the FASCISM OF MEANING that is the BINARY sex/gender system. Right now, much (but not all) feminist theorizing and activism incorporates the interventions made by queer theories, and vice versa. Just like the interventions of Black, Chicana, postcolonial, Third World and non-Western feminists into “mainstream” Anglo-American feminist theories, the encounter between feminisms and queer theories is how theories develop and evolve. And because, as Wilchins (and pretty much all critical theorists) insists, all good theory should begin with politics (5), these encounters are also how the world gets changed.

So, this coming Friday, we’ll start exactly where we left off last time. Just at the end of class, Rebecca asked about the political efficacy of POSTMODERNISM: If everything is socially constructed, and there’s no Truth or objectivity, then how can POSTMODERNISM be used to effectively advocate for social justice. This is a fantastic question, and Wilchins and the other theorists we’ve been reading think it can (see especially p. 44 and Q3 on WS#8). In fact, all contemporary critical theories (including anti-racist, postcolonial, gender, queer, and feminist theories) are POSTMODERN, so it obviously has some political efficacy, otherwise it wouldn’t be utilized to make sense of the problems in the world that these theorists identify.

Still, though, as Rebecca suggested, there are some problems with POSTMODERN approaches for feminists, and that’s where we’ll start on Friday, so be sure to review Q3 on WS#9. As part of this discussion, we’ll also talk about why feminist theorists like Turcotte – and Walters, whom you’re reading for this week – have such a problem with QUEER THEORY. Interestingly, some of the critiques that QUEER THEORISTS have leveled at FEMINIST THEORISTS are precisely those that FEMINIST THEORISTS have leveled at QUEER THEORISTS, and we'll talk about this on Friday.

After finishing up our discussion from last week, we’ll segue into thinking and talking about the future of feminist theories and activisms. We’ll be talking about the issues that seem to of concern to contemporary feminist theorists, the concepts that seem to drive their theorizing, and how that theorizing is then put into action politically to advocate for social justice in local and global contexts.

In order to have good foundation and context for this part of our discussion, please pay particular attention in your reading to the information provided by Basu and Tickner about the genesis and histories of feminist thought and action in the latter part of the twentieth century. One thing you’ll notice, for example, is the ways in which feminists have long been concerned with the relationship between POWER and KNOWLEDGE (review the chapters on Foucault in Wilchins) and the way they operate to value some bodies and ways of knowing (EPISTEMOLOGIES), while devaluing others. For example, in her discussion of the legacies of imperialism, Tickner points out that the European colonialist project of “[c]ataloguing, analyzing, and putting the world on display were acts of power” (387). This project included the construction of Western scientific discourse that constructed notions of “man” and “woman” and the “sex”/”gender” binary. Review chapter 8 in Wilchins for more on this.

Also, pay particular attention to Mohanty’s discussion of what she identifies as the “urgent intellectual and political questions for feminist scholarship and organizing at this time in history” (449) as well as to the specific methods she suggests feminist theorists and activists engage with to address these questions.

Lastly, and, as always, use Worksheet #10 to guide you through these reading materials – all of which represent, in part, the current questions, concerns, and issues guiding contemporary feminist theories.

And remember: You're always welcome to come by during my office hours if you'd like to chat about anything. Alternatively, feel free to e-mail me to make an appointment.