Feminist Genealogies, Colonial Legacies, Democratic Futures

Feminist Geneaologies, Colonial Legacies, Democratic Futures provides a feminist anaylsis of the questions of sexual and gender politics, economic and cultural marginality, and anti-racist and anti-colonial practices both in the "West" and in the "Third World." This collection, edited by Chandra Talpade Mohanty and Jacqui Alexander, charts the underlying theoretical perspectives and organization practices of the different varieties of feminism that take on questions of colonialism, imperialism, and the repressive rule of colonial, post-colonial and advanced capitalist nation-states. It provides a comparative, relational, historically grounded conception of feminist praxis that differs markedly from the liberal pluralist, multicultural understanding that shapes some of the dominant version of Euro-American feminism. As a whole, the collection poses a unique challenge to the naturalization of gender based in the experiences, histories and practices of Euro-American women.

The contributors present sustained studies of feminist movement that challenge post-cold war capitalist processes of re-colonization that further exacerbate racial, heterosexual, class and gender hierarchies. The volume maps the anatomy of feminist movements and organizations, and examines the resources they provide for envisioning feminist democratic practice. Issues of consciousness, agency and identity are crucial in understanding these processes. The essays collected here define new modes of thinking, of organizational self-reflection, of political engagement, and of reimagining the social world.

The authors suggest ways of re-envisioning comparative feminist analyses, revisiting analytic categories such as colonialism, imperialism, the nation-state, heterosexual patriarchies, and racialization--re-definining, if not transforming, feminist politics and scholarship.

Reviews

"Feminist Genealogies has a transnational orientation, drawing together essays from places as diverse as the Philippines, Nigeria, and Jamaica. After reading Feminist Genealogies, one is left with a feeling of hope about the possibility of 'democratic futures'..."
-NWSA Journal