WGS 411: Transnational Feminisms: Contexts, Conflicts, & Solidarity

Feminism as an analytic lens, identity and movement for social transformation continues to be a hotly contested subject. This course introduces perspectives in feminist theory and practice from domestic U.S. and global contexts in order to ask: how do the contributions of women of color in the U.S. and of feminist movements in the "Third World" radically reshape the form and content of feminist politics? The objective of this class is to locate transnational feminism in relation to histories of colonialism and postcolonialism, and theories of nationalism and globalization. Students will examine topics such as gender and development; race, gender, and cultural politics; gendered violence; war, sexuality and orientalism; solidarity and alliance across cultures to examine how feminist struggles are shaped and transformed in diverse circumstances.