76-459 Transnational Feminisms
3 units, Carnegie Mellon University
How do debated practices related to women become touchstones that draw women together across cultures or, conversely, push them into separate cultural and political spheres This course introduces the challenges transnational feminism has posed to Western notions of feminism. To explore these contestations, we will look at a series of debates. This course will take case studies concerning cultural practices that have generated global debates about the status of women and issues like consent, freedom, and equality. We will look specifically at the close connections made between womens practices and elements of tradition, including concepts of duty or cultural belonging. With an eye toward historicizing feminist interventions, we will look at 19th century debates on sati, commonly called widow burning, in India, to see how certain issues became loci for global intervention during colonial periods and, later, for global feminist movements. Within the contemporary period, we will turn to cultural, economic and political practices in Africa, Latin America, South and East Asia and the Middle East. For each of these debates, we will be reading a range of positions represented in different types of writing across genre. Students will lead virtual presentations on the readings to start zoom discussions, work collectively through digital tools during class, engage in lively discussions, and complete a series of shorter critical papers with some possibility for creative projects.
Prerequisites: none listed
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