Spring 2006

GOV 335M • The US & Third World Feminisms - W

Course Description

Course number may be repeated for credit when topics vary. Contains a substantial writing component and fulfills part of the basic education requirement in writing.

This course explores the variety of feminisms developed by women of color and non-western women to critique racism and ethnocentricism of white-dominated systems and practices, including feminism. We begin by examining the dominant approaches to feminist theory that emerged in the United States and Europe, such as liberal, socialist, and radical feminism, as well as feminist epistemology and post-modern feminist analyses. We will then focus on the critiques of these traditions developed by women of color and their insistence on the need to address the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and class. Finally, we will examine recent debates regarding the initial emphasis on identity politics among black feminists, the relationship between black feminism and post-modernism, and contemporary re-conceptualizations of feminims in the light of "difference" as a result of the critical perspectives developed by women of color.

Grading Policy

Grades will be assessed on the basis of a short paper, midterm, and a final paper.

Texts

bell hooks. Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center, 2nd ed. (2002) Kum-Kum Bhavnani, ed., Feminist and "Race".

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