Postcolonial feminism
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Postcolonial feminism often criticizes Western forms of feminism, notably radical feminism and its universalization of female experience.
Many postcolonial feminists argue that other oppressions relating to the colonial experience, particularly racial, class, and ethnic oppressions, have marginalized women in postcolonial societies in ways that differ from Western/caucasian women. They challenge the assumption that gender oppression is the primary one, and they often argue that oppressions cannot be ranked at all because to do so would be to misrepresent their lived experiences. Postcolonial feminists often also argue that to challenge gender oppression within their own culture does not make them Western, as some people within their cultures would contend.
The field of postcolonial feminism arises from the gendered history of colonialism. Colonial powers often imposed norms that were foreign to the colonized nations. In the 1940s and 1950s, after the formation of the United Nations, former colonies were monitored for what was deemed social progress, for instance, the advancement of women. As a result, traditional practices and roles taken up by women were often seen as a form of rebellion against colonial oppression. Postcolonial feminists today struggle to fight gender oppression within their own cultural models rather than through those imposed by others.
An underlying theoretical premise of postcolonial feminism is that concepts of freedom, equality, and rights stemming from the Enlightenment privilege Western and European norms.
Much postcolonial feminist writing overlaps with transnational feminism and Third World feminism. Postcolonial feminism is also closely related to postcolonialism.
Some postcolonial feminist authors include:
- Gayatri Spivak, with her important "Can the Subaltern Speak?" (1988)
- Trinh T. Minh-ha, with her essay "Infinite Layers/Third World?" (1989)
- Chandra Talpade Mohanty, with her influential essay "Under Western Eyes" (1991)
- Uma Narayan, with her book Dislocating Cultures (1997) and her essay "Contesting Cultures" (1997)