Feminist Theory and Communication

1 Course Unit

This course focuses on both historical and contemporary feminist theory as a site for the restructuring of knowledge, exploring the theoretical and methodological questions that arise when gendered dynamics of power are placed at the center of study. This course is designed to historicize and conceptualize past and current developments, as well as recurrent themes and movements, in feminist methodology and theory. The course material provides an overview of feminist theories as they have developed in Western and non-Western contexts, over the last two hundred years (though there is particular emphasis on the period since the 1960s), thus positioning feminism beyond the West in terms of global and transnational perspectives. It places works and scholars in conversation with others, both contemporaries who act and speak from other standpoints and predecessors who belong to the same tradition or trajectory. The organization of the course responds to the inadequacy of previous categories (liberal feminism, Marxist feminism, etc.) that do not encompass the complexity of feminist thought from the perspective of the early 21st century, given the impact of intersectionality, queer studies, globalization, political backlash, authoritarianism, and so on. 1 Course Unit