Global Feminisms (FEMGEN 202)

3–5 credits · Graduate

Feminist consciousness and activism have long been a global phenomenon, and never restricted to one locale, culture, or context. Through an interdisciplinary perspective, this course critically analyzes how feminists worldwide - all of whom share a desire to improve the status of women - may have diametrically opposed views about how to do so both within and between countries. This course examines feminist theories and concepts that can help us better appreciate the diversity and heterogeneity among feminisms, as well as the role and potential of cross-border solidarity and collective action around various feminist concerns. In the early weeks of the course, we will analyze and define concepts such as intersectionality, othering, and postcolonial feminism as a way to recognize the historical power imbalance, hierarchies, and essentialism that has impacted our understandings of particularly non-Western feminism, including religiously inspired forms of feminism, such as Islamic feminism. Later weeks will explore diverse dimensions of global feminist debates, including anti-gender backlash, as well as international and regional debates on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP) and the use, interpretation, and contestation of international women's rights frameworks in contemporary contexts. Current conflicts - including the wars and political violence shaping the Middle East, including the most recent war involving Iran - will serve as important case studies for examining global, diverse, and evolving feminist responses and demands in contexts of war, militarization, and democratization. Rather than offering a survey of feminisms across the globe, this course aims to provide students with the conceptual and analytical tools necessary to critically examine feminist action, inaction, and contestation in contexts both close to home and across the globe.