Gender a výzkum / Gender and Research 2012, 13 (2): 4-17

Beyond feminist East/West debates

Martina Kampichler

The paper aims to critically analyze the construction of feminist East/West debates in the context of the anthology Gender Politics and Post-Communism (Funk, Mueller 1993). It does so from the perspective of other critical feminist voices as well as global power relations, taking effect in the international feminist academic community. Its starting point are discussions related to differences among women in feminist theories, which started in the 1980s and, in relation to them, the concept of "discursive colonization" (Chandra Talpade Mohanty), which underscores the effects of power/knowledge (Foucault) in international feminist research related to women in Third World contexts. The analysis in the second part of the paper focuses on the contributions by Nanette Funk, Hana Havelková and Jiřina Šiklová, which have been, in the literature, repeatedly related to the feminist East/West debates. Based on this analysis I argue that the central focus on differences along the "East" / "West" dividing line is the cornerstone of these debates, but, at the same time, it masks the power relations which co-create them. The point is an interaction of the East/West hierarchy with an essentialist and theoretically limited notion of Western feminism. Departing from that, I track how this interaction has shaped further developments of the debates, and explore how a non-essentialist understanding of Western feminism and, in relation to that, a turn toward examining the reproduction of global power relations through mainstream feminist analytical approaches, makes it possible to go beyond the identified limits of feminist East/West debates.

Published: June 1, 2012  Show citation

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Kampichler, Martina. 2012. "Beyond feminist East/West debates." Gender, Equal Opportunities, Research 13(2):4-17.
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