What is the global? What is the transnational? Are these spaces of connection, of division, of possibility, or dislocation? What does solidarity mean, how is it practiced (or critiqued), and whom does it benefit? This course aims to grapple with the complexities and contradictions of such questions in the context of transnational feminist theory and praxis. In particular, we will examine the relationships and divisions between “the West” and “the Rest,” the “Global South” and the “Global North,” and “developed” and “developing” countries, considering how such concepts have been constituted and understood, and how they shape people’s everyday lives. We will do this by studying the historical and ongoing processes of colonialism, imperialism, capitalism, militarism, globalization, and others that shape power and resistance globally and locally. We will also look at feminist movements and theories from the U.S., situating them within a broader global context. Special attention will be paid to Women of Color feminisms in the U.S., including Black, Latinx, Chicana, Asian American, Pacific Islander, and indigenous feminist thought, and to their often-fraught relationship to White feminism. Through the course readings, films, lectures, and discussions, we will address how various issues affect women’s lives around the world and will explore the ways in which the United States is connected with many of these global issues. This course is designed around the principle of collective knowledge production, a key tenet of feminist thought and politics. Our aim is to create a space in which all members of the class are actively teaching and learning together, and to which we each bring our own intersectional positionality—our particular social location within broader matrices of power—as valuable feminist knowledge.
