Feminism in an International Context
Women Studies 305, Winter 2007

This course explores the heterogeneous processes involved in the cultural construction of gender, and therefore, in feminist praxis. "Gender" indicates the way societies organize people into female and male categories—within families, workplaces, communities, and nations—and the meanings produced around those categories. Our focus on how gender categories vary across cultures will form the basis for a critical examination of diverse feminist theories and practices as culturally and historically situated. Framed by critiques of "universal sisterhood" launched by women of color and Third World feminists, this course aims to dismantle the conventional Western story of feminism as something that began here and then spread elsewhere. As we analyze the workings of power and gender in different cultural contexts and within international feminist discourse, we will also focus on the creative cultural practices women use to negotiate their lives and consider various challenges and strategies of transnational feminist projects.

Addressing these issues requires an understanding of how gender intersects with race, class, and sexuality; and of how movements such as nationalism, colonialism, and transnational capitalism affect these identity constructs and related material differences. In analyzing these intersections through the course readings, we will consider the following questions:

• How are feminist movements culturally and historically situated?
• How do representations of women shape knowledge, as well as agency?
• When and how does gender change? How do feminist theory and practice relate and respond to such shifts?
• How does a serious appreciation of differences among women in the world impact our understanding of gendered and other forms of inequality? In other words, why does thinking about feminism in an international or transnational way matter?

Included within the course schedule are more specific versions of these questions designed to focus attention on particular issues for each class meeting. Please review these weekly queries, keep them in mind as you do the readings, and start thinking about them on the class EPost discussion board. Class lectures, discussions, and presentations will be structured around these guideposts. They are intended, in a cumulative fashion, to help you address the big questions of the course and to develop ideas for the class assignments.

The course is organized around four books, with additional complementary readings and films. We will start by addressing questions of gender and transnational connections that begin at home—our current position in the United States—before moving to book-length works based in Egypt, Zimbabwe, and China. This selection of readings is not meant, by any means, to be geographically exhaustive, but will enable us to gain basic knowledge about the historical and geographical contexts of these regions necessary for engaging with the theoretical concerns of the course. Finally, the course is designed to hone students' analytic, writing, and speaking skills.

Course Reader: Available at Rams Copy Center, 4144 University Way
(Articles in the reader are indicated with an R in the syllabus.)

Books: Available at The University Book Store and on reserve at Odegaard

• Lila Abu-Lughod, Writing Women's Worlds
• Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions
• Cynthia Enloe, Bananas, Beaches, and Bases
• Lisa Rofel, Other Modernities

Class Films: Available on reserve at the Odegaard Media Center

• Trinh T. Minh-Ha. 1982. Reassemblage (40 min.)
• Ingrid Sinclair. 1996. Flame (90 min.)
• Marije Meerman. 2001. Chain of Love (50 min.)

Each student's performance will be evaluated as follows:

Participation & Engagement: 15% (60 points)
Class Facilitation: 15% (60 points)
Midterm Exam: 15% (60 points)
Website Analysis Paper: 20% (80 points)
EPost Commentary: 5% (20 points)
Final Exam Essay: 30% (120 points)

Please bring your books to class. Students are expected to complete the readings by the day they are listed in the syllabus and to discuss them in depth. In so doing, you are expected to offer personal insights, to listen to others' viewpoints about class material, and to demonstrate, at all times, academic integrity and respect for others. Practice respect and consideration for your peers. Throughout the quarter, you may be presented with material unfamiliar to you. During lecture and discussion, you may hear very diverse opinions from the instructor and other students. You are not expected to agree, but before commenting on a practice or belief foreign to you, please reflect on how to present your opinion in a respectful and open manner.

No papers will be accepted by e-mail without permission. Please inform me in advance if you must miss a session. Extensions are granted only in cases of emergency with prior permission from the instructor. Assignments submitted late will be marked down ten percent for every day they are late unless prior arrangements have been made. Plagiarism will be treated as a serious offense. For further information, please see the university policy on academic honesty. The purpose of this course is to help students become critical and independent thinkers. Original thoughts and ideas will be highly valued, and students are expected to treat the work of others similarly.

If you have a disability or need special accommodations for note taking or any other aspect of your coursework, please let me know and/or contact the Disability Resources for Students Office (DRS), 448 Schmitz, Box 355839, (206) 543-8924, (TTY) 543-8925, uwdss@u.washington.edu.

Please feel free to speak with me for further clarification of assignments, if you have questions about the materials, or if you have personal concerns that will affect your academic performance. Students are welcome to use email to contact me and ask brief questions. I make every effort to respond to email within 72 hours. Students who have lengthy or complex questions should meet with me during office hours.

Course books have been requested for 4-hour loan researve at Odegaard Undergraduate Library.

• Lila Abu-Lughod, Writing Women's Worlds: Bedouin Stories
• Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions
• Cynthia Enloe, Bananas, Beaches and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International Politics
• Lisa Rofel, Other Modernities: Gendered Yearnings in China after Socialism

Course films have been requested for 2-hour loan reserve at Odegaard Media Center.

• Marije Meerman, Chain of Love
• Ingrid Sinclair, Flame
• Trinh T. Minh-Ha, Reassemblage

Additional books of interest:
If you are interested in doing further reading on particular issued raised in class, the following are suggested books to explore. They have also been requested for reserve at Odegaard.

• Daisy Hernández and Bushra Rehman, eds., Colonize this! Young Women of Color on Today's Feminism
• Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Feminism without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity
• Uma Narayan, Dislocating Cultures: Identities, Traditions, and Third-World Feminism
• Ella Shohat, ed., Talking Visions: Multicultural Feminism in a Transnational Age