Global Feminism

This work examines the relationship between social movements and democracy in social and political thought in the light of feminist efforts to democratise the polity and the feminist movement itself.

Global Feminist Politics examines the changing global context for feminist political action, its meaning and forms. It acknowledges the existence of dissent and debate among feminists, asserting that such debate leads to innovation in theory and practice. This book reaches the conclusion that the future of the women's movement depends upon a dialogue which is unafraid to cut across perceived differences. Focusing on key issues raise by a feministic commitment to global political change, this book covers subjects including: * the relevance of contemporary feminist politics for younger women * gendered accounts of genocide and catastrophe * exile, migration and diaspora * gender and the internet * women and the nationalist movement in India * gender issues in Pakistan, Australia, South Africa and the Middle East. Featuring an international panel of cutting-edge feminist thinkers, Global Feminist Politics demonstrates the innovative work being undertaken in the academic and professional worlds, as well as in women's activism. It is an invaluable resource for students in Women's Studies and Development Studies, as well as all those interested in the development of contemporary global feminism.

In this powerful work, Susan Friedman moves feminist theory out of paralyzing debates about us and them, white and other, first and third world, and victimizers and victims. Throughout, Friedman adapts current cultural theory from global and transnational studies, anthropology, and geography to challenge modes of thought that exaggerate the boundaries of gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, class, and national origin. The author promotes a transnational and heterogeneous feminism, which, she maintains, can replace the proliferation of feminisms based on difference. She argues for a feminist geopolitical literacy that goes beyond fundamentalist identity politics and absolutist poststructuralist theory, and she continually focuses the reader's attention on those locations where differences are negotiated and transformed.

Pervading the book is a concern with narrative: the way stories and cultural narratives serve as a primary mode of thinking about the politically explosive question of identity. Drawing freely on modernist novels, contemporary film, popular fiction, poetry, and mass media, the work features narratives of such writers a