Political Science/Women’s Studies 490---Global Feminisms

Fall 2007                                                         Professor Sharon Wesoky

M, W 3-4:15                                                  Quigley 112

Quigley 124                                                    x3343

                                                                        e-mail: sharon.wesoky@allegheny.edu

Office hours:  Monday 4:15-5, Tuesday 10:45-12 and 2-5, Thursday 10:45-12 and by appointment

“Feminism” is a contested concept even within the context of the American women’s movement.  What, then, is the meaning of “feminism” when considered from diverse cultural, political, and economic perspectives and circumstances?   How does the subversive nature of feminism take on new forms of resistance in global contexts?  How does global feminism challenge not only local forms of patriarchy but also notions of “women’s equality” and feminism originating in the West?  We will examine feminist theoretical perspectives as well as case studies of issues in feminism such as women in Islam, global class relations, sexuality, war, and environmental issues to see how feminism adapts and transforms itself in different circumstances of income, ethnicity, religion, sexual identity, and political system.

Course goals and objectives:

  • Understanding gender as a lens of analysis to examine religion, world politics, the environment, and other issues
  • Assessing what sorts of concerns and ideas make a movement a "feminist" movement
  • Appreciating the ways that cultural and other forms of difference shape feminist issues and organizing

Books  (available for purchase at the campus bookstore)

Carole R. McCann and Seung-Kyung Kim, Feminist Theory Reader: Local and Global Perspectives

Asra Q. Nomani, Standing Alone: An American Womans Struggle for the Soul of Islam

Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild, Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy

Wangari Maathai, Unbowed: A Memoir

Electronic course reserves

 


 

 

 

Requirements

1.      Midterm essay (take-home):                  15%

2.      Final essay (take-home):                         30%

3.      Class participation/WebCT:                25%

4.      Student-led discussion:                           10%

5.      Group project                                          20%

The requirements for this course consist of a number of components:

1 & 2.  Major writing assignments relating to course reading will consist of take-home midterm and final essays.

3.       Because this is a small seminar, class participation is vitally important.  The course also has a WebCT site.  One way that your class participation will be facilitated is through the discussions page of the course WebCT site (labeled “bulletins”).   Prior to each class meeting (before 1 p.m., please) please post a question for discussion or a comment to the appropriate page on the WebCT discussion board.  These will be used to promote class discussion as well as contributing to your overall class participation grade.

4.       Once during the semester, you will be leading class discussion (in pairs).

5.       Also in pairs, you will be doing a group project that connects course reading and outside research. 

You should do required readings prior to the class for which they are assigned.

Any late assignments will have three points deducted from their grade for each day they are late. 

Also, please be sure to turn your cell phones off and put them away during class. 

 


SCHEDULE AND ASSIGNMENTS  (subject to change!)

Monday, September 3rd:  Introductory Class

Part I----Theoretical Perspectives

Wednesday, September 5th: Theoretical Frameworks I

Reading: Feminist Theory Reader (pp. 1-40)

·        “Introduction”

·         Aflatun

·        de Beauvoir

Monday, September 10th: Theoretical Frameworks II

Reading: Feminist Theory Reader (pp. 41-77)

·        Martinez

·        Kreps

·        Hooks

·        Delphy

·        Basu

Wednesday, September 12th: “Under Western Eyes”

Reading: Mohanty, “Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses”

Monday, September 17th:  Culture and Human Rights I

Reading: Rao, “The Politics of Gender and Culture in International Human Rights Discourse”

      Okin, “Feminism, Women’s Human Rights, and Cultural Differences”

           

Wednesday, September 19th: Culture and Human Rights II

Reading: Narayan, “Contesting Cultures: ‘Westernization,’ Respect for Cultures, and Third-World Feminists”


Part II---- Culture and Feminism: the case of Islam

Monday, September 24th: Race, Nation, and Feminism

Reading: Feminist Theory Reader (pp. 148-203)

·        “Introduction”

·        Combahee River Collective

·        Rushin

·        Yamada

·        Anzaldúa

·        Hélie-Lucas

·        Dutt

Wednesday, September 26th: Islam and Feminism I

Reading: Nomani, Standing Alone (pp. ix-32)

Monday, October 1st: Islam and Feminism II

Reading: Nomani, Standing Alone  (pp. 33-145)

Wednesday, October 3rd:  Islam and Feminism III

Reading: Nomani, Standing Alone  (pp. 147-239)

Monday, October 8th: Islam and Feminism IV

Reading: Nomani, Standing Alone (pp. 241-301)

Wednesday, October 10th: Alternative views of Islam and Feminism

Reading: Hoodfar, “The Veil in Their Minds and on Our Heads: Veiling Practices and Muslim Women”

Hoodfar, “Return to the Veil: Personal Strategy and Public Participation in

Egypt”

Ahmed, “Western Ethnocentrism and Perceptions of the Harem”

Monday, October 15th  fall break 

 


Part III----Global Class Relations and Feminism

Wednesday, October 17th:  Theoretical Views on Class and Feminism

Reading: Feminist Theory Reader (pp. 206-239)

·        Hartmann

·        Lim

·        Molyneux

Global Woman (pp. 1-13)

·        Ehrenreich and Hochschild

Monday, October 22nd: Globalization and Women I

Reading: Global Woman   (pp. 15-84)

·        Hochschild

·        Cheever

·        Parreñas

·        Hondagneu-Sotelo

·        Rivas

Wednesday, October 24th:Globalization and Women II

Reading: Global Woman  (pp. 85-153)

·        Ehrenreich

·        Anderson

·        Constable

·        Zarembka

Monday, October 29th: Globalization and Women III               midterm essay due

Reading: Global Woman (pp. 153-206)

·        Brennan

·        Lan

·        Gamburd

Wednesday, October 31st: Globalization and Women IV   

Reading: Global Woman  (pp. 207-280)

·        Bales

·        Thai

·        Sassen

·        Migration Trends

 


Part IV----Sexuality and Feminism

Monday, November 5th: Theorizing Sexuality and Feminism

Reading: Feminist Theory Reader  (pp. 80-102, 242-276)

·        “No More Miss America!”

·        Bunch

·        Correa and Petchesky

·        Koedt

·        Wittig

·        Lorde

·        Gopinath

·        Aguilar-San Juan

Wednesday, November 7th:  Female Genital Mutilation

Reading: Toubia, “Female Genital Mutilation”

Zainaba, “Lecture on Clitoridectory to the Midwives of Touil, Mauritania”

Walker and Parmar, selections from Warrior Marks: Female Genital Mutilation

and the Sexual Blinding of Women

Part V----War and Feminism

Monday, November 12th:  War and Feminism

Reading: Feminist Theory Reader  (pp. 138-145)

      Enloe, “Updating the Gendered Empire: Where are the Women in Occupied

Afghanistan and Iraq?”

Part VI----Environment, Community, and Feminism

Wednesday, November 14th:  Ecofeminism and Community Organizing

Reading: Feminist Theory Reader (pp. 103-137)

·        Mikell

·        Sturgeon

·        Corcoran-Nantes

Monday, November 19th:  Ecofeminism in Kenya I

Reading: Maathai, Unbowed (pp. 3-72)

Wednesday, November 21st Thanksgiving Break 

Monday, November 26th:  Ecofeminism in Kenya II

Reading: Maathai, Unbowed (pp. 73-205)

Wednesday, November 28th:  Ecofeminism in  Kenya III

Reading: Maathai, Unbowed (pp. 206-315)

Part VII-----Revisiting Theory

Monday, December 3rd:  Standpoint Theory

Reading: Feminist Theory Reader  (pp. 278-333)

·        “Introduction”

·        Hartsock

·        Narayan

·        Collins

Wednesday, December 5th: More Standpoints and Poststructuralism

Reading: Feminist Theory Reader  (pp. 334-403)

·        Calhoun

·        Zinn and Dill

·        Mani

·        Scott

·        Haraway

Monday, December 10th: More Poststructuralism and Other Views

Reading: Feminist Theory Reader (pp. 428-476)

·        Sorisio

·        Jordan

·        Rich

·        Mohanty

·        Lee

Wednesday, December 12th: Revisiting “Under Western Eyes”

Reading: Mohanty, “’Under Western Eyes’ Revisited: Feminist Solidarity through Anticapitalist Struggles”

Final essay Due Wednesday, December 19th at 7 p.m.

 

 

 

Guidelines for class participation

A    An A grade for class participation is awarded when students regularly initiate  discussion.  This means coming to class thoroughly familiar with the assigned reading and, therefore, prepared to raise questions, to open discussion, to identify topics of interest in the reading, and to actively engage other students in the discussion.  (Obviously, this does not mean monopolizing a discussion, or shutting others out, or talking for its own sake rather than to make a point about the topic under discussion.)

B       A B grade for class participation is awarded to students who participate regularly and productively in class discussion, who are prepared, and who are willing to engage.  B  discussants differ from A students in that the latter are self-starters who do not rely on the instructor’s questions to set the agenda for discussion.

C      A C grade for class participation is awarded to those who participate on a regular basis, though less frequently than the B student.  C  discussants’ participation may be indicative that they are not well-prepared for class, or have not given thought to assigned materials.

D       A D grade for class participation is given to those who contribute only infrequently to the discussion.

F    An F grade results from non-participation in class discussion.  Of course, participation is impossible if the putative participant is not in class.  Frequent absences mandate F grades.

Guidelines for Essay-Grading

(Written by Ben Slote and modified slightly by Ann Bomberger)

A             An essay in the A range is based on an original, logical and coherently organized set of ideas; it makes a clear and persuasive argument (even if the reader disagrees with its argument); it brings in specific, relevant examples to back up its assertions; its points, at each turn, are clearly articulated: the words carry precise meaning, they don't obscure it; its sentences use only the words their ideas require, not any more; its paragraphs have distinct though related roles in the essay's cohesion as a whole, each holding one thoroughly asserted idea (not two competing ideas, not one idea half-asserted); if appropriate it accurately and thoughtfully uses other sources; and its sentences are without the grammatical, spelling, or typographical mistakes that exacting proof-reading would catch. (All of this takes a lot of work.  If it is all very nearly accomplished, the essay usually earns an A-.)

B             An essay in the B range: a very good paper, the writing of which is clearly, thoughtfully, and effectively executed. What sometimes prevents an "A" is a lack of originality, thorough thinking or careful proofreading. If two of these virtues are absent and the other areas of the paper are strong, the essay will usually earn a B-.

C             An essay in the C range: some conspicuous flaw usually earns an essay a C; its argument is really underdeveloped, it contains only minimal textual support, it has problems with organization and/or sentence clarity, it is in dire need of proofreading.

D            A D essay either contains more than one of the large problems cited in the "C" description or finds another way to convince its reader that the author has not spent nearly enough time on the thinking or writing in the essay.

F             An F essay misses on all criteria (originality, articulateness, persuasiveness, organization, the absence of mechanical mistakes).