Islamic Feminism

Qudsia Mirza in her article “Islamic Feminism & Gender Equality” argues that Islamic feminists are
reinterpreting Islamic sources in order to achieve equal rights for women within an Islamic framework.
They have challenged traditional interpretations of scripture and received notions of interpretive
authority, both in Muslim majority societies as well as in the diasporic Islamic world. With their new
interpretations they have contributed to the transformation of the legal, political and social rights of
Muslim women. A number of writers have offered typologies of contemporary feminist thought and,
broadly speaking, they can be divided into two main groups: first, those who see the “inequality” of the
sexes in Islam as divinely ordained; and second, those who have engaged in progressive readings of the
Quran and the Hadith to unearth the authentic configuration of women’s rights in Islam. For Safia Iqbal,
who belongs to the former group, the literal interpretation of the Quran sanctions a differentiation
between the sexes. This is based upon a delineation between the public and the private in which men
and women inhabit different domains under the “separate but equal” rubric. Women and men have
different roles, and occupy different spheres of life, and it is this definition of equality which challenges
conservative representations of women as spiritually inferior to men. The second approach includes
writers such as Wadud, Barlas, and Riffat Hassan, who are developing readings of scripture that often
depart radically from classical interpretations. However, it aims for the full equality of all Muslims,
regardless of gender, in public and private life. Islamic feminists advocate women's rights, gender
equality, and social justice grounded in an Islamic framework. Prominent thinkers include Amina Wadud,
Leila Ahmed, Fatema Mernissi, Azizah al-Hibri, Riffat Hassan, Asma Lamrabet, and Asma Barlas.

Major Contributors:

1. Amina Wadud: In 1972, American born Mary Teasley converted to Islam and by 1974 her name
was officially changed to Amina Wadud to reflect her chosen religious affiliation. Coinciding with
her conversion, was a shift in her university studies from education to Islam. She wrote and
published the first gender-inclusive critical interpretation of the Qur'an. Her 1992 book, Qur'an
and Women, brought her international scholarly recognition. In the book she broke down
specific texts and key words which have been used to limit women's public and private role,
even to justify violence toward Muslim women, revealing that their original meaning and
context defy such interpretations. Among Wadud's other achievements is her early membership
in Sisters in Islam, an organization created by Muslim women who were concerned with the
oppression many women faced in the name of Islam. The group's weekly meetings examine the
Quran's language and promote equality and justice for Islamic women. Amina Wadud's work is
actually the author's intellectual anxiety about gender inequality in society. According to Amina
Wadud, one of the causes of gender inequality in social life is the ideology of the doctrine of the
interpretation of the Qur'an which she considers to be patriarchal.
2. Riffat Hassan: In 1976, Riffat Hassan earned her professorship and career as Chair of the
Department of Religious Studies at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, United States. Then, in
1979, she was asked to join a trialogue project between Jewish, Christian, and Islamic scholars. It
was on this occasion that Hassan wrote a book entitled “Women in the Quran,” which contains
verses that are considered definitive in the context of the relationship between men and
women, which has been the basis of male superiority over women. Among her works are “The
Roles and Responsibilities of Women in Islamic Legal and Ritual Traditions” (1980), “Equal
Before Allah Men and Women Equality in Islamic Tradition” (1987); Feminist Theology and
Women in the Muslim World”; Jihad fi Sabilillah: A Muslimah's Journey of Faith from Struggle to
Struggle”; “Issues of Female-Male Equality in Islamic Tradition”; “Women's Rights in Islam”; and
“Muslim Women and Post-Patriarchal Islam”. To build and strengthen a feminist theological
paradigm closely related to women's issues, Riffat Hassan uses a two-level approach: ideal-
normative and socio-historical.
A. In the ideal-normative approach, Hassan observed the perfect normative side described by
the Koran regarding women. She tried to make the relevance between what was told by the
Koran and the empirical facts that occurred in society.
B. The socio-historical approach is carried out after looking carefully and critically at the actual
normative ideals of the Qur'an, then connecting it with the empirical-historical reality of
how women are conditioned in Islamic society.

According to Riffat Hassan’s empirical data, there is still a “gap” in the case of women between
the ideal-normative and the historical-empirical-realistic. Since childhood, Hassan has been
taught that women must be submissive and obedient without being allowed to determine their
attitude; for example, they were forced to marry early. When talking about gender equality,
Riffat criticizes the source of the Koran. She argued that men and women were equal before
God. In worship, both have the same reward. Islam is not a religion that prioritizes relationships
with God but also with humans. Much of God's justice and compassion for women is depicted in
the Koran. And it turns out that this patriarchal system has caused suffering for every woman.
This contrasts the actual conditions of women's lives with injustice and oppression that
arbitrarily demeans women. Several women have become prominent figures recorded in Islamic
history, including Sayyidah Khadijah, Aisyah, and Rabi'ah al- Bishry (a famous female Sufi).
However, the Islamic tradition, which even today still tends to be misogynistic and anti-
women's bias, hinders women's freedom. This fact makes Riffat believe that women must be
secondary, subordinate, and inferior to men.

C. Fatima Mernissi: Fatima Mernissi is a celebrated Moroccan author who has written several
books which are critically acclaimed from a feminist perspective, however they have also
been misconstrued by pundits specifically by men for their own personal benefits. She
distinguished Muslim women from the homogenized group of 'third-world women' that
Western feminism had created. Mernissi also fought to overcome Western assumptions that
Muslim women were helpless victims of both their religion and the men of their religion. In
Fatima Mernissi’s book Beyond the Veil: Male-Female Dynamics in Modern Muslim
Society, she focuses on sexual relations between men and women and how it effects
societal dynamics. She attempts to narrate the sexual inequality of women in the Muslim
world and explores deeply in male-female relationships as a component of the Muslim
society.
D. Azizah al Hibri: She authors an article, Islam, Law and Custom: Redefining Muslim
Women's Rights, which focuses on three specific issues: the right of a woman to contract
her own marriage, the duty of the wife to obey her husband, and the right of the wife to
initiate divorce.
E. Asma Lamrabet: She is a Moroccan Feminism. In her book “Believer and Feminist”, she
had primarily focused on the role and situation of women in Islam, as an appropriation of
 religious knowledge by a Muslim woman. At the same time, however, the book is also a
criticism of dominant Western feminism. In her latest book titled as “manual, the purpose
of which is to vulgarize the religious approach to feminism,” she has outlined an approach
that is, according to her, not familiar in the MENA region and francophone countries.Her
book deconstructs two wildly divergent ideas; that “religion oppresses women” and that
“feminism is against religion,” she covers many themes in this small manual which uses
Qur’anic verses for support. Lamrabet, also founded a working group for women’s issues
and intercultural dialogue in Rabat and has introduced a new “third way feminism;” a
modern approach combining universal and humanistic ethics with the humanitarian ideals
of Islam. This third way is a movement of women from different backgrounds and
experiences, cultures and spiritualties who dare to question the concept of the religious
patriarch. These women are reclaiming their right to reinterpret fundamental religious texts
and condemn sexism and discrimination in some religious interpretations. According to
Lamrabet, although feminist struggles have always existed in the history of humanity,
feminism as a concept is still far too often misunderstood in Morocco. The reason for this
controversial reputation is the perception of Feminism as a concept born in the West,
something imported with colonialism and therefore unavoidably foreign to Arab-Muslim
cultures.
F. Asma Barlas: In her book Believing Women in Islam, Asma Barlas develops a believer’s
reading of the Qur’an that demonstrates the radically egalitarian and anti-patriarchal nature
of its teachings. Beginning with a historical analysis of religious authority and knowledge,
she shows how Muslims came to read inequality and patriarchy into the Qur’an to justify
existing religious and social structures and demonstrates that the patriarchal meanings
ascribed to the Qur’an are a function of who has read it, how, and in what contexts. She
goes on to reread the Qur’an’s position on a variety of issues in order to argue that its
teachings do not support patriarchy. To the contrary, she convincingly asserts that the
Qur’an affirms the complete equality of the sexes, thereby offering an opportunity to
theorize radical sexual equality from within the framework of its teachings. This new view
takes readers into the heart of Islamic teachings on women, gender, and patriarchy,
allowing them to understand Islam through its most sacred scripture, rather than through
Muslim cultural practices or Western media stereotypes.

Criticism: Someone who is highly critical of the Islamic feminist project is Haideh Moghissi, who asserts
that Islam and feminism are fundamentally incompatible because Islamic scripture contains a highly
developed gender hierarchy. Consequently, Moghissi doubts the possibility of developing a programme
of social and legal rights for women within Islamic parameters, as these, for her, are inherently
antithetical to the notion of gender equality.

Modernization theory

Modernization theory is an American sociological theory. There are many iterations, but the essential
concept is that every society will go through stages of progression until they reach an ideal stage. The
four essential stages of modernization theory are traditional societies, take-off, maturation, and mass
consumption and mass production. These stages were conceived by W. W. Rostow. An example of a
nation following modernization theory is the United States, on which the theory is based. After the
advent and development of industrialization, the United States became more or less committed to
capitalism, Western social structure, and welfare programs to help those who were in need of economic
support.

Modernization Theory Applied to Gender Inequality: Modernization Theory blames internal cultural
factors for women’s subordination in the developing world. It is argued that some traditional cultures,
and especially the religious ideas that underpin the values, norms, institutions and customs of the
developing world, ascribe status on the basis of gender. In practice, this means that males are accorded
patriarchal control and dominance over a range of female activities and, consequently, women have
little status in developing societies. Modernization theorists note that gender equality is generally
greater in more developed countries and believe that there is relationship between modernization,
economic growth and greater gender equality. The World Bank appears to be a strong proponent of this
view today.

 The theory of modernization by Inglehart describes that economic development is directly

proportional to cultural modernization which affects women's participation in politics.
Modernization, through changing values in society, has a very positive impact and it brings
gender equality to politics. The modernization theory of Inglehart throws light that
modernization in society carries positive changes and it also changes the lives of the citizens
which is ultimately reflected through gender equality in politics. But along with modernization,
certain other issues undermine women's participation in politics and these issues still exist in
developing countries like Pakistan.
 Ester Boserup: Her work came to trigger a fundamental shift in international economic law and
development. Positing the then radical idea that women made a significant economic
contribution to both their households and the macro-economy, and were thus fundamental to
national development, Boserup’s pioneering book Woman’s Role in Economic Development
heralded the start of a reassessment of international economic legal frameworks and activities,
including helping to inspire the UN Decade for Women (1976–1985), ultimately providing the
foundation for the Women in Development (WID) framework, and four world conferences on
women from 1975 to 1995. This portrait is thus a picture of an outsider, both in her chosen field
economics and in international law, whose refusal to be bound by disciplinary dogma and
professional restraints, came to have a profound impact on women’s lives. In the book she had
challenged the welfare approach of modernization theory for women have yet not been
assigned any productive role. In case, if she fulfills her productive role there is a serious pay-gap,
they have rather been portrayed as passive recipients which is obviously not true for much of
the part of agriculture in rural areas is actively dependent on women throughout history.
However, its fruit is traded by men. Hence, women must be given productive and active roles.

World Bank report on Globalization, Economic Growth and Gender Equality-2020

 Trade openness and the spread of information and communication technologies (ICTs) have
increased women’s access to economic opportunities and in some cases increased their wages
relative to men’s.
 Women have moved out of agriculture and into manufacturing and particularly services.. In
Mexico, for example, female employment in manufacturing grew from 12 percent in 1960 to 17
percent in 2008, with 10 times more women in 2008 than in 1960.
  International peer pressure has also led more countries than ever to ratify treaties against
discrimination, while growing media exposure and consumers’ demands for better treatment of
workers has pushed multinationals toward fairer wages and better working conditions for
women.
 Increased access to information, primarily through wider exposure to television and the
Internet, allows countries to learn about life and social mores in other places—knowledge that
can change perceptions and ultimately promote adoption of more egalitarian attitudes.
 Countries with a comparative advantage in the production of female labor-intensive goods have
lower fertility rates and, to a lesser extent, higher female labor force participation and
educational attainment.
 Women in work also marry and have their first baby later than other women of similar
socioeconomic status and to have better quality housing and access to modern infrastructure.
They also report greater self-esteem and decision-making capacity, with benefits extending to
other family members.

Case Study: In Bangladesh, the employment of hundreds of thousands of women in the ready-made
garment industry feminized the urban public space, creating more gender-equitable norms for women’s
public mobility and access to public institutions. In the process, Bangladeshi women had to redefine and
negotiate the terms of purdah, typically reinterpreting it as a state of mind in contrast to its customary
expression as physical absence from the public space, modest clothing, and quiet demeanor. Other case
studies include Brazil where major chunk of female Labor have moved from agriculture to
manufacturing units. On the other hand, in India a significant reduction in fertility rates was observed
among the working women.

Criticisms:

1. Economic growth does not always result in gender equality. Japan and Saudi Arabia are two
notable examples here and there is no country on earth yet has actual gender parity.
2. Economic development might even harm gender equality in some ways, for example, if women
are just exploited more because of their lower status.
3. Even though from Western perspective if one think of challenging traditional cultures as the
right thing to do, it could be regarded as ethnocentric.

Women Empowerment Theory and Practice

According to Stein, empowerment is a “social action process that promotes participation of people,
organizations, and communities in gaining control over their lives in their community and larger
societies”. Griffen described empowerment as having control, or gaining further control; having a say
and being listened to; being able to define and create from a women’s perspective; being able to
influence social choices and decisions affecting the whole society (not just areas of society accepted as
women’s place) being recognized and respected as equal citizens and human beings with a contribution
to make. According to kate Young (1993), empowerment enables women` to take control of their own
lives, set their own agenda, organize to help each other and make demands on the state for support and
on the society itself for change’.
Theory of Women Empowerment: Three waves of feminism- the first demanded political
empowerment, the second demanded economic empowerment while the third stressed on
empowerment in all field irrespective of any intersectionality.

Process of women empowerment:

A. Three-Dimensional Model of Women’s Empowerment: This model assumes that women’s

empowerment can be differentiated at three distinct dimensions:
i. The micro-level dimension: referring to individuals’ personal beliefs as well as actions where
personal empowerment can be observed. An individual woman develops feelings of personal
power, command and self-sufficiency over material and inherent choices she has to make.
ii. The meso-level dimension: referring to beliefs as well as actions in relation to relevant
others where relational empowerment can be observed. Here a woman influences the
decision making power of another woman through their contact and working together.
iii. The macro-level dimension: referring to outcomes in the broader, societal context where
societal empowerment can be observed. They emphasize the goals for social action and
social change. A community development programs develops through a group effort. A
community development programs can lead to individual empowerment and interpersonal
empowerment.
B. Five Dimensional model of Empowerment:
i. Freedom of movement: Do one need to get permission from your family if you wish to go
outside one’s home? Do one need to get permission from one’s family if you wish to go
outside one’s home?
ii. Economic security and stability: Is one engaged in any activities (jobs) with cash income?
What is the amount of money one can spend freely?
iii. Support by family /Freedom from domination: Is physical support by one’s family available
in household chores? Has one ever been hit by her husband?
iv. Decision-making in daily life: Who makes a decision on what to cook? Who holds the final
say in buying things for your family / for your child / for yourself? Who makes a decision on
child’s schooling / family planning?
v. Relationship with community /Participation in society: Are you aware of any community
activities in your community? Do you participate in those activities? Do you have time to
participate in the activity?

Forms of Empowerment: There are three forms of empowerments-

1. Economic empowerment: Women’s economic empowerment includes women’s ability to
participate equally in existing markets; their access to and control over productive resources,
access to decent work, control over their own time, lives and bodies; and increase voice, agency
and meaningful participation in economic decision-making at all levels from the household to
international institutions.
2. Political empowerment: It includes women's representation on elected bodies. Political
empowerment is a road to women's equality, rights and fulfillment, involvement in political
matters and process. It is a major path to women's political participation and in the decision-
making process.
3. Social empowerment: Social empowerment includes equal access to education and health care
for women. It mitigates gender gaps in human development across nations.
Approaches of Women Empowerment

 Welfare Approach: This approach considers women as the workforce and target for
development. Women are beneficiaries but not active participants in development.
 Efficiency Approach: This approach considers women, essentially, not as beneficiaries of
intervention, but as major resource in development. If development is more efficient, it must
include the participation of women. It keeps women into the mainstream of development and
assumes that if they participate, they will automatically benefit.
 Equity Approach: This approach wants promoting women’s status, power and control so that
they can be effectively equal with men. It seems women equal right.
 Empowerment Approach: Feminists seek to empower themselves through greater self-reliance.
Women seek to influence their own change and the right to determine their own choices in life.
It seems women need appropriate resources to achieve self-sufficiency.
 Gender and Development Approach: It recognizes the active involvement of women in
development by utilizing the capacity of women at the optimum level. It can be achieved by
planning and implementation of the programs.

In Practice: Generally women are backward part of society. A society never be developed keeping its
women in dark. Women are deprived of decision making power, freedom of movement, access to
education & employment and scapegoat of domestic violence. Women face gender discrimination,
inequality and socially oppressed people with the burden of dowry, child marriage and other crimes like
raping, killing, and humiliation.

Pakistan’s international obligations on gender equality

Pakistan has adopted a number of key international commitments to gender equality and women's
human rights – the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Beijing Platform for Action, the Convention
on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women, and the Sustainable Development
Goals. Despite all these initiatives, Pakistan's ranking for gender equality remains one of the lowest in
the world.

1. UDHR- Pakistan became a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. The
UDHR is made up of 30 articles that encompass the most fundamental rights and freedoms of
people (both collectively and individually) all over the world.Article 2 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights applies all rights and freedoms equally to men and women and
prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. These freedoms and rights include equal pay for
equal work, the right to health and the right to an education for all.
2. Beijing Platform for action: The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, or BPfA is a
landmark document for advancing women’s rights and gender equality worldwide, agreed upon
during the 4th World Conference on women in 1995. The international community came to a
consensus and agreed to a comprehensive blueprint of commitments supporting the full
development of women and their equality with men in 12 areas of concern: women and
poverty; education and training of women; women and health; violence against women; women
and armed conflict; women and the economy; women in power and decision-making;
institutional mechanisms; human rights of women; women and media; women and the
environment; and the girl child. The BPfA affirmed the principles that would govern future
 actions and strategies for women and firmly established an agenda for empowering women by
integrating their concerns into national plans and policies. Governments and the UN agreed to
promote gender mainstreaming as a strategy to ensure that a gender perspective is reflected in
all policies and programs at the national, regional, and international levels. As a follow-up of the
Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995 in Beijing, the Government of Pakistan committed
to implement the Beijing Platform for Action with its first National Plan of Action in 1998,
followed by National Policy for Development and Empowerment of Women in 2002.
3. CEDAW: The Convention seeks to eliminate discrimination against women in all fields and
spheres, and holds both state and non-state actors in the case of violation of rights. State
obligation embodies the elements, that is, respect, protection, promotion, and fulfillment of
human rights. 3 principles of CEDAW are non-discrimination, substantive equality, and state
obligation. Pakistan ratified CEDAW on December 3, 1996.
4. SDG: Goal 5 of Sustainable Development Goals deals with Gender Equality. It calls on for ending
all discrimination against women and girls, which is not only a basic human right but is also
crucial for sustainable future; it’s proven that empowering women and girls helps economic
growth and development.

Steps taken by Pakistan so far to ensure Gender inequality: Pakistan has taken progressive steps
towards protection of human rights by ratifying most international human rights conventions and
introducing pro-women legislation, including

 National Gender Policy Framework (2022): The targets for this goal seek to end all forms of
discrimination, eliminate violence against women and girls in all its manifestations such as
health and reproductive rights, political, social and economic inclusion, recognition and value of
unpaid family support and removal of socio-cultural impediments that hinder the development
process.
 Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Ordinance (2020): to ensure expeditious redressel of rape
and sexual abuse crimes in respect of women and children through special investigation teams
and special Courts providing for efficacious procedures and speedy trial.
 Domestic Violence against Women (Prevention and Protection) Act:
 The Pakistan Vision 2025, which aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development
Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2023-2027 for Pakistan, also prioritizes basic rights and
gender equality as central tenants of the country’s development agenda, focusing on the need
for gender responsive planning, engagement of vulnerable and marginalized groups, and
increased reporting of violence against women (VAW) and related cases.
 In country’s first National Security Policy (2022-2026), the Government of Pakistan recognizes
‘gender security’ as a key pillar and aims to “ensure integration of gender equity into national
security narratives through full and meaningful participation of women in decision-making, law
enforcement, the justice sector, and peacekeeping.”
 Zainab Alert Bill: Passed in 2019; This Act is different in nature that it was brought in Parliament
with the high aims to curb and control the child abuse Incidents and as it is named as a Zainab
Alert for recovery of missing, abducted, abused or kidnapped children in Pakistan.
 On 14 January 2022, Pakistan's Parliament adopted the Protection against Harassment of
Women at the Workplace (Amendment) Act 2022. It amends the Protection against
 Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act 2010, expanding the definition of workplaces to
include both formal and informal workplaces.
 18th amendment ensure the right to education to all irrespective of gender in Article 25 (a).

However, while laws for women’s empowerment and protection from violence are in place at national
and sub-national levels, their implementation remains weak. As per the 5th CEDAW periodic review of
Pakistan, one of the biggest challenges faced is the lack of consistent data on violence against women
(VAW) to support the development of appropriate policy responses, which has led to ineffective and
weak policy reforms. From the reported data, violence against women is widespread – 34 per cent of
ever-married women have experienced spousal physical, sexual, or emotional violence, and 56 percent
of ever-married women who reported experiencing physical or sexual violence have neither sought help
to stop the violence nor told anyone. On the economic front, women account for a mere 22.63 per cent
of the labor force while men make up 84.79 per cent of the labor force. On average, a Pakistani woman’s
income is 16.3 per cent of a man’s income. Of the 5.26 million working in the informal sector in Pakistan,
81 per cent are women.

Conclusion: Pakistan is not a signatory to the UNSCR 1325 Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda or
its complementary Youth Peace and Security (YPS), but has voiced its commitment to the framework
that views women and youth as the cornerstone of peace-building. The country remains one of the sixth
largest contributors to UN peacekeeping, including female engagement teams and troop contribution.

The Concept Matrix of Domination

Sociologist Patricia Hill Collins coined the concept matrix of domination in her book Black Feminist
Thought to describe four interrelated domains that organize power relations in society. This approach to
an analysis of power informs us about how structural, disciplinary, hegemonic, and interpersonal
domains of power shape human action. According to Collins, these four interrelated domains of power
serve different purposes in relation to maintaining the status quo.

1. The Structural Domain of Power: The structural domain of power in the matrix of domination
organizes oppression in society. Collins argues that the organization of interlocking, large-scale
social institutions reproduce the subordination of Black women. For example, residential
segregation prevents most Black women in the United States from having access from certain
educational and job opportunities. Collins suggests that the way to empower Black women
through the structural domain of power involves transforming social institutions. One way to go
about this involves dispensing with colorblind or gender-neutral rhetoric and instead of
acknowledging how social systems impart different outcomes depending on one’s social status.
2. The Disciplinary Domain of Power: The disciplinary domain of power manages oppression. The
organizational practices of social institutions manage power relations and control certain
subpopulations. Collins notes that social policies and rulings determined by government
bureaucracies and surveillance technologies shape the modern social organization. For example,
Black women academics who embrace Black feminist thought might find themselves relegated
to the academy and subject to monitoring of their radical potential. To empower Black women
within this domain, resistance to such practices must come from within the organization itself.
3. The Hegemonic Domain of Power: Hegemony refers to the system of ideas developed by a
dominant group that justifies their practices. Collins writes that in this domain of power old
 ideas that uphold the system get refashioned as society changes over time. Through ideology,
culture, and consciousness, the beliefs of the dominant group get normalized as common sense
ideas that support their position. Additionally, many members of subordinated groups might
endorse these ideas as well. Social institutions that perpetuate these ideologies include schools,
churches, community organizations, families, and mass media. These social institutions shape
consciousness through the manipulation of ideas, symbols, and images of various social groups.
After the Civil War, for example, the characterization of Black men as hypersexual brutes seeking
to rape white women justified the lynching of countless Black men. Empowerment within the
hegemonic domain of power comes through choosing self-definition over societal definitions
about one’s personhood. For Black women, this means generating ideas that inspire disbelief in
racist and sexist ideologies about Black womanhood. Furthermore, they have to develop a
dynamic, critical consciousness that unpacks hegemonic ideologies and constructs new
knowledge about what Black womanhood means.
4. The Interpersonal Domain of Power: The interpersonal domain of power in the matrix of
domination affects all of us in everyday life. This domain of power refers to how our individual
consciousness perpetuates the subordination of others. Collins states that through routinized
daily practices of interaction at the micro level of social organization, individuals uphold the
subordination of others. Empowerment in this domain looks like taking conscious actions to
change everyday relationships. According to Collins, this looks like adopting a point of view that
embraces a sociological imagination that empowers individuals rather than using one’s
knowledge to exploit, commodify, or objectify members of marginalized groups.

Feminists’ Perspectives on Globalization

Feminist theoretical approaches to globalization’ is an umbrella term that refers to a number of specific
theoretical approaches that feminists have used to articulate the challenges that globalization poses for
women, people of color, and the global poor.

Common Features

1. Feminist approaches to globalization seek to provide frameworks for understanding the gender
injustices associated with globalization. Rather than developing all-encompassing ideal theories
of global justice, however, feminist philosophers tend to adopt the non-ideal theoretical
perspectives, which focus on specific, concrete issues. Early feminist analyses focused on issues
that were widely believed to be of particular importance to women around the world, such as
domestic violence, workplace discrimination, and human rights violations against women. While
gendered analyses of these issues have provided valuable insights into the distinctive nature of
the harms involved, many feminist philosophers view this approach as too narrow, both in terms
of the specific issues it addresses and its methodological approach to these issues. They contend
that even apparently gender-neutral global issues often have a gendered dimension, including
war, global governance, migration, southern debt, the “resource curse,” and climate change.
2. Feminist approaches to globalization is a shared commitment to core feminist values, including
an opposition to the subordination of women. Some theorists also draw upon feminist
interpretations of mainstream moral and political ideals, such as equality, democracy, and
human rights, to develop critiques of neoliberal policies. For instance, Jaggar appeals to liberal
democratic norms to argue that many southern debt obligations are not morally binding
 because their citizenries were “largely uninformed and/or their options were virtually non-
existent” when they undertook these supposed debts. Many feminists also use the language of
human rights to address the challenges of globalization.
3. Feminist approaches to globalization is an emphasis on feminist methodologies. In particular,
these approaches tend to embody three key methodological commitments.
a. Intersectionality: They maintain that systems of oppression interact to produce injustices, for
women’s experiences of gender oppression are shaped by other forms of oppression, such as
those based on race, class, disability, and sexual orientation.
b. Sensitivity to context and concrete specificity: Feminist philosophers strive to accurately reflect
the diverse interests, experience, and concerns of women throughout the world, and to take
seriously differences in culture, history, and socio-economic and political circumstances. In this
way, feminist approaches to globalization attempt to move between local conditions and global
pressures, between historical realities and contemporary experiences of oppression and
vulnerability.
4. Feminist theorists of globalization are committed to developing self-reflexive critiques. At the
heart of this methodology is a willingness to critically examine feminist claims, with particular
attention to the ways in which feminist discourses privilege certain points of view. For instance,
Schutte insists that ostensibly universal feminist values and ideas are likely to embody the values
of dominant cultures. This helps to explain why the voices of women from developing countries
are often taken seriously only if they reflect the norms and values of the West and conform to
Western expectations. Thus, Schutte insists that feminists must engage in methodological
practices that de-center their habitual standpoints and foreground perspectives that challenge
accepted ways of thinking.

The struggle to develop feminist theories that embody these methodological commitments has been
ongoing for feminists. In the 1980s, Chandra Talpade Mohanty observed that Western feminist
scholarship tends to adopt an ethnocentric perspective, depicting so-called Third-World women as one-
dimensional, non-agentic, and homogenous. Mohanty claims that this perspective leads to a simplistic
understanding of what feminists in Western countries can do to “help” women in developing nations.
Many of the recent developments in the feminist literature on globalization can be understood as a
response to this theoretical failure. In addition to recognizing the ways in which power influences the
production of feminist theories, feminist critics of globalization strive to understand the ways in which
Western women share responsibility for gender injustices in developing countries and at home, and to
articulate their obligations to eliminate these injustices.

Distinctive Feminist Approaches

1. Postcolonial and De-colonial Feminisms: Postcolonial and de-colonial feminisms offer primarily
critical theoretical frameworks, which analyze globalization within the context of the history of
Western colonialism and imperialism. Postcolonial and de-colonial feminists make several
important claims.
a. They insist that it is impossible to understand local practices in developing countries without
acknowledging the ways in which these practices have been shaped by their economic and
historical contexts, particularly their connection to Western colonialism and imperialism.
Moreover, they warn that attempts to explain the suffering of women in developing
countries in simplistic terms often tend to reproduce a “colonial stance” toward the global
 South. For instance, as we explained above, Chandra Mohanty sees elements of imperialism
in Western feminist scholarship on women in the global South. Understanding sati in the
context of colonial history provides a richer analysis of this practice, since it gained its
symbolic power during British rule as an emblem of Hindu and Indian culture. Highlighting
the role that colonialism has played in shaping local practices enables feminists to avoid
adopting a Eurocentric perspective. Likewise, postcolonial and de-colonial feminists insist
that any feminist analysis of the harms of globalization must take seriously the history and
ongoing cultural, economic, and political effects of colonialism and imperialism.
b. Postcolonial and de-colonial feminists further argue that although traditional forms of
colonialism have formally ended, many aspects of globalization are best understood as neo-
colonial practices. As Sally Scholz explains: Multinational corporations and global businesses,
largely centered in Western nations, bring their own colonizing influence through business
models, hegemonic culture, exploitation of workers, and displacement of traditional trades.
Whereas traditional forms of colonialism entailed the colonizer assuming the privilege of
ruling the colony, this neocolonialism rules indirectly through the power it creates and
enjoys by bringing manufacturing jobs to an area or providing consumer goods to a people –
often Western inspired consumer goods as well.
c. Neoliberal policies and institutions systematically favor countries in the global North to the
detriment of southern nations. International trade policies serve Western interests even
while claiming to be politically neutral and fair. Global economic institutions also privilege
Western culture and political norms, presenting them as models for the rest of the world,
while ignoring and marginalizing the claims of women’s and indigenous movements in the
global South as well as settler nations.
2. Ethics of Care: Proponents of this approach begin by observing that most mainstream analyses
of globalization either ignore or devalue care. This is problematic because
a. care work, which is done almost exclusively by women, has been profoundly influenced by
globalization;
b. the values and work associated with care are both undervalued and insufficiently supported,
and this contributes to gender, racial, and economic inequality, both within countries and
between the global North and the global South; and
c. any viable alternative to neoliberal globalization must prioritize the moral ideal of care.
Thus, ethics of care approaches to globalization have both theoretical and practical
dimensions.
Theoretically, ethics of care feminists aim to provide a systematic critique of neoliberal
assumptions and develop moral ideals capable of guiding more just forms of globalization. In
their view, neoliberalism presupposes a problematic notion of the self, which posits individuals
as atomistic, independent, and self-interested, and an inaccurate social ontology, which
suggests that human relationships are formed by choice rather than necessity or dependency. In
their view, human beings are fundamentally relational and interdependent; individuals are
defined, indeed constituted, by their caring relationships. All persons experience long periods
during which their lives literally depend on the care of others, and everyone needs some degree
of care in order flourish. Thus, vulnerability, dependency, and need should be understood not as
deficits or limitations, but rather as essential human qualities requiring an adequate political
response. Concretely, feminist theorists who favor an ethics of care approach highlight the role
 of care work in the global economy and put forth recommendations for reevaluating it. For
example, Robinson develops a relational moral ontology that sheds lights on the features of
globalization that are usually invisible: the global distribution of care work and the
corresponding patterns of gender and racial inequality; the under-provision of public resources
for care work in both developed and developing countries; and the ways in which unpaid or low-
paid care work sustains cycles of exploitation and inequality on a global scale.
3. Transnational Feminism: In its broadest sense, transnational feminism maintains that
globalization has created the conditions for feminist solidarity across national borders. On the
one hand, globalization has enabled transnational processes that generate injustices for women
in multiple geographical locations, such the global assembly line. Yet on the other, the
technologies associated with globalization have created new political spaces that enable
feminist political resistance. Thus, transnational feminists incorporate the critical insights of
postcolonial, Third World and ethics of care feminists into a positive vision of transnational
feminist solidarity.
a. Transnational feminists are careful to point out that although globalizing processes affect
everyone, they affect different women very differently, based on their geographical and
social locations. They are also quick to acknowledge that many aspects of globalization may
benefit some women while unduly burdening many others.
b. Transnational feminist solidarity is political in nature, because transnational feminist
solidarity is based on shared political commitments rather than a common identity or
uniform set of experiences, advantaged individuals, including those who have benefited
from injustice, can join in solidarity with those who have experienced injustice or oppression
directly. The emphasis on shared political commitments also enables feminists to resist
oppressive conditions that manifest differently in different geographical locations but are
nonetheless prevalent in many countries, such as violence against women on the ground of
her race.
c. Transnational feminists focus on specific globalizing processes, such as the growth of
offshore manufacturing, rather than a theorized global patriarchy, and often take existing
transnational feminist collectives as a model for their theoretical accounts of solidarity. For
instance, Ann Ferguson argues that anti-globalization networks, such as worker-owned
cooperatives, labor unions, fair trade organizations, and land reform movements, are
creating the conditions for North-South women’s coalition movements based on non-
essentialist political commitments to global gender justice.

Practical gender needs: Women’s and girls’ needs in general are typically related to responsibilities and
tasks associated with their traditional gender roles. Responding to such practical gender needs does
achieve stability in family structures but not gender equality in societies at large. Practical gender needs
relate to basic needs like shelter, water, work, etc and these needs if not met lead to inequalities. For
example, women (unlike men) would have to travel long distances to get water for their families.

Strategic gender needs: The strategic gender needs should be understood from the lens of women’s
status in the society. The policies and programmes that promote inheritance to property and equality in
political participation (in the highest forums). Empowering entrepreneurship opportunities.