SPRING 2013
Advanced Topics: Transnational Feminisms
SC 593
Tuesdays 3-5:30pm
McGuinn 415
Prof Sharlene Hesse-Biber, Ph D
Department of Sociology
Office: McGuinn Hall 404
Email: hesse@bc.edu
Office Hours: Wed. 3-5 p.m.
Phone: 617-552-4139
Darcey Lewis, T.A.
WGS Program, Department of English
Office: Carney 271
darcey.lewis@bc.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION
In the 1980’s, Western feminist Robin Morgan envisioned a global sisterhood—a network of women from
around the globe working together toward addressing women’s issues. Yet as the decades progressed, the
idea of a global sisterhood failed to address the profound differences among women with regard to race,
class, sexuality, and nationality, differences that often served to divide rather than unite women.
Theoretical conceptualizations of women’s lived experience tended toward a Westernization of women’s
concerns and issues.
Transnational feminism challenges the view of “global/international” feminisms that erases differences
within and between nations. There is a tendency toward a Eurocentric/Colonial viewpoint that melds
difference into one “feminist mold.” Transnational Feminisms highlight the varying contexts of women’s
lives looking at multiple frameworks of difference. Transnational Feminists focus on the link between
women’s situated lives and the ever-changing relationships in which they are engaged in in terms of
movements of people, capital and ideas. This course will challenge Western feminists to examine their
own standpoint within a global system.
Within each text, we will examine the ways in which place, nationality, and culture and other differences
impact women’s lives, as well as analyze the varied ways in which power and social control at the state
level enter women’s everyday lives that impact their sense of identity and well-being.
We hope the course will assist with building theoretical bridges as well as research links across the
global/transnational divide. We will pay special attention to the issues of different women’s standpoints
across geographical and cultural borders, and will also consider the cutting edge research being done in
transnational global issues.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Attendance and Class Discussions:
Blackboard Reading Assignments:
Book Review:
Final Research Project:
10%
35%
15%
40%
Attendance:
Your attendance and participation in the colloquium is vital. You are expected to participate in informed
discussions - to ask questions, offer critiques and analyses of the readings. The format of the class will be
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primarily discussion-driven. Students will also be expected to give group presentations on a book or topic
of their choice.
Expectations:
1) You are expected to attend class regularly. If you miss class, you are responsible for obtaining
notes, assignments as well as handouts from another student before the next class meeting. Class
attendance is required and roll will be taken. You are allowed 1 unexcused absence during the
semester. You are responsible for missing class notes.
2) You are expected to complete the reading for the day that it is assigned. It is important not to fall
behind in the readings. Your class participation and writing assignments depends upon keeping up
with the reading assignments.
3) In order to be fair to everyone, I will stick to deadlines. Late assignments will be graded down a
half a letter grade per day late. Please let me know early in the semester if a problem should arise
or if you have any special needs.
4) Please take advantage of my office hours. I would like each of you to stop by early in the semester so
we can talk about the course and I can get to know you. If you cannot come during my office hours,
you can always set up an appointment to see me.
REQUIRED READINGS (available at BC Bookstore)
1) Min, Anchee. Red Azalea. New York, NY: Berkeley Publishing Group, 1994.
2) Kristof, Nicholas D. & Sheryl WuDunn. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity
for Women Worldwide.
3) Diamant, Anita. The Red Tent.
4) Lloyd, Rachel. Girls Like Us.
5) Boo, Katherine. Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai
Undercity.
Recommended Readings: All assigned excerpts and articles will be available via Blackboard.
1) Grewal, Inderpal & Caren Kaplan. "Scattered Hegemonies: Postmodernity and Transnational
Feminist Practice."
2) Mohanty, Chandra Talpade, Ann Russo, and Lourdes Torres. "Third World Women and the
of Feminism."
Politics
3) Hesse-Biber, Sharlene Nagy & Patricia L. Levy, Eds. "Feminist Research Practice: A Primer."
4) Anzaldua, Gloria. "Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza."
5) Alexander, Jacqui M. & Chandra Talpade Mohanty. "Feminist Genealogies, Colonial Legacies,
Democratic Futures (Thinking Gender)"
6) Ehrenreich, Barbara & Arlie Russell Hochschild. "Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex
Workers in the New Economy."
7) Mohanty, Chandra Talpade. "Feminism Without Borders: Decolonizing, Theory, Practicing
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Solidarity."
8) Naples, Nancy A. & Manisha Desai, Eds. "Women's Activism and Globalization: Linking
Local Struggles and Transnational Politics."
9) Narayan, Uma. "Dislocating Cultures: Identities, Traditions, and Third World Feminism
(Thinking Gender).
IN-DEPTH DESCRIPTION OF COURSE REQUIREMENTS
READING RESPONSES (~200-300 words per entry)
You are required to respond weekly to a question posted to the course’s Blackboard site. The questions
will invite you to specifically engage with the readings on a meaningful and critical level. You will be
asked to consider the ideas presented by specific authors, the ways that you have integrated the readings
into your thinking, and the ways in which your personal experiences relate to the issues raised in the
readings. Questions will be posted to Blackboard by Wednesday evenings at 5pm and you will be
expected to respond by 9am the following Tuesday. In addition to the first question, you will be asked
to write a “post-reflection” in which you consider how your previous reflections are impacted by the class
discussion. The post-reflection will be due by Wednesday at 5pm.
_____________________________________________________________________________
LEADING (2) DISCUSSION GROUPS
In keeping with feminist pedagogy, each student will lead TWO classroom discussions (with a partner) of
course material this semester as part of an individual or group assignment. Classroom discussion can be
organized in several ways, but all discussants should be sure that there is equity in participation from class
members. You are expected to provide discussion questions for the class session.
Here are some discussion tips:
You might begin by reviewing the week’s readings. This should not be a summary, but if you choose to
summarize don’t spend more than 3 minutes doing so. Be certain to raise the critical questions and issues
in each reading. How are these readings connected? Compare and contrast readings, etc.
All students are expected to bring the readings to class, and you should refer to specific passages of text
where applicable. Textual focus is essential to class discussion. Discussion means discussion, not
lecturing. The discussion should move towards a very clear understanding of each reading and its
complex context.
The role of the discussion leader is to move the discussion along and on topic, making sure all of the
readings get covered. Be sure to create an open environment where all points of view can be heard and
students can feel safe to express their opinions. Do not favor one discussant over another. The discussion
leader must take a strong role to ensure that the discussion covers the material and that there is equity and
continuity in the discussion. Be sure discussion stays on the readings.
_____________________________________________________________________________
BOOK REVIEW (3-4 pages)
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You will be expected to complete a book review and present on one of the assigned texts. In 3-4
pages, you will be asked to critically evaluate the text, drawing parallels to the topics and issues
raised in class. You will then have the opportunity to give a short class presentation on your
review and prepare some discussion questions around the issues it raises.
OPTIONAL: BOOK REVIEW EXTRA CREDIT: You will have the option of
completing a review and presenting on a book of your choosing that is related to the course
content. The book will first need to be approved by the instructor. You will be asked to
prepare a short summary and an excerpt of the book one week prior to your presentation so that
your instructor and classmates are familiar with the text. You will then prepare a 3-4 page review
in which you critically evaluate the text and draw parallels to the topics and issues raised in class,
as well as give a short presentation.
FINAL RESEARH PAPER (15-20 pages)
Due Tuesday, April 30th You will be expected to prepare a final research paper on a topic of
your choosing related to transnational and global feminisms, 15-20 pages in length. You will be
expected to engage critically with secondary sources and will submit a short abstract and
annotated bibliography mid-semester.
COURSE OUTLINE AND READINGS
Week 1: January 15 th
Introduction to interdisciplinary and transnational approaches to Women’s Studies
Theories of Globalization versus Transnationalism.
1) Grewal, Inderpal & Caren Kaplan. “Introduction” in Scattered Hegemonies. (Pgs. 1-36)
2) Mohanty, Chandra Talpade. “Cartographies of Struggle: Third World Women and the Politics of
Feminism.” Third World Women and the Politics of Feminism. (Pgs. 1-47)
Total Pages: 83
Week 2: January 22 nd
Studying Women’s Lives: Feminist Research Methodologies and Methods.
How to women go about studying subjugated knowledge/women’s lives?
Discussion Leader: Prof. Hesse-Biber
1) Begin reading: Boo, Katherine. Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai
Undercity. (Pgs. 3-132).
2) Mohanty, Chandra Talpade. “Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses.”
Feminism Without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity. (Pgs. 17-42).
3) Hesse-Biber, Sharlene. “An Invitation to Feminist Research.” Feminist Research Practice: A Primer,
2nd Edition. (Pgs. 1-26)
- “The Practice of Feminist In-depth Interviewing.” (Pgs. 111-148)
4) Buch, Elana D. & Karen M. Staller. “The Feminist Practice of Ethnography.” (Pgs. 187-222)
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Total Pages: 165
Week 3: January 29 th
Decentering Western Feminism: What is Transnational Feminism compared with Global
Feminism?
Discussion Leaders: Brenna & Chloe
1) Boo, Katherine. Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity.
(Pgs. 135-234).
2) Chatterjee, Partha. "Colonialism, Nationalism, and Colonialized Women: The Contest in India."
American Ethnologist 16(4) (Pgs. 622-633)
3) Deniz Kandiyoti, Deniz. 1988. “Bargaining with Patriarchy.” Gender and Society 2(3): (Pgs. 274-290)
Total Pages: 150
Week 4: February 5 th
Overview: The Status of Women in a Transnational Context
Discussion Leaders: Lizzie & Lauren
1) Kristof, Nicholas D. & Sheryl WuDunn. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for
Women Worldwide. (Pgs. 1-320)
2) Dyson, Tim. “Causes and Consequences of Skewed Sex Ratios,” Annual Review of Sociology, 38.
(Pgs. 443–61)
Total Pages: 338
Week 5: February 12 th
Studying Women’s Lives: Identity Dilemmas from a Transnational Feminist Lense
Discussion Leader: Francesca
1) Begin Reading: Min, Anchee. Red Azalea. (Pgs. 1-#)
2) Lloyd, Cynthia, ed, “Growing Up Global: The Changing Transitions to Adulthood in Developing
Countries.” Washington: National Research Council, Panel on Transitions to Adulthood in
Developing Countries. Ch.3, 5,7,8.
-Chapter 3: “Schooling” (Pgs. 65-167)
-Chapter 5: “The Transition to Work” (263-345)
Total Pages: 184
Week 6: February 19 th
Studying Women’s Lives: Critical Agency and the Claiming of Selfhood
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Discussion Leaders: Maddie & Darcey
1) Continue Reading: Min, Anchee. Red Azalea. (Pgs.
2) Anzaldua, Gloria. Excerpts from La Frontera (Borderlands).
-“Introduction” (Pgs. 1-23)
-“Entering into the Serpent” (Pgs. 47-63)
2) Moya, Paula. “Postmodernism, ‘Realism,’ and the Politics of Identity: Cherríe Moraga and Chicana
Feminism.” Feminist Genealogies, Colonial Legacies, Democratic Futures. (Pgs. 125-150)
-Wekker, Gloria. “One Finger Does Not Drink Okra Soup: Afro-Surinamese Women
and Critical Agency.” (Pgs. 330-352)
Total Pages: 86
Week 7: February 26 th
Part I: Gender, Sexuality and Politics of the Body—Marriage and Motherhood
Discussion Leaders: Caroline & Ali
1) Diamant, Anita. The Red Tent. (Pgs. 5-244)
Total Pages: 239
Recommended Reading:
1) Hungwe, Chipo. “Putting Them in Their Place: ‘Respectable’ and ‘Unrespectable’ Women in
Zimbabwean Gender Struggles.” Feminist Africa 6. (Pgs. 33-47)
2) Gonzalvez, Vernadette V. and Robyn Magalit Rodriguez. “Filipina.com: Wives, Workers, and Whores
on the Cyberfrontier.” (Pgs. 215-235)
March 5 th
NO CLASS-SPRING VACATION
Week 8: March 12 th
Part II Gender, Sexuality, and Politics of the Body—Sexual and Bodily Identities
Discussion Leaders: TBD
Abstract and Annotated Bibliography Due
1) Begin Reading: ) Loyd, Rachel. Girls Like Us: Fighting for a World Where Girls are not for Sale: A
Memoir. (Pgs. 1-132)
2) Grewal, Inderpal & Karen Kaplan. “Global Identities: Theorizing Transnational Studies of Sexuality.”
GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 7(4). (Pgs. 663-79)
3) Salo, Elaine & Pumla Dineo Gqola. “Subaltern Sexualities.” Feminist Africa 6. (Pgs. 1-6)
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4) Horn, Jessica. “Re-righting the Sexual Body” Feminist Africa 6. (Pgs. 7-19)
Total Pages: 166
Week 9: March 19 th
Part I The Business of Violence against Women: Trafficking in Women’s Bodies—
International Sex Trade in the New Global Re-structuring
Take a look at the website, www.catwinternational.org, and come prepared with some observations and
discussion points.
Discussion Leaders: Maddie & Britt
1) Loyd, Rachel. Girls Like Us: Fighting for a World Where Girls are not for Sale: A Memoir.
(Pgs. 133-268)
2) Agustin, Laura. “Migrants in the Mistresses House: Other Voices in the ‘Trafficking’ Debate.” Social
Politics 12. (Pgs. 96-117).
3) Kempadoo, Kamala. “Women of Color and the Global Sex Trade: Transnational Perspectives.”
Meridians 1(2). (Pgs. 28-51)
Total Pages: 179
Recommended Reading:
4) Kempadoo, Kamala and Jo Doezma. “Introduction: Globalizing Sex Worker’s Rights.”
Global Sex Workers: Rights, Resistance, and Redefinition. (Pgs. 1-28)
-“The Association of Autonomous Workers, Ecuador, ‘22nd June” (Pgs. 172-177)
-“Japanese Sex Workers: Encourage, Empower, Trust, and Love Yourselves” (Pgs. 178-181)
-“The Exotic Dancers Alliance: An Interview with Dawn Passar and Johanna Breyer” (Pgs. 182191).
Week 10: March 26 th
Part II The Business of Violence against Women: Discourses and Dilemmas across
National Borders
Discussion Leader: Francesca
1) Shelley, Louise. Human Trafficking: A Global Perspective.
-“The Business of Human Trafficking.” (Pgs. 112-140)
2) Mungello, D.E. Drowning Girls in China: Female Infanticide in China since 1960.
-“Female Infanticide” (Pgs. 1-6)
-“Female Infanticide in Modern China” (Pgs. 117-126)
3) Narayan, Uma. “Cross-Cultural Connections, Border-Crossings, and ‘Death by Culture’: Thinking
about Dowry-Murders in India and Domestic-Violence Murders in the US. Dislocating Cultures:
Identities, Traditions, and Third World Feminism (Thinking Gender). (Pgs. 1-40).
Total Pages: 83
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Recommended Reading:
1) Shelley, Louise. Human Trafficking: A Global Perspective.
-“Asian Trafficking” (Pgs. 141-173)
-“Human Trafficking in Eurasia and Eastern Europe” (Pgs. 174-200)
-“Trafficking in Europe” (Pgs. 201-228)
-“Human Trafficking in Latin America and Africa” (Pgs. 265-294)
Week 11: April 2 nd
Part I The Global Economy: Third World Women and the Politics of Development
Discussion Leaders: Caroline & Darcey
1) Mohanty, Chandra Talpade. “Women Workers and Capitalist Scripts: Ideologies of Domination,
Common Interests, and the Politics of Solidarity.” Feminist Genealogies, Colonial Legacies,
Democratic Futures. (Pgs. 3-29)
2) Narayan, Uma. “Contesting Cultures: ‘Westernization,’ Respect for Cultures, and Third-World
Feminists.” Dislocating Cultures: Identities, Traditions, and Third World Feminism (Thinking
Gender). (Pgs. 1-40)
3) Ramamaurthy, Priti. “Material Consumers, Fabricating Subjects: Perplexity, Global Connectivity
Discourses, and Transnational Feminist Research” in Cultural
Anthropology (online). 18(4). (Pgs. 524-550).
Total Pages: 92
Week 12: April 9 th
Part II The Global Economy: Transnational Women as Workers and Consumers
Discussion Leader: Britt & Chloe
1) Grewal, Inderpal. “Traveling Barbie: Indian Transnationalities and the Global Consumer.”
Transnational America: Feminisms, Diasporas, Neoliberalisms. (Pgs. 80-120).
2) Barndt, Deborah. “Whose ‘Choice’?: ‘Flexible’ Women Workers in the Tomato Food Chain.” Women
Working the NAFTA Food Chain: Women, Food and Globalization. (Pgs. #-#).
3) Parreñas, Rhacel Salazar. “The Care Crisis in the Phillippines: Children and the Transnational Families
in the New Global Economy.” Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New
Economy. (Pgs. 39-54)
4) Anderson, Bridget. “Just Another Job? The Commodification of Domestic Labor.” Global Woman:
Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy. (Pgs. 104-114)
5) Brennan, Denise. “Selling Sex for Visas: Sex Tourism as a Stepping-stone to International Migration.”
Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy. (Pgs. 154-168)
6) Thai, Hung Cam. “Clashing Dreams: Highly Educated Overseas Brides and Low-Wage U.S.
Husbands.” Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy. (Pgs. 230-
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253)
Total Pages: 79
Week 13: April 16 th
Women’s Health Dilemmas and Issues in Transnational perspective
Discussion Leader: Lizzie
1) Pande, Amrita. “Commercial Surrogacy in India: Manufacturing a Perfect Mother-Worker.” (Pgs. 969992)
2) Corrêa, Sonia. “From Reproductive Health to Sexual Rights: Achievements and Future Challenges.”
Reproductive Health Matters, Vol. 5, No. 10. (Pgs. 107-116)
3) George, Sabu. “Female Infanticide in Tamil Nadu, India: From Recognition Back to Denial.”
Reproductive Health Matters. (Pgs. 124-132)
4) Carpenter, Laura M. “Gender and the Meaning and Experiences of Virginity Loss in the Contemporary
United States.” Gender and Society. (Pgs. 345-365)
5) Higgins, Jenny A., Susie Hoffman, & Shari L. Dworkin. “Rethinking Gender, Heterosexual Men,
Women’s Vulnerability to HIV/AIDS.” American Journal of Public Health. (Pgs. 435-445)
6) Hunt, Paul & Judith Bueno de Mesquita. “Reducing Maternal Mortality: The Contribution of the Right
to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health.” (Pgs. 3-15)
Total Pages: 82
Week 14: April 23 rd
Media Representation
Discussion Leader: Brenna
1) McDonald, Myra. “Muslim Women and the Veil: Problems of Image and Voice in Media
Representation.” Feminist Media Studies 6(1). (Pgs. 7-23)
2) Cuklanz, Lisa & Sujata Moorti. “Introduction: Tracking Global Media and Local Activism.” Local
Violence, Global Media: Intersections in Communication and Culture: Global Approaches and
Transdisciplinary Perspectives. (Pgs. 1-26)
3) Alcalde, Cristina M. “Ripped from the Headlines: Newspaper Depictions of Battered Women in Peru.”
Local Violence, Global Media. (Pgs. 46-64)
4) Angst, Linda Isako. “The Sacrifice of a Schoolgirl: the 1995 Rape Case, Discourses of Power, and
Women’s Lives in Okinawa.” Local Violence, Global Media. (Pgs. 132-159)
5) Boyle, Karen. “Gendered Narratives of Childhood Sexual Abuse in Fiction Film.” Local Violence,
Global Media. (Pgs. 201-221)
Total Pages: 99
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Week 15: April 30 th
Challenges and Possibilities of Transnational Feminisms & Women’s Organizing within
and across borders.
Discussion Leader: TBD
FINAL PAPER DUE
1) Mohanty, Chandra Talpade. ‘ “Under Western Eyes” Revisited: Feminist Solidarity through
Anticapitalist Struggles.’ Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 2(2) (Pgs. 499-535)
2) Naples, Nancy A. & Manisha Desai, eds. Women’s Activism and Globalization: Linking Local
Struggles and Transnational Politics.
-“The Challenges and Possibilities of Transnational Feminist Praxis.” (Pgs. 263-278)
-Fukumura, Yoko & Martha Matsuoka. “Redefining Security: Okinawa Women’s
Resistance to U.S. Militarism.” (Pgs. 235-262)
-Desai, Manisha. “Transnational Solidarity: Women’s Agency, Structural Adjustment,
Globalization.” (Pgs. 14-33)
-Mendez, Jennifer Bickham. “Creating Alternatives from a Gender Perspective: Transnational
Organizing for Maquila Workers’ Rights in Central America” (Pgs. 121-141)
Total Pages: 117
Recommended Reading:
3) Weber, Clare, “Women to Women: Dissident Citizen Diplomacy in Nicaragua.” In WAG Ch. 4, (Pgs.
45-63)
Final Meeting & Dinner party!!!
Friday, May 3 rd at 6pm in Carney 272. Be prepared to talk
informally about your final paper.
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