Decolonial Feminism(s) as Border Thinking

• In Event: Inter-Epistemic Dialogues With Decolonial Studies From Latin America

Abstract

Purpose
This essay examines the trajectory of decolonial feminism(s), as a concept and movement, from the work of Maria Lugones, who linked Euro-colonialism to gender, to the more recent amplifications of decolonial feminism(s). As Ochoa (2019) notes, there is no ‘one’ decolonial feminism. While decolonial theory aims to delink from monolithic and unitary analyses of global exploitation, the concepts of gender and feminism continue to evolve within this framework, grounded in the lived experiences of women around the globe. While many feminist activist-intellectuals may not necessarily articulate their analyses and movements as decolonial, I examine substance rather than the politics of naming, to thread the ideas and practices building a new conceptual register for understanding and practicing decolonial feminism(s).

Perspectives
The emergent field of decolonial feminism(s) crosses national boundaries and geographic polarities. Decolonial feminism(s) is conceived as a mode of border thinking, where women occupy multiple physical spaces, as well as epistemological spaces. Examining current forms of decolonial feminism(s) as border thinking, I trace it back to the work of Gloria Anzaldúa and others who explored the metaphysical dimensions of ‘being neither here nor there’ as a central aspect of reprieve and transcendence from patriarchal domination. This is a point echoed by Ochy Curiel (2016), an Afro-Dominican decolonial feminist activist/scholar, who examines decolonial thought and activism genealogically. Bridging decolonial feminism(s) entails a deep understanding of the epistemic contributions of women of color who have exposed the entanglement of systems of domination across borders. This essay bridges two concepts, decolonial feminism and border thinking, as the conceptual terrain in which feminism(s) emerge, grounded in the embodiment of historical and material relations across multiple and intertwined spaces.

Method
I employ feminist discourse analysis within a decolonial framework. I research core concepts espoused by women of color in the U.S. feminist movement, as well as in Latin America and the Caribbean, to explore the historical legacy of coloniality within women’s writings and activism. Feminist discourse analysis adopts a critical feminist view of gender relations, “motivated by the need to change the existing conditions of these relations” (Lazar, 2013). My analysis historicizes gender relations within the optic of coloniality to better understand how current decolonial feminism builds upon the work of its predecessors and expands ideas and modes of activism.

Results/Conclusion/Significance
This essay unearths the concepts of women of color activist-intellectuals that maintain a plurality of thought and identities articulated in distinct social contexts Concerned with the epistemological contributions made within decolonial feminism(s), this essay is situated within the broader discourses of anti-colonial and de-colonizing thought and methodology. The point is not to situate decolonial thought in contradistinction with the significant work undertaken by anti-colonial and de-colonizing scholars (Smith, 2012; Tuck & Yang, 2012) but rather, to consider the unique contexts and histories of our respective positions, from the standpoint of women’s thought and activism. Ultimately, this essay builds connections and demonstrates the importance of genealogy in linking current concepts and ideas with those that have come before, under different historical circumstances and contingencies.

Author

• Nathalia E Jaramillo, Kennesaw State University