Universität Wien

240118 VO VM4 / VM7 - Decolonial Feminism (2025S)

Debatten, Theorien und anti-postfeministische Interventionen

4.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 24 - Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie
Moodle
Th 22.05. 09:45-11:15 Hörsaal A, NIG 4.Stock

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Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).
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Details

max. 25 participants
Language: German

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

Teaching event on April 10, open day:
We meet at 10:00 am in the C3 Library (Centre for International Development) in 1090 Vienna, Sensengasse 3.
Visitors are warmly invited!

  • Thursday 06.03. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal A, NIG 4.Stock
  • Thursday 13.03. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal A, NIG 4.Stock
  • Thursday 20.03. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal A, NIG 4.Stock
  • Thursday 27.03. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal A, NIG 4.Stock
  • Thursday 03.04. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal A, NIG 4.Stock
  • Thursday 10.04. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal A, NIG 4.Stock
  • Thursday 08.05. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal A, NIG 4.Stock
  • Thursday 15.05. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal A, NIG 4.Stock
  • Thursday 05.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal A, NIG 4.Stock
  • Thursday 12.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal A, NIG 4.Stock
  • Thursday 26.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal A, NIG 4.Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Feminisms of the global south are diverse but share the criticism of hegemonic global feminism as an international governance/policy that is oriented towards the historical experiences and (class) interests or privileges of white middle-class women. Post- and decolonial feminists reject the prioritization of gender over other categories of oppression (race, class) and focus on gender as a dispositif of colonial rule and on intersectionality as a theory of social inequality, not diversity.

The course will focus on some configurations of post- and decolonial feminist criticism:
1) the criticism of a neoliberal-oriented “postfeminism” (McRobbie 2009) as the feminism of privileged female-identified cis people;
- 2) the historical criticism of “imperial feminism” as well as current right-wing populist articulations in the EU and USA, which are described in terms such as homo- (Puar 2007), femo-nationalism (Farris 2012; 2017) or “antigenderism” (Hark/Villa 2015) and exploit feminist demands for racist, anti-Muslim and homophobic rhetoric aimed at (refugee) migrants;
- 3) social science feminist inequality research (>care sociology) and
- 4) the conceptualization of intersectionality as a theory of diversity vs. the theorization of multiple oppressions.

Assessment and permitted materials

- The students answer 3 to 4 exam questions about the content of the course and the basic literature. The list of questions will be announced in advance.
- Since these are overview questions, the use of written documents compiled in advance is permitted.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Written exams 4 ECTS
A total of 3 questions have to be answered (max. number of points: 32), of which 2 questions (max. 10 points each) are from a questionnaire, question 3 contains a review of an item from the basic literature list (max. 12 points).

Points:
0-15 = 5
16-20 = 4
21-25 = 3
26-30 = 2
31-32 = 1

Examination topics

>list of exam questions

Reading list

Collins, Patricia Hill. 2019. Intersectionality as Critical Social Theory. Durham, London: Duke University Press.
Anzaldúa, Gloria. 2012 (O. 1987). Borderlands / La Frontera: The New Mestiza. San Fransisco: Aunt Lute Books.
Farris, Sara R. (2017). In the Name of Women's Rights: The Rise of Femonationalism. Duke University Press.
Fuchs, Brigitte/Habinger, Gabriele (Hg.). 1996. Rassismen und Feminismen. Differenzen, Machtverhältnisse und Solidarität zwischen Frauen. Wien.
Gill, Rosalind. 2017. Post-postfeminism? New feminist visibilities in postfeminist times. Feminist Media Studies 16( 4): 610–630.
Giraldo, Isis. 2022. The Weaponization of ‘Gender’ beyond Gender: The Entrenchment of ‘Coloniality of Power’ and ‘Pedagogies of Cruelty’. In: Burke, Jenny; Coffey, Julia; Gill, Rosalind, and Akane Kanai (eds). Gender in an Era of Post-truth Populism: Pedagogies, Chal¬lenges and Strategies. London: Bloomsbury Academic, S. 43-64.
Graneß, Anke; Kopf, Martina; Kraus, Magdalena. 2019. Feministische Theorie aus Afrika, Asien und Lateinamerika. Wien: Facultas.
Hark, Sabine/Villa, Paula-Irene (Hg.). 2015. Anti-Genderismus: Sexualität und Geschlecht als Schauplätze aktueller politischer Auseinandersetzungen. Bielefeld: transcript.
Lugones, María. 2010. Toward a Decolonial Femi¬nism. In: Hypatia. vol. 25/No. 4 (Fall): 742–759.
McRobbie Angela. 2009. The Aftermath of Feminism: Gender, Culture and Social Change. London: Sage.
Mohanty, Chandra T. 2003. Feminism without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity. Durham: Duke University Press.
Pitts, Andrea J. et al. (eds). 2020. Theories of the Flesh: Latinx and Latin American Fem¬inisms, Transformation, and Re¬sistance. Oxford University Press, pp. 29–37.
Puar, Jasbir K. 2007. Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times. Duke University Press.
Segato, Rita L. 2015. La crítica de la colonialidad en ocho ensayos Y una antropología por demanda. Buenos Aires: Prometeo.
Spivak, Gayatri. 1999. A Critique of Postcolonial Reason: Towards a History of the Van-ishing Pre¬sent. Cambridge/Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Vergès, Francoise. 2019. Un féminisme décolonial. Paris: Fabrique

Association in the course directory

VM4 / VM7;

Last modified: Th 03.04.2025 16:06