Decolonizing Universalism

Abstract

Decolonizing Universalism develops a way forward for genuinely anti-imperialist feminisms. Against ways of thinking that suggest feminists must either reject normativity altogether or bite the bullet and treat feminism as a product of Western chauvinism, the book offers a universalist conception of feminism that is not grounded in imperialism-causing values. Insisting that transnational, postcolonial, and decolonial feminisms criticize imperialism rather than valorize of cultural diversity as such, Khader advocates shifting the terms of feminist debates about imperialism. Rather than asking whether feminists should embrace any universal values, as the popular relativism/universalism framing does, the book asks whether feminism requires embracing the specific values that have been thought to be vehicles for imperialism. Khader offers a nonideal universalist conception of transnational feminist praxis, that understands feminism as opposition to sexist oppression and transnational feminist praxis as a justice-enhancing project. Her nonideal universalist vision allows feminists remain feminists without committing to the values of what she calls “Enlightenment liberalism,” including controversial forms of autonomy, secularism, and individualism, as well as gender eliminativism. The result is a new vision of solidarity according to which it can be both possible and preferable for feminisms to be rooted in worldviews that are unfamiliar to, and stigmatized by, Westerners—and a call to attend more seriously to the moral and practical meanings of “other” women’s activism. The book draws heavily on examples from international development, postcolonial theory, and Southern women’s movements.