Global Feminisms, Transnational Political Economies, Third World Cultural Production

Abstract

Third wave feminism claims — rightly so — that new modalities of feminism must be invented for the new millennium.1 But is it enough to generate new conceptions of feminism and new forms of activism that pertain almost exclusively to people in wealthy countries, as the third wave has generally done so far? This chapter will argue that in an increasingly globalised context, it is crucial that feminism be conceived and enacted in global terms, and that Western feminists engage with women’s movements the world over. Feminism’s third wave emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when information technology and transnational finance became the most powerful economic forces in the postindustrial Western countries, enabling those nations to dominate the rest of the world more effectively than ever before. Two aspects of this development fundamentally shaped Western feminism of the 1990s: the erosion of the Left’s long-standing bases for political solidarity with the Third World; and the growing importance of information technologies in mobilising feminist political constituencies, as well as linking women with common interests and concerns, and thus creating new forms of community. Owing to the de-industrialisation in the 1980s, this period was characterised by corporate downsizing, underemployment, and high unemployment, especially in Europe. Western democracies were failing to fulfil their post-World War II promise to provide a decent life to all members of their societies.

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