Dilemmas of feminist practice in transnational spaces: Solidarity, personal growth, and potential solutions

Rajan, Hamsa; Thornhill, Kerrie

doi:10.1080/0966369x.2019.1618246

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Scholars and activists engaged in transnational feminist research have intensely debated the possibilities and challenges of forming bonds across political, racial, sexual, class, and ability differences, among women. The insider/outsider dilemma, the North/South divide, as well as the harms of homogenizing and essentializing the communities under study have also been fundamental aspects of these conversations (Rajan and Thornhill 2019). The question of the politics of solidarity remains at the center of these debates, as evident in a slew of recent special issues on this topic (Rajan and Thornhill 2019;Hundle, Szeman, and Hoare 2019;Gunaratnam and Hamilton 2017).…”

Section: Embracing Solidarity and Discomfort As Feminist Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The insider/outsider dilemma, the North/South divide, as well as the harms of homogenizing and essentializing the communities under study have also been fundamental aspects of these conversations (Rajan and Thornhill 2019). The question of the politics of solidarity remains at the center of these debates, as evident in a slew of recent special issues on this topic (Rajan and Thornhill 2019;Hundle, Szeman, and Hoare 2019;Gunaratnam and Hamilton 2017). Thus, the problematic relationship between scholars and participants and the politics of knowledge production continues to haunt transnational feminist studies.…”

Section: Embracing Solidarity and Discomfort As Feminist Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Being able, and wanting, to align our feminist politics with our empirical findings has been amply debated in this journal (Avishai, Gerber, and Randles 2013;Sandstrom and Opsal 2013). The meanings of "feminism" across geographies of power-North/South being a fundamental one-is also central to debates in feminist transnational research (Rajan and Thornhill 2019;Rajan 2017;Nagar 2014). It is a definite site of discomfort.…”

Section: Sulá Batsú the Creative Spiritmentioning

confidence: 99%

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“How Will You Give Back?”: On Becoming a Compañera as a Feminist Methodology from the Cracks

Valle

2021

Journal of Contemporary Ethnography

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Issues of power, inequality, and representation in the production of knowledge have a long history in transnational feminist research. And yet the unequal relationship between ethnographers and participants continues to haunt feminist research. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork with the cooperative Sulá Batsú in Costa Rica between 2015 and 2019, in this essay I argue that centering solidarity and working through discomfort creates relationships that can reinvent and endure the persistent imbalance of power between researcher and participant. I conceptualize a solidarity-based methodology that is uncomfortable, tossing between "us and them," the objective and the subjective, akin to Gloria Anzaldúa’s “nepantla,” a liminal space of both fragmentation and unification, of both anguish and healing: a methodology from the cracks. In this essay, I reflect upon my experiences as a Puerto Rican feminist researcher focusing on Sulá Batsú, specifically on my relationship with the coop’s general coordinator. I conducted ethnographic fieldwork with the coop, including participant observation, in-depth interviews, and textual analysis of their research, briefs, blog posts, presentations, and promotional literature.

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Section: Embracing Solidarity and Discomfort As Feminist Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Embracing Solidarity and Discomfort As Feminist Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sulá Batsú the Creative Spiritmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

“How Will You Give Back?”: On Becoming a Compañera as a Feminist Methodology from the Cracks

Valle

2021

Journal of Contemporary Ethnography

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“…Incorporating the scholar into social justice initiatives and organizations requires a kind of solidarity that can navigate the complexities of privilege (Sultana, 2007; Rajan & Thornhill, 2019). Orthodox notions of solidarity, for example, often rely on enforcing in and out groups to sustain coalitions (Kelliher, 2018), which frequently leads to the erasure of the particularities of struggle according to race, gender, sexuality, ability, or place (Rice & Burke, 2018).…”

Section: Solidarity In Research Methodologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solidarity for whom? Interrogating solidarity in geographic research methodologies

Gagliano

2021

Geography Compass

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Calls for researchers to be in solidarity with research participants in hopes of reducing the exploitative research practices inherited through centuries of extractive methods have become the norm in Geography. Participatory research models, diversity in publication forums and types, and redirecting material university resources toward participants have all emerged as ways of altering research methods to practice solidarity with participants. While these are important endeavors, they do not consider solidarity as something which alters the field of research itself. When considering the complexities and limitations of the coalitional possibilities brought forth by solidarity, it becomes apparent that solidarity does not resolve the ethical dilemmas of fieldwork and knowledge production. Experience from field research in Paraguay has demonstrated that practicing solidarity as part of research raises new ethical challenges that alter the multiple encounters that constitute the research process and beyond.

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“…Transnational feminism provides the analytical lens through which to consider the transformations possible through IDV programs, with emphasis on the historical and political context of the countries under examination (Perold et al, 2013; Wemlinger & Berlan, 2016). Rajan and Thornhill (2019, p. 1345) build on the rich body of literature around the unintended consequences of feminist collaboration between “Northerners” and “Southerners.” The authors point to the studies around the “characterizations of privilege as an obstacle to solidarity work that tend to insufficiently discuss how solidarity may be enhanced, even across chasms of racial, class, national and other forms of difference” (Rajan & Thornhill, 2019, p. 1347). Recognizing the diverse environmental, social, cultural, and economic landscapes in which IDVs are located sheds light on opportunities for examining varying perceptions of GEWE that are challenged, contested, and celebrated in local, national, and regional settings.…”

Section: A Theoretical Framework For Gender Equality In Internationalmentioning

confidence: 99%

International Development Volunteering as Transformational Feminist Practice for Gender Equality

Tiessen

Rao

Lough

2020

Journal of Developing Societies

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International and transnational commitments to gender equality require strategies that tackle root causes and prevailing attitudes that perpetuate disparities. In this article, we examine the role and impact of international development volunteers (IDV) as development actors who are well-placed for feminist transformational change, as they work in transnational spaces to influence, support, or reinforce changes in attitudes and behaviors towards gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE). This qualitative study analyses data collected from 45 interviews in three countries (Malawi, Kenya and Uganda) to document partner organization perspectives on relational dynamics emerging from interactions with IDVs. Partner organization staff highlighted several notable positive and negative contributions to GEWE outcomes arising from day-to-day interactions with IDVs. These interactions shaped their understandings of GEWE, enhanced confidence for GEWE programming, and provided exposure to role models who can shape alternative attitudes and behaviors to gender equality. While the study revealed varying degrees of challenges and benefits for partner organizations working with volunteers specifically on gender equality, partner organization staff highlighted contributions made by IDVs to transnational spatial relations, as well as the transformational interactions that shaped these relations. Insights provided by partner country staff members offer subaltern perspectives and rich insights into the contributions of IDVs in gender equality programming and shed new light on the challenges and opportunities for fostering transnational feminist spaces of knowledge sharing, relationship building, and alternative practices.

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Dilemmas of feminist practice in transnational spaces: Solidarity, personal growth, and potential solutions

Cited by 10 publications

References 14 publications

“How Will You Give Back?”: On Becoming a Compañera as a Feminist Methodology from the Cracks

“How Will You Give Back?”: On Becoming a Compañera as a Feminist Methodology from the Cracks

Solidarity for whom? Interrogating solidarity in geographic research methodologies

International Development Volunteering as Transformational Feminist Practice for Gender Equality

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