wmst 52 syllabus


	Course Overview
	Required Reading
	Schedule
	Assignments Send E-mail to Professor Liebowitz Send E-mail to class
	*Course Overview:* This course is intended to give you the tools to become knowledgeable about the tremendous range of women's and feminist activism globally. We will analyze those cultural, economic and political conditions that promote, inhibit and incite activism to promote women's rights. Three general questions will guide our path of inquiry: (1) What do you need to know to understand women's condition in a specific place? (2) What factors contribute to women's ability to alter their conditions? (3) How, when and why do women's movements emerge? In order gain the tools to know how to approach these questions, we will be particularly attentive to the local, the global, and their interactions. The course will be divided up into three primary sections. We begin the course by examining the major theoretical questions that undergird the study of global feminisms. Here we will look at the meaning of ‘global' and the meaning of ‘feminism', particularly, is feminism a U.S. and European phenomena that has been exported to most of the rest of the world or are there indigenous "third world" feminisms? We will ask questions about the relationship between "women's movements" and "feminist movements" and think about whether they ought to be used interchangeably as we question who gets to define what is in "women's interest" and what is not. The second part of the course is designed to apply these insights to a variety of political, cultural, and economic issues in order to learn about how these factors shape women's lives and their abilities to advocate for their rights. The final section of the course will focus on the form and content of women's international mobilization efforts. Here we will pay particular attention to the role that the United Nations and other international fora have played in facilitating and sustaining global feminisms.
	*Required Reading:* Tsitsi Dangarembga. 1996. Nervous Conditions. Seattle: Seal Press. Uma Narayan. 1997. Dislocating Cultures: Identities, Traditions, and Third World Feminism. New York: Routledge. Raka Ray. 1999. Fields of Protest: Women's Movements in India. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Joni Seager, The State of Women in the World Atlas, 2d ed. (New York: Penguin Books USA Inc., 1997). Loung Ung. 2000. First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers. New York: Perennial - An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Inc. In addition a packet of readings is required. You can either purchase the packet from Lydia Feldman in the Political Science department or download the articles off of the campus network. The electronic version of the packet can be found in the My Computer folder, "Fa 2002" on Whoville/courses ‘[K:] in the reserve folder for WMST 52. Lydia's desk is to the left just as you walk in the front door of Smith House.
	COURSE SCHEDULE SECTION I: THEORIZING ‘GLOBAL' AND ‘FEMINISM(S)' 1. 9/4: Introduction to the course Seager #16 2. 9/9: Gender and Global Issues #1 Tsitsi Dangarembga. 1996. Nervous Conditions. Seager #30 3. 9/11: NO CLASS - Attend at least one session of the Sept. 11th Program at Drew Holiday: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16th - NO CLASS 4. Tuesday, 9/17: Gender and Global Issues #2 Tsitsi Dangarembga. 1996. Nervous Conditions. Ayesha Imam, Simon Matsvai, and Jan Reynders, "Evaluating A Social Change Network: Women in Law and Development in Africa" in Measuring the Immeasurable: Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation of Networks, edited by Marilee Karl with Anita Anand, Floris Blankenberg, Allert Van Den Ham, Adrian Saldanha, pages 151-157. Seager #9, 21, 27 Film: "Women with Open Eyes" (Femmes Aux Yeux Ouverts) 5. Wednesday 9/18: What is Global about Feminisms? #1 Bunch, Charlotte. 1987. "Bringing the Global Home." In Passionate Politics: Feminist Theory in Action. New York: St. Martin's Press, pp. 328-345. Seager #2 6. 9/23: What is Global about Feminisms? #2 Uma Narayan, "Contesting Cultures" (Chapter 1) [DC] Anderson, Benedict. 1991. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. New York: Verso, pp. 5-8. Abstract #1 DUE (for reading #'s 5 & 6) 7. 9/25: Is feminism "Western"? #1 Uma Narayan, "Restoring History and Politics to ‘Third-World Traditions'" (Chapter 2). [DC] Uma Narayan, "Through the Looking-Glass Darkly" (Chapter 4). [DC] Abstract #2 DUE (for reading #7) SECTION II: HISTORICIZING FEMINISM 8. 9/30: Navigating colonialism and nationalism - Indian feminism #1 Georgina Waylen. 1996. "Colonialism" in Gender in Third World Politics, pp.46-69. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers. Raka Ray. Fields of Protest. Pages 1-44. 9. 10/2: Navigating colonialism and nationalism - Indian feminism #2 Raka Ray. Fields of Protest. Pages 45-101. Seager #6 10. 10/7: Navigating colonialism and nationalism - Indian feminism #3 Raka Ray. Fields of Protest. Pages 102-167. Film: "Made in India" ON CHANNEL 20. Everyone must hand in Abstract #3 DUE (for 8-10, include a separate entry for the Waylen article and one longer entry for Ray book) SECTION III: POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, CULTURAL CHANGE AND WOMEN'S RIGHTS 11. 10/9: Gender and War #1 Bumiller, Elisabeth. 1999. "Crimes: Kosovo Victims Must Choose to Deny Rape or Be Hated." The New York Times 22, June. <http://search.nytimes.com>. Rohde, David. 1999. "Crimes: Albanian Tells How Serbs Chose Her, 'the Most Beautiful One,' for Rape." The New York Times 1, May. <http://search.nytimes.com>. Enloe, Cynthia. 2000. "When Soldiers Rape," In Maneuvers: The International Politics of Militarizing Women's Lives. 108-152, notes 329-346. Film: Calling the Ghosts 12. 10/14: Gender and War #2 Moon, Katharine H.S., 1997. Sex Among Allies: Military Prostitution in U.S.-Korean Relations. New York: Columbia University Press. Pages 1-47. 13. 10/16: Gender and War #3 Enloe, Cynthia. 2000. "How do they Militarize a Can of Soup?" In Maneuvers: The International Politics of Militarizing Women's Lives. 1-34, notes 301-312. "Twelve Points: Stop the War, REBUILD a just Society in Afghanistan and Support Women's Human Rights." Accessed on 7/2/02. http://www.whrnet.org/activists/twelvepoints/statement_2.htm. Abeysekera, Sunila, "Paying the Price for Ignoring Women's Calls Against Fundamentalism" from the Cat's Eye Column in The Island, and English Daily Paper published in Sri Lanka. October 31, 2001. http://www.whrnet.org/activists/crucial_statements/asia_pacific/paying.htm Accessed on 7/2/02. Statement by RAWA - Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. http://www.whrnet.org/activists/crucial_statements/asia_pacific/rawa.htm. Accessed on 7/2/02. 14. 10/21: Gender and War #4 - The Cambodian Case Loung Ung. 2000. First They Killed My Father: 15. 10/23: Gender and War #5 - The Cambodian Case Loung Ung. 2000. First They Killed My Father: Seager page 73 Listen to the radio program on gender and the international criminal court so we can discuss it in class 16. 10/28: Gender and War #6 - The Cambodian Case Loung Ung. 2000. First They Killed My Father: Seager #34 Listen to tape of Loung Ung's 2001 talk at Drew Paper DUE (analysis of readings #s 11-16) 17. 10/30: Development/Globalization #1 V. Spike Peterson and Anne Sisson Runyan. 1999. Global Gender Issues, 2nd edition, p.130-147. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Grace Chang. 2000. "Global Exchange: The World Bank, "Welfare Reform," and the Trade in Migrant Women." In Disposable Domestics: Immigrant Women Workers in the Global Economy. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, pages 123-154. Seager #22, 28, 29 Abstract # 4 DUE (for reading 17) 18. 11/4: Development/Globalization #2 Tiano, Susan. 1990. "Maquiladora Women: A New Category of Workers?" In Women Workers and Global Restructuring, ed. Kathryn Ward. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press, School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, pp. 193-223. Kwong, Peter. 1997. "American Sweatshops 1980s Style: Chinese Women Garment Workers." In Women Transforming Politics: An Alternative Reader, ed. Cathy J. Cohen, Kathleen B. Jones and Joan C. Tronto. New York: New York University Press, pp. 84-93. Seager # 23, 24, 25 Film: Made In Thailand or ESPN Nike Video. 19. 11/6: Development/Globalization #3 Siriporn Skrobanek, Nattaya Boonpakdi, Chutima Janthakeero, "Features of the Traffic in Women" in The Traffic in Women: Human Realities of the international Sex Trade, New York: Zed Books, Ltd., pages 29-36. Kamala Kempadoo, "Continuities and Change: Five Centuries of Prostitution in the Caribbean." In Sun, Sex, and Gold: Tourism and Sex Work in the Caribbean, edited by Kamala Kempadoo. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1999. Seager #18 Abstract # 5 DUE (for reading #s 18 & 19) 20. 11/11: Fundamentalism #1 Lynn P. Freedman, "The Challenge of Fundamentalisms," Reproductive Health Matters No. 8 (November 1996): pp. 55-69. John Stratton Hawley. 1999. "Fundamentalism" in Religious Fundamentalisms and the Human Rights of Women, edited by Courtney Howland. Pp. 3-8. New York: St. Martin's Press. Courtney Howland. 1999. "Introduction," in Religious Fundamentalisms and the Human Rights of Women, edited by Courtney Howland. ONLY PAGES xi-xiii. Seager #11, 12 21. 11/13: Fundamentalism #2 In Religious Fundamentalisms and the Human Rights of Women, articles by: Susan Rose, "Christian Fundamentalism: Patriarchy, Sexuality, and Human Rights", p. 9-20; Marie-Aimée Hélie-Lucas, "What is your Tribe: Women's Struggles and the Construction of Muslimness", p. 21-32; Lynn Freedman, "Finding Our Feet, Standing Our Ground: Reproductive Health Activism in an Era of Rising Fundamentalism and Economic Globalization", p. 181-192. Seager #7 Abstract # 6 DUE (for reading # 20 & 21) SECTION IV: ORGANIZING FOR CHANGE 22. 11/18: Creating Communities? Leila J. Rupp, "Constructing Internationalism: The Case of Transnational Women's Organizations, 1888-1945," The American Historical Review 99, no. 5 (December 1994): pp.1571-1600. Seager #32 23. 11/20: The United Nations as a Vehicle for Women's Organizing Hilkka Pietilä. January 1999. "Engendering the Global Agenda: A Success Story of Women and the United Nations." INSTRAW Occasional Paper No. 1, p. 21-40 & 50. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. "Platform for Action," in Beijing!: UN Fourth World Conference on Women, ed. Anita Anand and Gouri Salvi (New Delhi, India: Women's Feature Service, 1998), pp. 27-33. Film: Friday, November 17th at 8:00pm or Sunday, November 19th at 7:00pm - "To Empower Women: the Beijing Conference" Abstract # 7 DUE (for reading #s 22 & 23) 24. 11/25: The United Nations as a Vehicle for Women's Organizing Dutt, Mallika. 2000. "Some Reflections on United States Women of Color and the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women and NGO Forum in Beijing, China." In Global Feminisms Since 1945: Rewriting Histories, edited by Bonnie G. Smith, New York: Routledge. Bunch, Charlotte, and Niamh Reilly. 1994. Demanding Accountability: The Global Campaign and Vienna Tribunal for Women's Human Rights. New Brunswick, NJ: The Center for Women's Global Leadership and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), pp. 2-16, 84-108. Film: "The Vienna Tribunal" on Channel 20 NO CLASS - WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27 25. 12/2: Transnational Communities #1 Nawal H. Ammar and Leila S. Lababidy, "Women's Grassroots Movements and Democratization in Egypt," in Democratization and Women's Grassroots Movements, edited by Jill M. Bystydzienski and Joti Sekhon, 1999, pages 150-170. Charlotte Bunch and Claudia Hinojosa. 2000. "Lesbians Travel the Roads of Feminism Globally." Mexico: Center for Women's Global Leadership, Rutgers University. Seager #5 26. 12/4: Transnational Communities #2 Nancy Saporta Sternbach, et al., The Making of Social Movements in Latin America: Identity, Strategy, and Democracy, Political Economy and Economic Development in Latin America, (Chapter 12) (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1992). Marieme Helie-Lucas, "An International Solidarity Network: Women Living Under Muslim Laws" in Measuring the Immeasurable: Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation of Networks, edited by Marilee Karl with Anita Anand, Floris Blankenberg, Allert Van Den Ham, Adrian Saldanha, pages 38-42. Seager pages 94-95 Abstract # 8 DUE (for reading #s 25 & 26) Back to Top
	*ASSIGNMENTS:* *Attendance and Participation:* This course will be run as a seminar and its success is consequently dependent upon your level of commitment and preparedness. Therefore, you are required to come prepared to discuss the readings. If you have difficulty speaking up in class, please let me know and we will discuss ways to help you participate. *Reading Response Journal:* You will be required to analyze the readings and films by keeping a reading response journal. Your journal entries on each article and each film shown on Channel 20 should be approximately one-paragraph in length. In each entry, you will have to write on no more than four articles/films. If there are more than four articles assigned for a particular entry you can choose four to write on. In this journal you will briefly synthesize the main argument of an article and then briefly discuss your thoughts about the argument: Did you agree or disagree? Why? What about this article did you think was important or unimportant? Doing this in one paragraph will require careful thought as it is necessary to read and think about the article before writing. After talking about all of the articles assigned for that entry you should end your entry by writing a one paragraph analysis of a theme or issue raised in the articles. The goal of this paragraph is to connect the articles to one another. In this paragraph you could also raise questions that you are left with after reading the assigned material. These reading response journals will be graded +, , or - . Minuses do not count toward your final grade. Your final grade for the journals will be determined by the following formula: If you turned in 9 or more entries = B; if 5 or more of these 9 are + = A If you turned in 8 or more entries = C; if 5 or more of these 8 are + = B If you turned in 7 or more entries = D; if 5 or more of these 7 are + = C All Journal entries should be typed. Due dates for the entries and the readings they cover are listed on the syllabus. NO LATE ENTRIES WILL BE ACCEPTED. Since late entries will not be accepted, I have assigned a total of 11 entries so that you have some room for absences or minuses. If you decide not to turn in two entries early in the semester and then get sick later in the semester, this above policy will still stand. *Group Issue Project:* Each student will participate in a group project with 4 other members of the class. The groups will each select an issue of concern to feminists. The issue can fall under the broad rubric of reproductive rights (e.g., abortion, sexual rights, reproductive health), sexual violence, trafficking in women, political rights, lesbian rights, rights of indigenous women or women of color, war and peace (e.g., participation in nationalist movement, participation in the military, violence against women during war, rape as a war crime, etc.), religious freedom, use of human rights instruments (CEDAW, etc.), economic rights (women workers in foreign-owed factories, economic status of women, participation in the informal sector, micro-enterprise, etc.). As a group, you will analyze why this issue is significant and present the ways that your issue has been conceived and acted on by feminists. In picking your issue, you will need to be clear about which groups of feminists you are talking about (either defined by geographic region or by identity characteristics). As a group, you make a presentation to the class that will take up the last 30 minutes of class on the designated day. Your presentation should include the following: 1) You should be sure and draw appropriate connections between course readings and the topic you have chosen. In addition to linking your presentation to the course readings on the day you are doing your presentation, you should use the theoretical articles we have discussed to help you analyze the issue you are examining. 2) You should find out what's going on in relation to this issue now. Look in major news sources (e.g. The New York Times, The Washington Post) and at relevant web sites. You're looking for articles which offer substantial information and analysis not just a mention or a couple of paragraphs. Don't just choose any article about the topic but make sure it's clear to you how it's related to and expands our understanding of the assigned readings. 3) You should look for organizations that are working on the issue. Be prepared to tell the class what the organizations do, perhaps show us specific information from an organizations web site or literature if available, and be prepared to talk about the organization's strategy for addressing the issue or question about which you've been reading. 4) You should prepare a handout for the class which might include a copy of or excerpts from a news story you found; an excerpt from information about or literature from the organization and questions or key points you want the class to consider in discussion. If you would like me to make copies for the class, I must have your handout no later than one class before the one in which you are doing your presentation. In addition, you should hand out a short annotated bibliography to the class with the most important sources on your topic (1-2 pages). Finally, each group is responsible for a written analysis of their findings. This paper should be approximately 8 pages in length and is DUE IN CLASS ON THE DAY OF YOUR PRESENTATION. LATE PAPERS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. The paper should briefly present the "facts" of how the issue has been conceived by the groups of feminists you are looking at and should analyze the issue. The paper should explicitly analyze the issue by connecting it to the theoretical issues and materials presented in class. Questions to consider are: How and why has the issue been dealt with in this way? What is at stake in the debate over the issue? Do different groups of feminists see the issue differently? Why is the issue of concern to feminists? A one-page topic overview is DUE ON OCTOBER 4th. In addition, each group should meet with me at least one week before their scheduled presentation. While you will be graded as a group on this project, you will each be asked to grade the participation of others in your group. The average of grades given to you by your colleagues will be incorporated into your final grade on the project as well as your participation grade for the course. *Critical Response Papers:* (2) 5-6 page papers. Papers must present a critical response to questions and issues raised in the assigned readings. Papers must be concise and should not simply repeat or summarize arguments of the readings. Paper 1 is DUE ON IN CLASS ON WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18th and the second paper is DUE BY 3:00 P.M. MONDAY, DECEMBER 11th. Critical Response Paper #1: In the first short paper you will reflect on the primary theoretical issues discussed during the first few weeks of class and apply them to our readings and discussions about feminism in India. Critical Response Paper #2: Write a paper answering the question: What is "global" about feminism(s)? In this paper you will make an argument about the relationship between the global factors we've discussed, the organizing efforts we've reviewed, and feminism. In doing so, you should reflect on the theoretical frameworks and analytic perspectives we have reviewed in class (including books, packet readings, films, etc.). In exploring the relationship between feminism and various global factors, you should be conscious of the extent to which you are arguing that issues or approaches are the same across regions or whether there are simply commonalities across regions. Be sure and specify where and how you see sameness and/or commonalities by using examples from course material. This paper is an attempt to get you to think critically about the whole of course materials and as such you are expected to use theoretical perspectives and issues from various parts of the class. Course Evaluation: In-class Participation and Attendance - 15% Reading Journal - 30% Group Issue Project (presentation and paper) - 15% Critical Response papers - 40% (20% each) Back to Top