The combination of readings this week spelled out a number of issues concerning place, space, travel, personal agency and mobility. Reading Downtown Ladies first, the issues of space and place were detailed by Ulysse and the women she worked with. Then, reading Chapter 6 of Mohanty's book, i understood the ways in which labor, production, and the capitalist/imperialist categorizations of those labels are gendered and racialized in ways that oppress women of color. Finally, reading Massey's piece, the understanding of race and gender and how they relate and interact and uphold - in some instances - structures of power became evident once again.
The last paragraph of Massey's article exclaims "It is a sense of place, an understanding of 'its character', which can only be constructed by linking that place to places beyond. A progressive sense of place would recognize that, without being threatened by it. What we need, it seems to me, is a global sense of the local, a global sense of place."
This quote especially showed, what i feel that Mohanty was trying to get at - that being, that for a transnational feminism, for a feminism without borders in which we position ourselves and other women, this type of global/local understanding is necessary. Mohanty challenges the localized ideas of feminisms to do what Massey points out - that is, to have a global sense of place. As Mohanty points out: "...i am suggesting that Third World women workers have a potential identity in common, an identity as workers in a particular division of labor at this historical moment. And i believe that exploring and analyzing this potential commonality across geographical and cultural divides provides both a way of reading and understanding the world and an explanation of the consolidation of inequities of gender, class, and (hetero)sexuality, which are necessary to envision and enact transnational feminist solidarity." (p. 144) Here, i can see the linkage between the two writers, who are trying to broaden our scopes of what is and is not local. When we are dressed in clothing from at least 3 different countries, and eating foods from all over the world (as Massey points out), we have to understand that no part of our local is necessarily in actuality "local". We are living on a global scale and with the global effecting our lives on a very tangible and real level. Moreover, we are also effecting the lives of others.
The issues detailed in chapters 5 & 6 of Downtown Ladies were reiterated in Massey's statements about travel. "Different social groups have distinct relationships to this anyway differentiated mobility: some people are more in charge of it than others; some initiate flows and movement, others don't; some are more on the receiving end of it than others; some are effectively imprisoned by it. ... But there are also groups who are also doing a lot of physical moving, but who are not 'in charge' of the process in the same way at all." The ICI's and Ulysse travelling to Miami showcases this issue of travel perfectly - although they are travelling to another country, they are doing so more out of a sense of survival than leisure. Further, on the film Life + Debt that we watched in class, we can see how Chinese workers were brought into Jamaica to work on the Free-Trade Zone. Thus, also, is travel, but certainly not on the same level as that of Western jetsetters who travel for leisure or even for education.
And those of us that do travel, even for educational purposes, have to understand, maybe on some level, how our mobility lessens that of another woman (or man) in another part of the world. An example that makes plain this issue is one I've read about in some African countries. An issues exists whereby African Americans, who have chosen to live permanently (or long-term temporarily) in African countries are practically handed jobs upon their arrival. The fact of speaking English (with an American accent), and being a foreigner from the West elevates ones status, regardless of one's qualifications. There are instances in which someone with a general Associate's degree in liberal arts may be handed a job within economics that requires a Master's degree for a local African born and raised in the area. So, many high-level positions may be occupied by individuals who know very little about the job. More importantly, they end up taking the job away from someone who is qualified for the job, who continues to be unemployed. This shows how our mobility and travel to other countries diminishes another's abilities.
On another note, it is always refreshing to read a work of Black feminist writing that references heavily other works by other Black feminist, or just women of color (feminist or not). For me, it separates those who speak about feminist practice and those who do it. I also found it interesting that Ulysse states when an anthropologist or writer she references is white ("According to white anthropologist Elisa Sobo..." on page 186 and again on 220). I'm not completely sure why she does this, but I believe it is to put statements and ideas into contexts. As a Black feminist anthropologist, she is trying to show how important it is to situate oneself within anthropology, in their fieldwork, and within their academic positions. I believe she states their color in order to actively show that she is not the only one whose positionality is of importance - we have to reconstruct the position of the anthropologist in order to truly understand their statements, ideas, and bodies of work. Again, it shows beautifully how she practices feminism and doesn't simply talk about it in her works.
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