GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY AND WESTERN FEMINISM

By Alison M. Jaggar

University of Colorado at Boulder

Abstract

Western feminists have long sought to rescue women in the global South

from what they regard as oppressive local practices. More recently,

postcolonial feminists have challenged these efforts as feminist

imperialism. The ensuing debate among Western feminists over how to

respond to the oppression of women in the global South has mostly been

framed in terms of philosophical disagreements regarding such issues as:

essentialism; universalism and cultural relativism; intervention and

paternalism; and the existence of adaptive preferences and false

consciousness. Although these debates are important, this paper argues

that Western feminism's focus on such abstract questions has allowed it to

neglect other issues that may be more crucial for addressing the

oppression of women in the global South. The paper points in the direction

of a more inclusive framework for Western feminists to think about our

global responsibilities.