Global feminisms, transnational political economies, third world cultural production

Abstract

Third wave feminism is located historically in relation to de-industrialization in the 1980s and the 1990s' boom in information technologies and transnational finance, which exponentially increased disparities of wealth and power worldwide. Given the global context of third wave feminism's emergence, this article argues for a consideration of the many forms and expression of feminism the world over, and of the ways they converge with and diverge from western feminisms, both politically and culturally. After briefly discussing the economically oppressive and culturally homogenizing tendencies of globalization, the article looks at the democratizing potential of today's global media networks. I end with analyses of recent work by Lília Momplé and Nadine Gordimer which demonstrate how these texts grapple with questions of neocolonial domination and unprecedented flows of capital, labor, commodities, and culture as they affect women and are addressed by feminists in Africa.