Who is the “other”? A postmodern feminist critique of women and development theory and practice.” Development and Change

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the last decade poststructural and postmodern critiques have increasingly dominated the world of scholarship. The grand theories of the past have been called into question; universals have been overtaken by particularities and difference. Feminist scholars have reacted to postmodernism in a number of ways. Some reject it outright, while others call for a synthesis of feminist and postmodern approaches. Many scholars and activists concerned with Third World issues,' especially poverty and development. have rejected both feminism and postmodernism, dismissing them as First World preoccupations, if not indulgences. This article seeks to explore the relevance of postmodern feminism for Third World problems and analysis, particularly its utility for theorists and practitioners concerned with issues of women and development. POSTMODERNISM Postmodernism is not easily encapsulated in one phrase or idea, but is rather an amalgam of ideas put forward by a number of scholars. I will try to summarize the main themes, recognizing that I am no doubt over-simplifying many of them. On the widest level of abstraction, postmodern thinkers such as Jean-Francois Lyotard have questioned the assumptions of the modern age, particularly the belief that reason and scientific enquiry can provide an objective, reliable, and universal foundation for knowledge, and that reason itself has transcendental and universal qualities. The postmodernists challenge the notion that concepts such as knowledge, justice and beauty can be evaluated and established as universally correct. They Development and Change (SAGE