History Of Feminism

The history of feminist movements sheds light on the gender structures of politics and citizenship, while debates about feminism illuminate contestations over gender and sexual norms. This course will use the history of feminism as a springboard to analyse broader questions surrounding the political, social and cultural history of gender in the modern world. Since feminists have been at the forefront of questioning political and social norms, this course will examine the intellectual history of feminist thought, as well as the feminist `uses' of history. It will take a `transnational' approach, not only comparing feminist movements in various parts of the world, but also examining the international networks forged by feminists and the manner in which transnational connections shaped local and national feminist movements.

The course begins by considering several historiographical questions, in particular, when did feminism `begin', what were its main periods or `waves' and what has constituted `feminism' historically? We will then investigate the role of transnational connections, imperialism, nationalism, class and race in shaping nineteenth and early twentieth century feminism. The second half of the course examines late twentieth century and twenty-first century feminism, especially the inclusions and exclusions of feminist movements on the basis of class, race, sexuality and other social markers. We will also investigate the role of the internet and social media in shaping recent feminist organizing and thought.