Feminists Working Transnationally, across Difference

April Caddell
Critical Response #1

     In the memoir A Small Place (1988), author Jamaica Kincaid gives a straightforward account of her experiences as a native of the island of Antigua both during and after colonization by the English. Kincaid starts off by showing Antigua from the eyes of the blissfully ignorant tourist - the white American or European traveler privileged enough to go on international vacations. A place such as Antigua, with its natural beauty and tropical location, is prime target for colonization and later economic exploitation by way of tourism. Like many places in the Caribbean, it is the destination of choice for American and European travelers who would prefer to remain ignorant of the devastating legacy of colonization and further economic exploitation of the island post-colonization, what has come to be known by some as neocolonization.
     Kincaid shows that even after formal occupation of a land, a people are still left with a deep sense of what is considered culture. In the case of Antigua, English customs are culture. And while a people such as the descendants of enslaved, displaced Africans are expected to try their best to embrace and assimilate into this culture, they are also never expected to be successful enough to be truly English. The otherization of them while the continued expectation of their western embrace is a psychological warfare that states simply, "You must try, while knowing you will never succeed. Although you will never succeed, you have to try."
     Kincaid's anger at the legacy of colonization is poignant and real. She shows how even after emancipation, even after the end of formal colonization of a land, this "small place" is still left with the inability to succeed economically because of a corrupt government. Although Kincaid speaks as a native Antiguan, the reality of English colonization of a vast part of the world -- parts of the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia -- makes her observations about post-colonial reality relevant to nearly every continent on the planet. Countries formerly colonized by European nations may be formally emancipated, but the legacy of the occupation still haunts the people and the place.
     The post-colonial reality is especially important to note, because Westerners, including enlightened Western activists and feminists, may be quick to judge the apparent inability of a "Third World" nation to prosper without recognizing the devastating effects of colonization. And although physical occupation may not be as relevant, we must not ignore the continued economic exploitation. The savior complex that some Western activists and feminists have is not unlike the very colonization that was forced on these peoples and places. After all, it was for their own good. They were given culture.
     One of the strengths of Third-Word feminism (spoken in the broader sense as defined by Narayan in "Contesting Cultures") is its ability and insistence on locating it's Subjects by admitting to our subjectivity, This admittance is especially refreshing in a world still plagued by the myth of Objectivity, usually given to white male dominant culture. Because as victims of otherization, white male domininant culture is seen as inherently objective while any perspective not of that norm is seen as deviant due to its subjectivity. Grewal and Kaplan would also have us question the idea of culture and the legacy of colonization and postmodernity. And although these are liberating ways of understanding the world, how do Western-based activists and feminists break off from the continued urge to save another nation's women from themselves? How do we also recognize the many realities of Western feminists (Mohanty) who come from various places and privileges and are therefore of different mindsets and locations?