ABSTRACT
This chapter explains women’s “subalternity”—that is, their lower status—in the context of colonialism and global capitalism. The experiences of women were shaped both by global differences and by local commonalities as never before. Global connections and inequalities have become central issues in Women’s Studies. Global conditions causing women’s migration and their oppression in civil wars and famines explain the Women’s Studies term “location,” the connections with peace studies, and the gendering of human rights. The interests of women from wealthy Northern societies, many argue, have too often determined both Women’s Studies’ and feminist concerns. A post-colonial perspective in Women’s Studies means examining relationships among peoples of those countries that gained independence after 1945 and the nations from which they became free—that is, examining imperialism’s long-lasting consequences. Women predominate as the world’s global migrants and their numbers have soared in the past fifteen years for both economic and security reasons.
