ABSTRACT
In this chapter, an overview of postcolonial and postcolonial feminist theory is provided by threading different theories and ideas together (e.g., epistemic violence, situated knowledge, border thinking, Islamic feminism, and discursive colonization). Postcolonialism is not conceptualized as a historical period representing the aftermath of actual territorial control; however, it is used to critique the Orientalist constructions of Saudi women in Management and Organization Studies (MOS), and to rebuild alternative and multiple understandings of Saudi women's identities, micro-political forms of resistance, and agency. This process is described as a theoretical struggle of finding the right theory/theorist to use. This chapter proposes a new way to look at feminism as a bordered concept called bordered feminism(s), which recognizes borders, politics, modernization discourse, religion, and gendered politics that is specific to a geopolitical location. The notion of bordered feminism(s) brings awareness to situatedness and plurality in postcolonial contexts, while also calling for customized efforts to advance women's causes. This chapter expands on the following topics: (1) The structural domination and suppression of the heterogeneity of Saudi women; (2) the production of a singular and monolithic Saudi woman; and (3) the codification of “knowledge” about Saudi women and the use of particular analytical categories when writing about them.
