Issues of Difference in Contemporary Caribbean Feminism Author(s): Rawwida Baksh-Soodeen Source: Feminist Review, No.

59, Rethinking Caribbean Difference (Summer, 1998), pp. 74-85 Published by: Palgrave Macmillan Journals Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1395724 . Accessed: 19/10/2011 07:03
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Issues

of

Difference

in

Contemporary Caribbean Feminism*

Rawwida Baksh-Soodeen

4
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Abstract
Thispaper interrogates Caribbean feminist theory activism relation the and in to Euro-American experience to challenges and emerging theThird from World discourse.The authorarguesfrom the standpoint positionthat secondwave Caribbean feminism beenlargely has Afro-centric simultaneously and interlocked withprocesses independence national of and identity struggles. suggests She that there a needforthemovement reflect experiences women other is to the of of ethnic groups the region. thisregard, Trinidad Tobago Indo-Caribbean in In in and the voicehas beenemerging broadening feminist and the base.In morerecent years aIso the divisionsbetweenfeministand non-feminist groupsare subsiding, strengthening ultimate the capacity thismovement change theregion. of for in

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Keywords
Caribbean feminism; classstandpoint; race; identity; networking

Thispaper carries two maintasks.First, out where applicable, linksthe it issuesof difference Caribbean in feminist pOlitics the Euro-American to experience, in particular and thoserelated raceand class.Second, to it argues in thediscussion raceandclassdifferences that of within Caribbean feminism, is theneedto distinguish: thedifferent there ti) (objective) reality from the Euro-American experience; the 1lnkbetweenfeminism, (ii) nationalism, anti-imperialist and struggles the Caribbean. latter in The is similar the struggles ThirdWorld to of womeninternationally tincluding thoselocated theFirst in World); tiii)theultimately and embracing rather than divisivenatureof Caribbean feminism. beginby examining I the conceptand experience international of feminism the contemporary in period.ThenI turnto the Caribbean experience feminist of organizing fromthelate1970sto thepresent, discuss movement, attempts and the its to transform, change transcend and internal differences.
4

Theuniversal the particular and

movement whichbeganin theUSAand o The'second wave'of thefeminist uni- 3 that was Britain thelate1960stookforgranted 'there a potentially in diver- w issues which wouldaccommodate ficatory pointof viewon women's this n by (Delmar, 1986:10).Underlying gences not besubmerged them' and and of subordination its was the assumption the universality women's of patriof sisterhood which couldchallenge corollary, possibility a global the and The 'sisterhood' its related archal poweranddominance. buzz-word felt slogan'sisterhood global',actively andusedin thisearlyperiodof is consciousness. euphoria, characterized prevailing the In addition Delmar notedthat:
to liberation bringing the foreandreinin in spiteof the success womenss of and identitybetweenwomen,politicalunity forcingfeelingsof sympathy of cannot saidto havebeenachieved. be (another themeanings 'sisterhood') of thing. has out Unitybasedon identity turned to be a veryfragile (Delmar? 11) 1986:

movement the 1970swerebased | in Differences withintheEuro-American and of subordination, hencedifferent l on different explanations women's from The resulting thissplitwere proposed strategies change. f(r)actions for and feminism, radical feminism, socialistfeminliberal feminism, marxist and 1984,citedin Ollenburger Moore,1992: ism(Jagger Rothenberg, and at histhought action and emerged different 17).Theseschools feminist of as strands torical points,but,by the 1970s-80s,theyco-occurred different frameworks for the of the movement. They also provided ideological withinthe Euro-American analysing causesof women'soppression the race/ethnicity feministmovement. Apart from these four frameworks, livedexperifor differences women's in became keyplatform exposing the as in defining themselves 'black', encesof subordination, resulting feminists 'womenof colour'and so on. It is, however, 'nativeAmerican', 'Asian', not groups werethemselves monolithic important establish thelatter to that In on of inequality. herpaper, in their ideological position thecauses gender of Third World Women thePolitics Feminand 'CartographiesStruggle: of by statesthatin a collection writings blackand of ism',Chandra Mohanty (Grewal al., | et entitled Charting theJourney Third World women Britain in conflicts, and to 1988),theeditors careful focuson thecontradictions, 'are emphasizing that differences amongblackwomen,whilesimultaneously link has thestarting pointforallcontributors been"thehistorical between (Mohanty, 1991a:8). us of colonialism imperialism"' and the state: In Charting Journey, editors' the
Britain. An in Thisbookis aboutanidea.Anideaof 'Blackness' contemporary alongits path defined, proceeding but ideaas yet unmatured inadequately and
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of awareness many itssubjects. of sc)cial andin thecollective life in both'real' Contradictory in contradictory. it Bothas an ideaanda process is, inevitably, in of expression defined terms color, is because itsconceptuali7atic)n itslinguistic movements Contradictoryitsmaterial in of yetit is an ideatranscendent color. Latin Americans or of conscious otherwise, Asians, because unityof action, the to gives expression a common Caribbean AfricansS political and and Aratxs, to and of threaten engulf overfissures ethnicity 'color', astheState-created even of exclusivity. whelmus in islands cultural et (Grewal al., 1988:1)

countrtes based industrialized in Mohanty linksthefeminism theadvanced In Third World feminism. fact,shegeoto on race/ethnicity theemergent to of World feminism include re-orients discussion Third the graphically of and peoples colourin theNorth.Insummarizing immigrants subjected she at feminism thediscourse, arrives in of World the construction Third fourmaincommonalities: to as of 1 Theideaof thesimultaneity oppression fundamental theexperiof and marginality the grounding feminist enceof socialand political and of pOlitics the histories racism imperialism; in Third statein circumscribing World 2 The crucialrole of a hegemonic dailylivesandstruggle; women's of in of and 3 Thesignificance memory writlng thecreation oppositional and, agency; to internal ThirdWorld contlicts, contradictlons and 4 The differences, (1991:10). organizations communities and women's a Consensus Controversy', paper and in Theory: In 'Concepts Feminist seminar in and presented initlallyin Trinidad Tobagoat the inaugural Amrita Chhachhi of of Women's Studies the University the WestIndies, feminlst theory the of to (1988:76-9) attempts answer question whether theories, all othersocial like She that is 'white' 'black'. argues feminist or and the of theories, expressions two factors: social,economic, politiare traand of cal contextin whichtheyemerged; a synthesis pastintellectual theory of Chhachhi's of view,therejection all feminist point ditions. From tO results froma fallure diS'Eurocentric', 'ethnocentric', or as 'westerns, to of theories the historical, tinguishbetweenthe application feminist womenS and of World specifities black{Third political, socio-cultural and argues thatat the levelof the notionof all theoryas 'white'.Chhachhi among black disagreement analytical tools,thereis 1ittle basicconceptual andwhitefeminlstsShesuggests:
lie feminist studies at thesecond of mostoftenthe limitations Euro-American mechanically concepts imposed are of in andthirdlevels analysis thatabstract specific a for and and ahistorically hencebecome substitute an historically the of whichtakesintoaccount complexities socialreality. analysis 1988 79) (Chhachhi,

6
7f

Thecurrent postmodernism stream withinphilosophy hada profound has impacton the socialsciences, humanities, feminist and theory. Two key concepts developed theFrankfurt by School 'critical are theory' 'standand pointepistemology', of whichhaveinfluenced both feminist politicsCritical theorychallenged use of the scientific the methodfor socialenquiry, rejecting ideathatthere be 'objective' the can knowledge altogether. Standpointepistemology theconcept lesspowerful is that members (individuals and groups)are potentially capableof a morecomplete view of social reality thanthe privileged, precisely because theirdisadvantaged of position(s).In orderto survive, they havea 'doublevision',a knowledge or awareness and sensitivity boththe dominant of to worldview and their own minority perspective (e.g.,female,black,andpoor)(Nielsen,1990: 10). Feministstandpoint epistemology(ies) focus on the specificity of women's oppression, linkingthis to womenbeingable to see the viewpointsof bothwomen,andmen(thedominant group), hencehaving and an understanding is potentially that morecomplete, deeper, sensitive and thanmen's(Nielsen, 1990:24-5). Critical theoryand standpoint epistemologies speakto the notionthat thereis no singletrath,thatthe location individuals groups the of and in social structure determines theirconstruction/interpretation of truthor reality, thatthe oppressed a morepowerful and have claimto a complete understanding dominant than groups. Theseconcepts havecontributed to providing theoretical the spacefor thechallenge whitefeminists to posed byThird World feminists (whether geographically located theNorthor in South).Andfurther, helpto explainthe present they movement Third of World feminism's standpoints race,class,andnationfromthe periphof eryto thecentre, so-called the cutting edgeof the discourse. Considerationson race and class The Caribbean arguably has beenthe site of the greatest colonialpenetration internationally Europe since beganits mercantilist expansion in thefifteenth century. no otherregion In wereentire peoples wipedout and artificially replaced hundreds thousands peoplefromothercontiby of of nentsfor the sole purpose serving of European economic interests. the In contemporary period,European colonialism been replaced US has by imperialism, starkly most seenin Puerto Rico andthe US Virgin Islands whichareAmerican colonies. therestof theCaribbean But territories are perceived the US as its satellites, are hencethe targetof aid and by and tradearrangements. Caribbean alsobeenthefocusof USmilitary The has aggression through protracted against a war Cuba,andagainst Grenada during period revolutionary its of government 1979-83.It further in controls, puppeteers, destabilizes and Caribbean governments serveits to

77

I>" capitalistand geo-political interests.In

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the most recentperlod,the Caribbean also been a willingmarketfor US goods and services, has including satellite andtelevision TV, evangelism.

of imperial Thehistory the Caribbean of territories colonies European as slavery. Resulting this from powers beenoneovershadowed African has by in predominate, = is thepresent-day demographic landscape whichAfricans and Guyana, and exceptin theSpanish Caribbean inTrinidad Tobago, and since X Suriname. post-colonial The discourse, whichhasemerged theIndeto E pendence movement the late 1960s and 1970s,1has attempted of from frameI grapple withtheexperience colonialism ananti-imperialist of work,whichincluded perspectives raceandclass.If, in the prethe of was for Independence period, major the impetus thestruggle nationalism, race I in the post-Independence period, keyissueshavebeenstructured the and andclassinequalities, alleviation stateintervention, thecontheir by forces whichperpetutinuing existence colonial of economic political and the ate these social structures. the Caribbean, post-Independence In The identity has I discourse beenone of reclaiming has identity. reclaimed and 'exile' are | been predominantly African.Imagesof 'shipwreck' writers as Derek such common theliterary to workof post-Independence WilsonHarris,and Samuel Walcott, VidiaNaipaul,GeorgeLamming, literary voicespeaking to Selvon. Naipaul beenthe onlywell-known has and theIndo-Caribbean experience indentureship exile. of

The issueof race

in in The'second wave'of thefeminist movement theCaribbean the1970s discourse interesting in svays. intersected with this post-Independence aboutthe experiences of Issuesof raceandclasswerealmostexclusively of There the 'creole'2 black/white/coloured or populations the societies. a theory 'cultural of wasno multicultural framework (despite sociological within which specific the pluralism' developed M.G.Smith the1960s) by in womencouldbe viewed conor experiences interests non-African and of (specifically Trinidad in textualized. fact,thishasonlybegun In happening it andTobago) sincethe mid-1980s, interestingly,hasits rootsin the and distinct racial cultural and idenI assertion theIndian by population their of within Caribbean femintity.I wouldhence define dominant the discourse as to ist politics(theory practice) Afro-centric, opposed eithera and as Euro-centric multicultural or paradigm. from studies Caribbean feminist historiography mherited thepost-colonial in to on African slavery suchsociological concepts relation the African 'female-headed houseslavewomanas 'matrlfocality', marginality', 'male view hold'andso on. In the Caribbean, is a well-established of the there

8 74

the and of African womanas a slave,as a symbol strength powerholding familytogetherunderslavery.Edith Clarkewrote My MotherWho in wroteRebelWoman the BritishWest Mathurin Fathered Lucille Me; wroteabout Collective Jamaica of Sistren Theatre IndiesDuringSlavery; against white the slavewho ledherpeopleto rebellion Nanny, Maroon the Labour Struggle and PhD planter class.RhodaReddock's thesis,'Women, slavewoman presents African the Trinidad Tobago', and in 20th Century bourgeois idealof the womanas to as workercompared the European as was housewife. notionof thewoman worker alsotruefortheIndian The houseHence,the bourgeois womanunderthe systemof indentureship. class amongthe white planter/merchant wife ideal was only practised and duringthe colonialperiod,and was adoptedby the African Indian the period. Since in not middle classes(although entirely) thepost-colonial what feminism Afro-centric, this is withinCaribbean dominant discourse to societyhavetended focus analyses Caribbean of meansis thatfeminist Hencethe and on the blackand colouredpopulations 'creole'culture. housein of is discussed terms thefemale-headed lower-class family always hold despitethe fact that amongIndians(in societieswith significant fromthe family showsformsranging the Indian populations), lower-class extendedfamily,the nuclear joint Indianfamily,the three-generation household. family, the female-headed to of as viewed thedomain organizing alsobeenlargely has Further, feminist Africanwomen,ratherthan as a space in which womenof different Women who havebeen interact. identities experiences and racial/cultural inhabitants, indigenous 'lefi out' in this processincludethe remaining The suchas theIndonesians. experience and Indian, Chinese, othergroups the I think,because has of thewhitewoman alsobeenleftout,deliberately of fromthestandpoint peoplewho havebeenbrudiscourse emerged has as The tally enslavedby Europeans. white womanis henceperceived despite factthata the race,class,andculture, belonging the oppressor to in few white women have also been part of the feministmovement involved the in Caribbean. Indianwomen,like myself,who are actively largely movement have ourselvescome to an analysisof colonialism of developed theUniversity theWest at discourse through Afro-centred the begun grapple to the Indies. is onlyduring 1990sthatI havepersonally It of Evidence women's experience. of with the specificity Indo-Caribbean and bothin the discourse3 organibeginning emerge, to this is, however, (HWO)was Organization zationally. the latter,the HinduWomen's In in and formed Trinidad Tobago the mid-1980s. in is, feminist movement withinthe Caribbean Theissueof racialdifference In in fromthatexperienced theUSAandEurope. thefirst however, distinct has Caribbean a majority place, it may be said that the post-colonial

= 3 X
2

79

Africanpopulation who are politically, not economically, control. if in Thusthebitterness theAfro-AmericanlEuropean struggle not of feminist is evidentin the Caribbean. Sincecolonialism both past and present a is majorforceat workin the Caribbean, Afro-Caribbean womenhave(in reactionto the sexism of the left politicalgroupings which they to belonged) asserted autonomous an spaceforstruggle, continue colbut to laborate with Caribbean in leftpolitical men parties, the labour and and NGO movements, particularly political economic on and issues.I think that the possibility a multi-cultural of feminist platform existsbecause, whileAfrican Indian and women, theone hand,havedistinct on cultural identities experiences oppression, theother, share common and of on they a experience plantationslaveryand indentureship. Trinidad of In and Tobago, instance, wouldbe difficule an Afro-Caribbean for ie for feminist to argue heroppression beengreater mine, ehae has ehan whenslavery was abolished 1838, butindeneureship in almose ceneury in 1917.My a later father among lasechlldren havebeenbrought was ehe eo fromIndia an as indeIleured labourer 1912. in

The issueof class

Therearethreemainaspects the 'classissue'withinCaribbean of feminism, which may be broadlyrelatedeo ies emergence subsequene and developmene ehe1970seo ehepresene. in Thefirse womeneo define few themselves feminises the 1970scame as in eoeheir analysis largely ehrough involvement nationalist eheir in seruggles, leftpolitical groupings, erade unionss blackpowermovemexle, so ehe and on. Alehough self-definition femlnist in reaceion thesexism their as was to of ehemenin ehese movemenes, feminism notassume radlcal eheir did ehe formof whieefeminists eheUSandBritain a similar ln in sieuatiOn. This canonlybe explaitled ehefaceehae sawehemselves andforeby ehey firse mose black as women llving socieeies in whlch were early ln eransition from colonialrule,whereraceand classwerestill inextricably linkedtO the polltical/economic/social hierarchies, where and black menobviously also belonged theoppressed to group. needs bepoineed however, Ie to oue, thae ehese womenofeenbelonged an emerging to black(including Indian) educatedmiddle class.Theycouldbedefined 'black as socialise feminists', who wouldhaveempathized the writings Angela with of Davis,for example, and with the generalstruggle blackwomenof the Euro-American by feminist movement. Thesecond aspect classis apparent thesubsequent of in development the of movement. Feminist debatesin the media,publicfora,demonstrations, coincided with the UN Decadefor Women a raisedconsciousness and

84

of led on internationally 'theissueof women',which to a newgroup women l ec to related theclassstatusof individual ItO Differences, the joining movement. differing " for and In apparent. Trinidad Tobago, example, women,became smallconsciousness- w a led classinterests to thesplitin 1984of TheGroup, womenfromthe 1970s.On theissuef groupwhichhadincluded raising whenever However, agreement. was women,there general against violence withwas there a decided arose, to relating classinequalities issues national who couldperhaps feminists, on drawal thepartof thenew'middle-class' approach. feminist a as be characterized having radical
m

to (by is movement argued its detractors) feminist the Thirdly, Caribbean urban middle-class, well-educated, mainlyof articulate, be comprised of concept amongotherthings,a staticEuropean women.Thissuggests, and makes at class as a statusascribed birth,and hencewhichgoverns This and possible(or not possible)certainopportunities experiences. notion of class does not speakto the often veryrapidsocial mobility in societies the post-Independence whichwas typicalof someCaribbean it period.In a singlegeneration, has beenpossiblefor manywomento has Marriage not been education. moveout of theirclassof birththrough an as important agentof social mobilityfor womenin a post-colonial to belonged the working of contextwherethe majority the population population,the classes, or where, among the Africanworking-class If householdmodel predominates. I may use my own female-headed I example, havemovedfromthe indentureship as experience a concrete So in education a singlegeneration. while of my fatherto post-doctoral class,thissaysnothing statusis middle that it maybe argued mycurrent as myself and of of history poverty, beingdefined defining of mypersonal I it womanand,further, saysnothingof the contradictions a lower-class classes of opposingpolarities the different facedboth in the (objective) but systemfor example), also of (in whichI encountered the education to in Finally, relation myexperiand myowncontradictions ambivalence. choicesI have social,andcultural ences,it saysnothingof the political, to madeandcontinue make. feminist class regarding withinthe Caribbean dynamics are There varying who womanfromDominica livesin a Rastafari Babb, Cecilia movement. and whoseclassposition wouldbeveryhardto define whoalso Barbados, in meeting 1990 woman,saidat a CAFRA as herself a lower-class defines foodon that roots'women,the issueis survival, of putting thatfor 'grass wherethey are the sole often in situations the table for theirchildren, it is And breadwinners. that,'untilthissurvival managed is verydifficult lobbymobilization, debate, in to rootswomen engage theoretical forgrass on whichimpact theverysurvival on demonstrations, issues ingandgroup (1991:9). so we aretrying hardto ensure'

81

zrs I conclude section pointing twomore this by out factors which account for = the specificity Caribbean of feminist politics. ' O
-F

X -

l |

Thefirstis theissueof scale.Caribbean countries usually are smallisland states(exceptfor Belize,Guyana, Suriname, French and Guiana), with relatively smallpopulations ranging froma coupleof hundred thousand to a fewmillion. its peak,theCaribbean At feminist movement never has included morethana few hundred self-defined feminists. impact The of smallgroupsof womenin thesesocietieshas to be understood the in contextof thesizeof thesocieties; groups' the outreach through media the and publicfora;theircoincidence the international with feminist movementandthe UN Decadefor Women; the presence organizations and of andinstitutions regional with outreach as theWomen Developsuch and ment Unit (WAND)in Barbados, the Caribbean and Association for Feminist Research Action(CAFRA). and The secondfactoris related the transition to whichis observable within Caribbean feminist organizations theearlyperiod the 1970sand from of mid-1980s the late 1980s-1990s. the 1970sto mid-1980s, selfto In the defined feminists tended seethemselves distinct to as frominstitutionalized women's organizations, whichtheyperceived traditional, serving as as to maintain statusquo regarding the women's placein the societythrough welfare-oriented outreach. Theseorganizations included Business the and Professional Women's Clubs,the Soroptomists, Lionesses the the and Mothers' Unions churches. current of The period the 1980s-1990s of has, however, seen the activebuilding bridges of acrossthis divideand also linking withtheGender Development and Studies Centres theuniversity at campuses, women's and machineries the various in governments the of region,and inter-governmental institutions as the Caribbean such Community(CARICOM), UNIFEMand UN/ECLAC. This networking is related, theonehand, theincreased on to awareness feminist of concerns by thetraditional women's organizations on theotherhand,to a general and, shiftawayfromideological dogmatism thepart self-avowed on of feminists.
Conclusion

8i 2

It is possibleto identifya numberof uniquefeaturesbasedon the Caribbean's experience feminist of organizing. First,Caribbean feminist I politics belocated theintersection may at between separate two discourses. I Theoneis thepost-Independence discourse which been has grappling with thepastandpresent experiences colonialism neo-colonialism, of and from an anti-imperialist framework whichincludes perspectives raceand the of class;and the otheris the feminist discourseXs) originate(d) which internationally. dominant The stream withinCaribbean feminism be said may

to makethe connection between race,class,andnationin its theorizing, < its visionforchange, its practice. and Second, however, the factthatthe mO is Caribbean post-Independence feminist and discourses pre-eminence c gave to the historicalexperiencesand present-day situationof AfricanCaribbean people,leading an Afro-centric to rather thana multicultural z paradigm.contend thisis an arearequiring I that discussion actionin and the future.Third is the tendencytowardsnetworking coalitionand building, between (i) feminist, 'traditional' women's organizations, utomen's machinerzes the various in governments the region, of women's studiesgroupslprogrammes the universities, inter-governmental in and organisations; (ii)thefeminist and movement thelefipolitical and parties, the labourmovement, theNGO movement. and
;ma

This latteraspectof Caribbean feminism ultimately is embracing rather than divisive.It is, in my view,a product factorssuchas Caribbean of peoples' collective resistance colonialforcespastandpresent, creto the ation of a cultureof sharing/caring the face of scarceresources in and deprivation evident Caribbean in familylhousehold forms; economic institutionssuchas the 'su-su',the 'gayap';4 strategies childcare care for and of the sick and elderly societies in whenmostwomenhavealwaysbeen workers insideandoutsideof the home. Notes
I --............ . -

Theviewsexpressed thisessayaremypersonal in perspectives analysis and and not necessarily those of the Commonwealth Secretariat, organization the in whichI amnowemployed. I include theacademic here disciplines history, of sociology, politics, government, literature, linguistics; and artistic expression as novels, such poetry, plays, painting, theatre, music(including steelband calypso the and whichareindiginous forms), dance, Carnival; journalism and and through media radio, the of print, andtelevision. Thecreolecomplex its historical in slavery, has base plantation systems and colonialism. cultural Its composition mirrors racial its mixture. European and African elenlents predominate fairlystandard in combinations relation- Z and ships. idealfortns institutional suchasgovernment, The of life religion, family andkinship, property, law, education, economy language of European and are derivation; consequence, in differing metropolitan affiliations produce differingversions creoleculture. in theircreolecontexts, of But theseinstitutional forms diverge fromtheirmetropolitan models greater lesser in or degree Xt to localconditions. 83 (Smith, 1965:5)

2 'Creole' society culture firstdefined M.G.Smith follows: and was by as

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3 Thehistory different and struggles Indo-Caribbean of women Trinidad of have been substantively researched RhodaReddock Women, by in Labour and Politics Trinidad Tobago Randle in and (Ian Publishers, Jamaica, 1994)andby PatriciaMohammed GenderNegotiations in AmongIndiansin Trinidad 1917-1947 (forthcoming 1999). 4 The'su-su' a group is practice pooling of money a specified over period, sum the of whichis givento eachdonorin turn; is a mutual it saving system. word The andtheconcept thought originate theYoruba are to from 'susu' (Hancock, 1980: 82;Warner-Lewis, 31;citedin Baksh-Soodeen, 155).The'gayap' 1991: 199S: is defined 'co-operative as grouplabour givenbyneighbours friends some and in private undertaking as farming house-building, return foodand such or in for drink'. wordhasa possible The multiple etymology, originating either from the form'gayap' fromtheAmerindian language, Cumanagotan (Winer Aguilar, and 1991:182),or fromthe Wolofform'gaanyep'meaning thepeople; e:ol'all a lective' (Warner-Lewis, 169, citedin Baksh-Soodeen, t67). While 1991: 199S: thesetwo wordsarespecific Trinidadian to usage,otherwordssignifying the sameactivities concepts to be found and are throughout Caribbean. the

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