tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045565.post114921710602105209..comments2023-09-30T03:57:11.799-05:00Comments on ahistoricality: Self-Pity or Other-Pity?Ahistoricalityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04004964192885891003noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045565.post-1149897781132896792006-06-09T19:03:00.000-05:002006-06-09T19:03:00.000-05:00"It's a straw man, though: all she's really accomp..."It's a straw man, though: all she's really accomplished in saying is that it's not a good idea to invade and conquer and colonize a country just to reform its social practices. Except in our dark moments (there's an inner Stalin in most of us) that's not really on the table (try convincing the US government to invade on a matter of social policy!)" <BR/><BR/>That's exactly what the War in Iraq is purportedly about "bringing democracy" to supposedly "less enlightened" countries. That's exactly what all of colonialist history has been about, so citizens of colonizing countries were told.<BR/><BR/>"If, however, we as a nation are in the nation-building business, then raising the status of women might as well be on the table, because if you take it off then the rest of the colonial experience might go better (but it probably won't) but then women's issues never get addressed."<BR/><BR/>Colonial experience?! In the first place, colonization should not be happening and it's not up to nations to bring ideas or strategies into other countries to help women but international bodies like the UN, CEDAW, Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045565.post-1149840178943266752006-06-09T03:02:00.000-05:002006-06-09T03:02:00.000-05:00It's a straw man, though: all she's really accompl...It's a straw man, though: all she's really accomplished in saying is that it's not a good idea to invade and conquer and colonize a country <I>just</I> to reform its social practices. Except in our dark moments (there's an inner Stalin in most of us) that's not really on the table (try convincing the US government to invade on a matter of social policy!). If, however, we as a nation are in the nation-building business, then raising the status of women might as well be on the table, because if you take it off then the rest of the colonial experience might go better (but it probably won't) but then women's issues <I>never</I> get addressed.Ahistoricalityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04004964192885891003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045565.post-1149825690980509292006-06-08T23:01:00.000-05:002006-06-08T23:01:00.000-05:00It's a wholly different matter if we're talking ab...It's a wholly different matter if we're talking about "changes to social law/practice". She was talking about imperialist war and domination ("The colonial experience of the past century has proved, aligning with an agenda of war and domination will not result in the advancement of women's rights. On the contrary, such a top-down approach is bound to create a nationalist counterreaction") and indeed she is right. Anyway, good post.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045565.post-1149764369484574512006-06-08T05:59:00.000-05:002006-06-08T05:59:00.000-05:00Thanks for the comments (and the spelling!). Karen...Thanks for the comments (and the spelling!). <BR/><BR/><B>Karen</B>: I'm very pleased that you noticed that phrase: I really had to sit for a while to come up with something that was short but not jargony..... However, <I>that is what usually happens</I> doesn't cut it for me. I've been trying to think about examples -- ones in which it's the changes to social law/practice rather than the imperialism itself which prompts the counter-reaction, and I really can't. And I can think of a few cases (Japan and Germany post WWII, for example) where forced changes were clearly advances and were (admittedly slowly) successfully integrated into "native" culture without any identifiable backlash. I can also think of cases -- India, for example, where women have very public professional and political roles -- where social transformation legislation <I>survives</I> the nationalistic counter-reaction.Ahistoricalityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04004964192885891003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045565.post-1149762107260330372006-06-08T05:21:00.000-05:002006-06-08T05:21:00.000-05:00I like your term "family-first legal and social sy...I like your term "family-first legal and social systems" and your idea that it is not the quality (culture, religion or country) that should be attended to but the quantity of oppression. <BR/><BR/>Lalami was correct to say top-down imperialist approaches are "bound to create a nationalist counterreactions" because that is what usually happens. It was foolish for Ali and Manji to appeal to right-wing America and to support the War. They appealed to the wrong people. I think Western feminists can help but it should have nothing to do with religion, nations or culture. Oppression should be rooted out wherever it exists.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045565.post-1149693040433315582006-06-07T10:10:00.000-05:002006-06-07T10:10:00.000-05:00Just wanted to let you know officially that your p...Just wanted to let you know officially that your post was included in the XVI Carnival of Feminists, lol.<BR/><BR/>And I spelled your name right and changed your pronoun. :)thenutfantastichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01049788927734789585noreply@blogger.com