Challenging Imperial Feminism

Author(s): Valerie Amos and Pratibha Parmar

Source: Feminist Review, No. 17, Many Voices, One Chant: Black Feminist Perspectives
(Autumn, 1984), pp. 3-19
Published by: Palgrave Macmillan Journals
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 Challenging
Imperial
Feminism
ValerieAmosand PratibhaParmar

Our task here is to begin to identifythe ways in which a particulartradition,white

EurocentricandWestern,hassoughtto establishitselfas the only legitimatefeminism
in currentpoliticalpractice.We seek to addressourselvesin very broadterms,to the
theoreticalandconsequentlypoliticallimitationsof Euro-Americanfeminismandthe
ways suchanalysesinformanddistortwhitewomen'spoliticalpractice.In challenging
suchfeministwritingswe not only look at the ways in which analysesof racismhave
beensignificantlylackingfromthatworkbut equallyimportantlywe look at theways
in whichwe as Blackwomenhavebeenmade'visible'in suchwritingsandthe termsin
whichourexperienceshavebeenexplained.
The growth of the Black feministmovementin Britainin the last decadehas
forced the questionof the centralityof Blackwomen's oppressionand exploitation
onto the politicalandtheoreticalagendas.The politicalenergyof Blackwomen who
haveorganizedat the grassrootswithinour communitiesagainstthe myriadof issues
engenderedby the racismof the Britishstatehas inspiredand pointedto the urgent
needto challengemanyof the theoreticalconceptualizations anddescriptionsof Black
andThirdWorldwomenexistingwithinwhitefeministliterature.
Bell Hook's argument(1982)thatracismin the women'smovementin the USA
has acted to excludethe participationof Blackwomen is equally applicableto the
Britishsituation:
Froma Blackfemaleperspective,if whitewomenaredenyingtheexistenceof
Blackwomen,writing'feminist'scholarshipasif Blackwomenarenot partof the
collectivegroupof Americanwomen,or discriminating againstBlackwomen,
thenit matterslessthatNorth Americawascolonisedby whitepatriarchal men
who institutionaliseda radicallyimperialisticsocialorder,thanthatwhitewomen
who purportto be feministssupportandactivelyperpetuateanti-Blackracism.
It is our aim in this articleto criticallyexaminesome of the key theoretical
conceptsin white feministliterature,and discusstheir relevanceor otherwisefor a
discussionanddevelopmentof Blackfeministtheory.
FeministReviewNo17,July1984

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4 FeministReview

It wouldbe naiveof us to suggestin anywaythatthewhitewomen'smovementis

a monolithicstructureor organization,indeed we recognisethat it is a varietyof
groupswitha diversityof interestsandperspectives.
However,our concernhereis to showthatwhite,mainstream feministtheory,be
it from the socialistfeministor radicalfeministperspective,does not speakto the
experiencesof Blackwomen andwhereit attemptsto do so it is often from a racist
perspectiveandreasoning.
In termsof practice,while there are a broadrangeof issues and demandsthat
white feminists are engagedin, we believe there is a particularkind of implicit
concensusamongstthesewomenabouttheissueswhicharethoughtto be importantto
organizearound.Thelimitationsof themovementareexpressedin theissueswhichare
identifiedas priorities:they are issues which in the main have contributedto an
improvementin thematerialsituationof a smallnumberof whitemiddle-classwomen
oftenattheexpenseof theirBlackandworkingclass'sisters',e.g. shorttermgainssuch
as equalopportunitiesandjob sharing.The powerof sisterhoodstops at the point at
whichhardpoliticaldecisionsneedto be madeandpoliticalprioritiesdecided.In the
sameway thatthe Labourmovementhaslamentedthe supposedlackof involvement
of Blackpeoplein theirstrugglesso whitewomenhavecondemnedBlackwomenfor
not engagingin the strugglesthey haveidentifiedas important- the colonialheritage
marcheson.
This unconsciousconsensushas been successfulin excludinglargenumbersof Black
women fromparticipatingin any meaningfulway. A furtherelementcontributingto
Blackwomen'sexclusionis dueto the factthatveryoftenwomen'soppressionis seer
in a straightforward andnon-contradictory way, wherewomenorganizingas women
is seenaspositive,regardlessof the context.An exampleof suchreasoningtakento its
extremeis when some white feministshave applaudedMaggieThatcheras Prime
Ministeras a positivefemaleimage.Suchuncriticalacceptanceof the virtuesof strong
femaleimagesservesonly to furtheralienateBlackwomen whose experienceat the
handsof the Britishstatedemandsa moreresponsiblepoliticalresponse.
Our startingpoint then is the oppressivenatureof the women'smovementin
Britainboth in termsof its practiceandthe theorieswhichhavesoughtto explainthe
nature of women's oppression and legitimize the political practiceswhich have
developedout of those analyses.In describingthe women'smovementas oppressive
we referto theexperiencesof Blackandworkingclasswomenof themovementandthe
inabilityof feministtheoryto speakto theirexperiencein anymeaningfulway.'
In arguingthatmost contemporaryfeministtheorydoes not beginto adequately
accountfor the experienceof Blackwomenwe alsohaveto acknowledgethatit is not a
simplequestionof theirabsence,consequentlythe taskis not one of renderingtheir
visibility.
On the contrarywe will haveto arguethat the processof accountingfor their
historicaland contemporarypositiondoes, in itself,challengethe use of some of the
centralcategoriesand assumptionsof recentmainstreamfeministthought (Carby,
1982).This work has alreadybegun;Blackwomen arenot only makinghistorybut
rewritingit.
Thepublicationin recentyearsof a numberof booksby Blackfeministsin the US
marksthe beginningof a systematicdocumentationof Blackwomen'sindividualand
collectivehistories.Dominantamongthesearethe rediscoveryof ourselves;our place

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 ChallengingImperialFeminism 5

in the Blackmovement;the boundariesof our sisterhoodwith white feminists(Lewis

andParmar,1983).
These areimportantareasfor us Blackwomen, for our experienceis the shared
experienceof Black people but it is also the sharedexperienceof women within
differentclass contexts. Our politicalresponseshave been and will continueto be
shapedby thatduality,the rangeof politicaloptionsavailableto us will dependon the
social context in which we experiencethat dualism.To date, the majorityof work
availableby Blackwomenaddressesitselfto the situationin theUSA or to the situation
in the ThirdWorld countriesfrom which our ancestorsare drawn.Althoughcom-
parisonscan be madebetweenBritainand the USA and althoughit is importantto
drawon the historiesof the communitiesandcountriesof theThirdWorldwhichhave
contributedto ourworldview, it is importantthatBlackwomenin Britainlocatetheir
experienceswithinthecontextof whatis happeningto Blackpeoplehere.
Thereis little recognitionin the women's movementof the ways in which the
gainsmadeby white women havebeen and still areat the expenseof Blackwomen.
Historicallywhite women'ssexualityhas been constructedin oppositionaltermsto
that of Blackwomen (Davis 1982, Ware 1983). and it is to this history that white
women referas their startingpoint, it is with this historythat they seek to come to
termsbut in an uncriticalway - the engagementwith it is essentiallyselective.The
'herstory'which white women use to tracethe roots of women's oppressionor to
justifysomeformof politicalpracticeis animperialhistoryrootedin the prejudicesof
colonialand neo-colonialperiods,a 'herstory'which suffersthe same form of his-
toricalamnesiaof white malehistorians,by ignoringthe fundamentalways in which
white women have benefittedfrom the oppressionof Blackpeople. Whatforms of
contemporaryfeministand socialisttheoriesshareis an inabilityto adequatelydeal
with the contradictionsinherentin genderandclassrelationswithin the contextof a
racistsociety. 'Raceandsex aresocialrealitieswhichat particularhistoricalmoments
structureclass relationsin as much as class relationsstructurethem' (Lewis and
Parmar,1983).
Thus the perceptionwhite middle-classfeministshaveof what they need liber-
atingfrom has little or no relevanceto the day to day experienceof the majorityof
Blackwomen in Britainand the ways in which they determinethe politicalchoices
whichhaveto be made.Nowhereis this moreapparentthanin the oppositionalterms
in whichwomen'sliberationandBlackpeople'sliberationhas beenandstill is posed.
In her analysisof the women'ssuffragemovementin the USA and the Abolitionof
SlaveryCampaigns,AngelaDavispointedto theopportunisticandracistargumentsof
some white women who madesimplisticcomparisonsbetweenthe position of Black
men and white women in 19th centuryAmerica(Davis, 1982). One such woman
ElizabethCadyStantonwrotein 1865:
Therepresentation of womenof thenationhavedonetheiruttermostfor thelast
30 yearsto securefreedomforthenegroesandaslongashe wasthelowestin the
scaleof beingwe werewillingto presshisclaimsbutnow, asthecelestialgateto
civilrightsis slowlymovingon its hinges,it becomesa seriousquestionwhether
we hadbetterstandasideandsee 'sambo'walkintothekingdomfirst(Davis,
1982).
This line of reasoningwas not only limitedto the USA; the movementfor female

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6 FeministReview

emancipationin Britainwascloselylinkedto theoriesof racialsuperiorityandEmpire.

It wouldappearthatalthoughfeministsandindeedMarxistsinvokethespectreof
history/herstoryat will in an attemptto locate the articulationof class and gender
oppression,at the point at which that very historyis calledinto questionand chal-
lengesthe basesof theiranalysesthereis a curiouskindof amnesia.Thepastis invoked
at will, but differentially,to make sense of the rangeof politicaloptions open to
socialistsandfeminists.2
Few whitefeministsin Britainandelsewherehaveelevatedthe questionof racism
to the levelof primacy,withintheirpracticalpoliticalactivitiesor in theirintellectual
work.Thewomen'smovementhasunquestioninglybeenpremisedon a celebrationof
'sisterhood'with its implicitassumptionthat women qua women have a necessary
basis for unity and solidarity;a sentimentreflectedin academicfeministwritings
whichis inevitablyinfluencedby thewomen'smovementandincorporatessomeof its
assumptions.
Whileone tendencyhasbeenfor Blackwomento haveeitherremainedinvisible
within feministscholarshipor to have been treatedpurely as women without any
significanceattachedto our colour and race,anothertendencyhas been the idealiz-
ation and culturalismof anthropologicalworks. Often we have appearedin cross
culturalstudies which under the guise of feminist and progressiveanthropology,
rendersus as'subjects'for 'interesting'and'exotic'comparison.Forinstance,the book
WomenUnited WomenDivided looked at women'ssolidarityin cross culturalper-
spectivesand'discovered'thatsolidaritywasno unitaryconcept.The authorsdefined
feministconsciousnessandthenproceededto judgeotherculturalsituationsto see if
they arefeministor not. Whileacknowledgingthatthereareproblemsaboutuncriti-
callyacceptingwomenasa universalcategory,thisis purelyon thebasisof 'differential
relationsin class and status hierarchiesas well as factorssuch as age and kinship
affiliation.'Thereis no apologyfor,nayawarenesseven,of thecontradictionsof white
feminists as anthropologistsstudying village women in India, Africa, China for
evidenceof feministconsciousnessandfemalesolidarity.Furthermore,one wonders
why they findit easierto studymiddle-classwomenin Indiaandtheirorganizationsto
prove that 'thesewomen organiseto protectclassprivilegein activitiesthat comple-
ment their husbands'objectivepositions in the class hierarchy'than to study or
examinethe class position of the majorityof the white women in the women's
organizationsin WesternEurope;to examinehow thesewomenhavedifferentinter-
ests and power accordingto their class,age, raceand sexualityand organizeaccor-
dinglyto protecttheirinterests.By adoptingthe researchmethodsandframeworksof
whitemaleacademicsmuchacademicfeministwritingfailsto challengetheirassump-
tions,repeatstheirracialchauvinismandis consequentlyof lessuseto us.
One suchassumptionis thatpre-capitalist economiesequalbackwardness in both
a culturalandideologicalsenseandin factareresponsibleforthecontinuedoppression
of women in these societies.It is furtherimpliedthat it is only when ThirdWorld
womenenterintocapitalistrelationswilltheyhaveanyhopeof liberation:
Therecanbelittledoubtthaton balancethepositionof womenin imperialist,i.e.
advancedcapitalistsocietiesis, forallits implicationsmoreadvancedthanin theless
developedcapitalistandnon capitalistsocieties.Inthissensethechangesbroughtby
imperialismto ThirdWorldsocietiesmay,in somecircumstances havebeen
historicallyprogressive(Molyneux,1981).

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 ChallengingImperialFeminism 7

The aboveanalysisfalselyassumesthat imperialismnecessarilybringscapitalist

relationsand is parallelto the resurgenceof developmenttheories in neo-marxist
literaturethat argue that imperialismis progressivefor 'underdeveloped'nations
(Warren,1980;for critiqueseeSivanandan,1982).
Furthermore,when BlackandThirdWorldwomenarebeingtold thatimperial-
ism is good for us, it should be of no great surpriseto anyone when we rejecta
feminismwhich uses Westernsocial and economicsystemsto judgeand makepro-
nouncementsabout how Third World women can become emancipated.Feminist
theorieswhich examineour culturalpracticesas 'feudalresidues'or label us 'trad-
itional',also portrayus as politicallyimmaturewomen who need to be versedand
schooledin the ethos of Westernfeminism.They need to be continuallychallenged,
exposedfortheirracismanddeniedanylegitimacyasauthenticfeminists.

Strength in Differences
The failureof the academicfeministsto recognisedifferenceas a crucialstrengthis a
failureto reachbeyond the firstpatriarchallesson. Divide andconquerin our world
mustbecomedefineandempower(Lorde,1981).
Manywhitefeminists'failureto acknowledgethe differencesbetweenthemselves
andBlackandThirdWorldwomenhascontributedto the predominantlyEurocentric
and ethnocentrictheories of women's oppression.Recently, some white feminist
academicshaveattemptedto dealwith the questionof differencesbut againthis has
raisedmanyproblemsandoften perpetuatedwhite feministsupremacy.In Common
Differences,Jill Lewis, who describesherselfas a white socialistfeministand Gloria
Joseph,a Blackwoman, attemptto createa dialoguebut ratherthanuse this oppor-
tunityto find constructiveandcreativeways of strengtheningour unity throughour
differencesas Blackand white feminists,Jill Lewis revealsher patronizingand con-
descending'understanding'of Black women. She sets out to teach the A to Z of
feminismto Blackwomen,whomsheportraysaswomencontrolled,manipulatedand
brainwashedinto ridiculingand dismissingthe women's liberationmovementby
sexistBlackmenandthewhitemalemedia(JosephandLewis,1981).Thereis a blatant
disregardfor the factthatit is the autonomousactivitiesof Blackwomenwhich have
forced the white women's movementaway from a celebrationof universalityand
sameness,to be concernedwith the implicationsof differencesamong women's
experiencesandunderstanding thepoliticalfactorsatworkin thosedifferences.
Again she doesn't acknowledgethe strugglesof Black sisters both within the
women'sliberationmovementandoutsideof it, who havefoughtfor ourpresenceand
our issues to be on the agendasin a rangeof politicalorganizationsand who have
struggledto raiseracismas a centralissuewithinthe women'smovement.Insteadshe
distortshistoryandgivescreditwhereit is not due:

Fromits beginnings,themovementturnedto Chicano,PuertoRicanandBlack

womentogive account(sic)of theirparticularexperiencesof oppression,though
themovementasawholehashaddifficultydigestingtheimplicationsof theseand
shiftingits centralperspectivesawayfromtheperspectivesof its whitemajority
(JosephandLewis,1981).

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8 FeministReview

Historically,it was not the movementwho turnedto these women but Black
women themselveswho instigatedthe debateson our differences.For instancein
America,many Black women were involved in the women's movementfrom its
beginnings,andthey struggledto bringhomethe followingto theirBlacksisterswho
werepessimisticabouttheviabilityof jointpoliticalworkwithwhitefeminists:
Therealpoliticalandeconomicadvancesacquiredby womenof colourinvolved
in thewomen'smovementmorethanmadeupfortheveryrealproblemsand
personalcontradictions evidentamongcertainpettybourgeoiswhitewomen's
'leaders'(Marabelle,1983).
Blackwomenwerealsoraisingtheissueof feminismandfeministdemandswithin
the Blackmovementand such questionswere continuallyraisedin the civil rights
movementwell before Blackwomen were engagingin debatewithin the predomi-
nantlywhitewomen'smovementin the 1960s.In not acknowledgingthe involvement
of Blackwomenin thewomen'smovementin its earlydays,JillLewisnot only distorts
historyandrendersBlackwomenactivistsinvisible,she alsoendsup by appropriating
feminismfor whitewomen.Throughoutherwritingsthereis anunderlyingideathat
somehowfeminism,and feministdemandswhich are of any relevanceand validity,
havebeendevelopedby whitewomen.
The feministauthorswe have criticizedare not the only ones guilty of using
Eurocentricmodels,frameworksand definitionswhich leaveno room for validating
the strugglesandconcernsof BlackandThirdWorldwomen,therearemanyothers.
Becausethey are not acquaintedwith traditionsoutside of their own culturesand
histories,the ideologicaland the theoreticallegaciesthat they writefrom inevitably
denyas validanymodesof struggleandorganizationwhichhavetheiroriginsin non-
Europeanphilosophicaltraditions.
The historicalandculturaltraditionsfromwhichthey writearequalitativelyand
in essence so differentthat their analysis,interpretationsand conclusionsare of
necessitygoingto produce'naiveandperverse'accountssteepedin whitechauvinism.3
We now turnto look at threecriticalareasin whichBlackwomen'sexperienceis
very differentfrom that of white women. As we havealreadystated,white women
have benefitedfundamentallyfrom the oppressionof Blackwomen and beforeany
kindof collectiveactiontakesplaceit is necessaryto reassessthebasison whichwe ally
ourselvesto the white feministmovement.The threeareaswe havechosenas illus-
trationsof ourthesisarethe family,sexualityandthe women'speacemovement.Each
of theseareas,in verydifferentwayspointto the 'imperial'natureof feministthought
andpractice.

Family
To datesocialistfeministtheoryhassoughtto harnesswhatis perceivedastwo strands
of women'soppression- classoppressionandpatriarchal oppression- theone being
viewed as the economicbasis of relationships,the other, the social or ideological.
Attemptshavebeenmadeto locatepatriarchal relationswithinthe socialrelationsof
reproductionand these analyseshave sought to link the modes of productionand

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 ChallengingImperialFeminism 9

reproductionin an attemptto define women's position in a capitalist,patriarchal

society.Indeedthe complexitiesof thatrelationshiphavebeendiscussedat lengthbut
no workablesynthesisof the conceptsof genderand class has emerged.Patriarchy
cannotbe viewedonly in termsof its relationshipto capitalandcapitalistrelationsbut
neitheris it merelyananalyticaltool whichexplainsthe oppressionof womenby men
withina rangeof differenteconomicsystems.
It is importantto go backto the classicdefinitionof patriarchy(seeBarrett,1980)
which also encompassedthe oppressionof youngermen by the father.Patriarchyis
about genderoppressionbut it is also about power relationswhich are not always
genderspecific.The film Padre Padroniamply demonstratesthis. A definitionof
patriarchalrelationswhich looks only at the power of men over women without
placingthatin a widerpoliticalandeconomicframeworkhasseriousconsequencesfor
the way in whichrelationshipswithinthe Blackcommunityareviewed.Relationships
withinthe Blackcommunityarestructuredby racismandit is a denialof racismandits
relationshipto patriarchyto posit patriarchalrelations as if they were non-
contradictory.We would argue that the argumentsof radicalfeminists who see
patriarchyas the primarydeterminingfeatureof women'soppressionignorestotally
the inapplicabilityof sucha conceptin analysingthe complexof relationsobtainingin
the Blackcommunitiesbothhistoricallyandatpresent(seeDelphy, 1977).
Thefamily,rightly,hasbeentheobjectof muchdebatein thewomen'smovement
andhasbeencitedasone of the principlesitesof women'soppression- women'srole
in reproducingthe labourforce,theirsupposeddependenceon menandthe construc-
tion of a femaleidentitythroughnotionsof domesticityandmotherhoodhaveallbeen
challenged.Indeedwithinthatquestioningtherehavebeenattemptsto elevatedomes-
tic labourto the samelevelof analysisas the Marxistanalysisof the mode of produc-
tion and the relationsbetween capitaland labour.The family and its role in the
constructionof a consensualideologyremainscentralto discussionsof feminism.We
would questionhoweverthe ways in whichwhiteacademics,particularlysociologists
andanthropologists,havesoughtto definetheroleof Blackwomenin thefamily.
Muchwork has alreadybeen done which shows the ways in which sociology,
especiallythe sociology of 'ethnicity',pathologizesand problematizesthe Black
communitiesin Britain.Our concernhereis the impactthe aboveanalyseshavehadon
Euro-Americancontemporaryfeministthought,particularlysocialistfeminists.Al-
thoughit is trueto say thatsomeof thesefeministshavedistancedthemselvesfromthe
crudestereotypingcommonin such analyses,some stereotypesdo stickandthey are
invariablylinkedto colonialandhistoricalinterpretations of the Blackwoman'srole.
The imageis of the passiveAsianwoman subjectto oppressivepracticeswithin the
Asianfamilywith an emphasison wantingto 'help'Asianwomenliberatethemselves
fromtheirrole.Or thereis the strong,dominantAfro-Caribbeanwoman,the headof
the householdwho despiteher 'strength'is exploitedby the 'sexism'which is seen as
beinga strongfeaturein relationshipsbetweenAfro-Caribbeanmen andwomen. So
althoughthe crudetranslationof theoriesof ethnicitywhich have becomepart and
parcelof the nation'scommonsenseimageof Blackpeople(see Lawrence,1982)may
not be acceptedby manywhitefeminists,they areinfluencedby the ideasandnowhere
is thismoreapparentthanin debatesaboutthe family,wheretherehascertainlybeena
failureto challengeparticularpathologicalideasaboutthe Blackfamily.Thereis little

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10 FeministReview

or no engagementby white feministswith the contradictionswhich constituteand

shapeour role as womenin a familycontext,as sisters,auntsor daughters.For both
Blackandwhitewomen,it is a criticalissuewhichhasto be addressed,but in this area
of struggleit is Blackwomen who have sought to look criticallyat the family, its
strengthsandweaknesses,its advantagesanddisadvantages, its importancefor certain
women in classandracetermsandall this in the broadercontextof stateharassment
andoppressionof Blackpeople(seeParitaTrivediandAminaMamain thisissue).
Thereare furtherconsiderationswhich shapethe socialistfeministview of the
Blackfamilyin Britainandtheserelatestronglyto the politicsof the Britishleft, and
their perceptionof colonial,neo-colonialand imperialistrelations.Therehas been
much debatein the Left about the abilityof ThirdWorldcountriesto successfully
achievesocialismwithoutfirstcomingfully into capitalistrelationsandthis view has
also been expressedby socialistfeminists(Molyneux,1981).Withinthis framework
the Black family is seen as a problemin termsof its ability to adaptto advanced
capitalistlife- it is seenasa forceprohibiting'development' - andthisviewhasbeen
informedby the broaderpoliticaland social analysisof our countriesof origin as
backward,needingto emergeinto the full force of capitalistexpansionbeforeover-
comingtheireconomic,social,politicalandcultural'underdevelopment'. It is impor-
tant to rememberthat many socialistfeministscome out of this Left tradition,a
traditionwhichhasbeencrucialin shapingtheirpoliticalawareness.
The relationshipof Britainto her colonieshas shapednot only the experienceof
Blackpeoplein Britainbut also thatof the indigenousworkingclass.As Katznelson
states, 'contemporaryracialattitudeshave been shapedby the colonialexperience,
forgedin thecrucibleof imperialism'(1970).Forthemajorityof peoplein Britaintheir
experienceof 'race' has been at the level of the ideological,despitethe economic,
politicalandculturalnatureof Britishimperialism. Theirexperiencehasbeenmediated
the of
through concept 'benign paternalism'. In this way autonomousBlackmove-
mentsandtheirhistoryof strugglewereconvenientlyabstractedout of the conception
of Blacksheldby themajorityof peoplein Britain.ThefactthatBlackpeopleweresaid
to haveno historyconvenientlystrippedthemof a whole traditionof struggle.Black
people however brought the knowledge of those struggleswith them from the
Caribbeanandthesehavebeeninstrumentalin shapingthe natureof Blackresistance
in Britain.
In the Caribbean,strugglesagainstcolonialismand the advancedforms of im-
perialistexpansionhavebeen wagedon a numberof differentlevels.The Caribbean
islandshavea long historyof resistancein the urbanareasandalsoin the countryon
largeplantationsandsugarestates.Spontaneousriotseruptedwithamazingregularity
throughoutthe slave and post slave period. Eric Williamscataloguesa numberof
labourandotherdisputesin thelate1930'swhichillustratethispoint:
Theroadto revolutionhasbeenmarkedout.Therevolutionbrokeout in the
years1935-1938....A sugarstrikein StKitts,1935;acoalstrikein StLucia,1935;
labourdisputeson thesugarplantationsof BritishGuiana,1935;anoil strike,
whichbecamea generalstrike,inTrinidad,1937(Williams,1970).

And the list goes on. The movefromthe peripheryto the centrewas not a processof
depoliticizationfor Blackpeople; ratherthe migrationprocessservedto focus and
sharpenthenatureof thestruggle.

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 ChallengingImperialFeminism 11

It was the samein the Asiansub-continent- a seriesof uprisingsand struggles

some of which arementionedin ParitaTrevendi'sessay (this issue). On the African
continentthe pre-nationaliststrugglestell the samestory, for example,the MauMau
campaign.This experienceis certainlylackingin certaincontemporaryanalysesof
Blackpeoplein Britain.
Whitefeministshavefalleninto the trapof measuringthe Blackfemaleexperience
againsttheirown, labellingit asin someway lacking,thenlookingforways in whichit
mightbe possibleto harnessthe Blackwomen'sexperienceto theirown. Comparisons
aremadewith our countriesof originwhich aresaidto fundamentallyexploitBlack
women. The hysteriain the western women's movementsurroundingissues like
arrangedmarriages,purdah,femaleheadedhouseholds,is often beyond the Black
woman'scomprehension- beingtiedto so calledfeministnotionsof whatconstitutes
good or badpracticein ourcommunitiesin Britainor theThirdWorld.
In rejectingsuchanalyseswe wouldhopeto locatetheBlackfamilymorefirmlyin
the historicalexperiencesof Black people - not in the romanticidealizedforms
popularwith some socialanthropologists,andnot merelyas a tool of analysis.There
areseriousquestionsaboutwho haswrittenthathistoryandin whatform,questions
whichhaveto be addressedbeforewe as Blackpeopleuse thathistoryas an additional
elementof our analysis.Blackwomen cannotjust throw away their experiencesof
livingin certaintypes of householdorganization;they wantto use thatexperienceto
transformfamilialrelationships.Stereotypesaboutthe Blackfamilyhavebeenusedby
the stateto justifyparticularformsof oppression.The issueof fosteringandadoption
of Black kids is current:Black familiesare seen as being 'unfit' for fosteringand
adoption.Racistimmigrationlegislationhashadthe effectof separatingfamilymem-
bers, particularlyof the Asian community,but no longer is that legislationmade
legitimatejust by appealsto racistideologies containedin notions of 'swamping'.
Attemptshaveactuallybeen madeby some feministsto justifysuch legislativeprac-
ticeson the basisof protectingAsiangirlsfromthe 'horrors'of the arrangedmarriage
system.Whitefeministsbeware- your unquestioningand racistassumptionsabout
the Blackfamily,your criticalbut uninformedapproachto 'Blackculture'has found
rootandin factinformsstatepractice.

Sexuality
Sexualityhas beenandcontinuesto be a centralissueof discussionanddebatewithin
the white women'smovement,and much politicalenergyhas been spent on under-
standingandquestioningsexualityandsexualoppression:
... feminismhasthrownup enormouschallengesin thewhole fieldof sexuality.
Wehavechallengedthe 'rights'of mento women'sbodies;thecompulsorynature
of heterosexuality;thestigmaandinvisibilityof lesbianism;theprimacyof the
nuclearfamily;rigidgenderroles- patriarchal definitionsof whatis 'natural';
theviolenceof rape;theexploitationof pornography;sexistimageryand
symbolism.Eventheimportanceandprioritygivento sexualrelationshipshave
beenquestioned(CartledgeandRyan,1983).
Whilesuchdebatesragevirulentlyamongstwhite feminists,manyBlackwomenhave
rightlyfelt thatwe do not havethe 'luxury'of engagingin them in the contextof the

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12 FeministReview

intenseracismof the Britishstate.Butthe factthatBlackwomenhavebeenperipheral

to thesedebatesthathavetakenplacewithinthe women'smovement,does not mean
thatwe havenot alwaysthoughtaboutanddiscussedtheseissueswith eachother.The
waysin whichwe havediscussedandprioritizedissuesaroundsexualityhavediffered
markedlyfromwhitewomen.
Such theoreticaldebates,while importantcomponentsin any theory and dis-
cussion of women and sexuality,have not been areasof focus for Blackwomen's
energyand actionbecausein many ways our theoreticaland politicalagendashave
alreadybeencircumscribed anddefinedfor us.
Ourverypositionas Blackwomenin a racistsocietyhasmeantthatwe havebeen
forced to organize aroundissues relatingto our very survival.The strugglefor
independenceandself determination andagainstimperialismhasmeantthatfor Black
andThirdWorldwomenin Britainandinternationally, sexualityas anissuehasoften
takena secondaryroleandattimesnot beenconsideredatall.
As we haveincreasinglygrownconfidentin ourfeminism,someof us havebegun
to look at the areaof sexualityin ways that arerelevantto us as Blackwomen.The
absenceof publiclyovertdebateson andaroundsexualityby Blackwomendoes not
meanthatsuchdiscussionshavenot beentakingplace.As illustratedin BrixtonBlack
women'sgroup'sanalysisof the demiseof the Organisationof Womenof Asianand
AfricanDescent (OWAAD), this was and continuesto be one areawhich has been
recognizedasanessentialelementof Blackfeministpracticeandtheory.
It is necessaryto rememberthat:
In manycaseswe havebeendeprivedof therightto actin wayswhicharesexually
authenticforus, in partbecauseonceagainwe havebeendefinedby others.For
example,whitemenfor centurieshavejustifiedtheirsexualabuseof Blackwomen
by claimingthatwe arelicentious,always'ready'foranysexualencounter(Hull,
ScottandSmith,1982).
More specificallywhen challengingheterosexualityas the norm many Black
lesbianshave had to face the profoundhomophobiaof both Blacksand whites. As
BarbaraSmithcommentswhentalkingabouttheAmericansituation:
Implicitin ourcommunitiesattitudestowardsBlacklesbiansis thenotionthat
theyhavetransgressed bothsexualandracialnorms.Despitealltheforceswith
whichwe mustcontend,Blackwomenhavea strongtraditionof sexualself
determination (Hull,ScottandSmith,1982).
Blackwomen'scontinuedchallengesto the questionof forcedsterilizationand
the use of the contraceptivedrugDepo Proverahasmeantthatsuchcampaignsas the
NationalAbortionCampaignhavebeenforcedto reassessthe relevanceof theirsingle
issue focus for the majorityof working class, Black women, and to change the
orientationof theircampaignsandactions.
At theannualconferenceof theNationalAbortionCampaign(NAC) in October,
1983,thetwo majorfactorswithinNAC splitinto two separatecampaigngroups;one,
continuingto work on the singleissueof abortionrightsandthe othera reproductive
rightsgroup.Thereproductiverightsgrouprightlyrecognizethat:
It is impossibleto campaignfor'ourrightto choose'withoutdemandingtotal
reproductivefreedom.Theythinkit canbe racistto tryto win abortionon

{E zlsiIHErb
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 ChallengingImperialFeminism 13

demandin isolationasthattypeof campaignignoresthefactthatmanydoctors

arequitewillingto giveabortionsto Blackandworkingclasswomenandany
womenwho haveothercharacteristics theydon'tapproveof (SpareRib83).
It is worthwhileat this point to look back at history and highlightthe fact that
some of the unquestionedassumptionsinherentin contemporaryfeministdemands
haveremainedthe sameas those of the nineteenthandearlytwentieth-centuryfemi-
nistswho in the mainwerepro-imperialist. One strandof earlyfeminismin Britainhas
its rootsin the radicalliberalandsocialpuritycampaignworkof JosephineButlerwho
drewon religiousrhetoricwith its notionsof purityandimpurity,virtueandvice and
linked her analysisto aspects of contemporarytheories of evolution. Christabel
Pankhurst,a leadinglightat the time,echoedheragreementwith the growingeugenic
lobbywhenshesaid,'sexpowersaregiven... asa trustto be usednot for... immorality
and debauchery,but... reverentlyand in a union based on love for the purposeof
carryingon therace'(emphasisadded;Bland1983).
While the growthof the birthcontrolmovementandbirthcontrolinformation
andclinicsin the 1920sand1930sis to be recognisedas a crucialgainfor womenin the
fightfor controlovertheirown bodies,the groundson whichsucha movementgained
respectabilitywas not on a woman'srightto self determinationbut on the groundsof
eugenicsand health.MarieStopes was a committedeugenist,and the name of her
organization- the Society for ConstructiveBirth Control and RacialProgress-
clearly stated her racialistposition. The class interest of many such women was
revealedwhensuchwoman'sorganizationsas the NationalSocietyfor EqualCitizen-
shipand'TheWoman'sCo-operativeGuild'supportedcampaignsto legalizesteriliz-
ationin the 1930sfor certaingroupsof 'unfit'persons,i.e. workingclasswomen.
Manysuffragistscampaignedaroundsloganssuch as 'votesfor women, chastity
for men' and creatednew spacesfor women but theircompliancewith the develop-
mentof anideologyof womenasmothersandreproducersof theracehighlightedtheir
interestin upholdingwhitesupremacy.
At the beginningof the nineteenthcenturya healthyandgrowingpopulationwas
seen as a nationalresourceand neo-Malthusiansalongsideeugenistsrecommended
contraceptionnot only as an artificialcheck on populationbut also as a meansof
selectivelimitationof populationgrowthto preventthe 'deterioration' of the'race'and
declineasan imperialnationthroughthe proliferationof thosethey regardedas'unfit'
(to breed).It must howeverbe said that there was a small section of women who
attemptedto countertheEugenicistmovement,suchasStellaBrown.
In 1958 Charles Kingsley arguedthat over-populationwas impossible 'in a
countrythat has the greatestcolonial empirethat the world has ever seen', and he
believedthat it was 'a duty, one of the noblest of duties to help the increaseof the
Englishraceas much as possible'(Davin, 1978).Womenwere being definedas the
breedersof the race,bearingandrearingthe nextgenerationof soldiersandworkersof
the imperialrace.Withinthiscontextdevelopeda new definitionof women'srole and
thepressureswhichled to theformationof anideologyof motherhood:
Inmanycasesthetermsin whichreformsto do withmarriage,childrearingand
bearingwereproposedalsoinvolvedreferenceto the nation,theempire,orthe
race....(Davin,1978).
Whitefeministshaveattackedthis for its oppressivenessto them but not on the

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14 Feminist Review

groundsof raceandanti-imperialism.
Such a developmentof an ideology of women as mothersduty bound to re-
produce for the race went alongsidethe developmentof an imageryof them as
vulnerablecreatureswho neededprotectionnot only at homebutalsoin thecolonies.
Therearehistoricalcounterpartsof contemporarywhitemaleuseof the imageof
vulnerableand defencelesswhite women being rapedand muggedby Black men,
imageswhicharereinforcedby racistideologiesof blacksexuality.Also in responding
to the useof physicalviolenceto controlwhitewomen'ssexualitywhitefeministshave
singularlyfailedto see how physicalviolenceto controlthe sexualityof Blackmenis a
featureof our history(eg lynching).Thishasimplicationsfor analysesandcampaign-
ingaroundsexualviolence.
Historically,there are many instancesof how white women'svulnerabilityto
physicalviolence from men has been used to bringin oppressivelegislationwhich
justifiedanextensionof policeandstatepowers,with oppressiveresultsfor bothmen
andwomen in countriesundercolonialrule.For instancein 1926a WhiteWomen's
ProtectionOrdinancewas passedin Papua(New Guinea),then underBritishrule,
which introducedthe deathpenaltyfor the crimeof rapeor attemptedrapeof any
Europeanfemale.The 'BlackPeril',or the fear that 'nativemen', who were seen as
endowedwith 'strongsex instincts'particularlyfor whitewomen,weregoingaround
in theirhordesrapingwhite women,was the backgroundto this severelegislation.In
facttherewaslittleproofthatthiswashappening.
Not only were there double standardsfor white men, who, far from being
penalizedfor havingsexualrelationshipswith local Blackwomen, were in fact en-
couragedto 'satisfy' their 'natural'desires; but furthermoreBlack women's ex-
periencesandvulnerabilityto maleviolencewasjudgedto be of littleconsequence.
Doubtlesstherearenativewomenwho setthehighestvalueon theirchastity,but
theyaretheexceptionandtherapeof an ordinarynativewomandoesnotpresent
anyelementof comparison withtherapeof a respectable whitewomanevenwhere
theoffenceuponthelatteris committedby one of herown raceandcolour(Ware
1983).
The racistideology that blackand immigrantmen arethe chief perpetratorsof
violent crimesagainstwomen permeatesnot only the racistmediafed regularlyby
police 'revelations'of 'racial'crimestatisticsas in 1982but also sectionsof the white
women'sliberationmovementasillustratedby theiractionsandsometimestheirnon-
action.
For example,the complianceof manywhite feministswith the racistmediaand
the police is shown in theirsilencewhen publichysteriais periodicallywhippedup
throughimagesof white women as innocentvictimsof blackrapistsand muggers.
Whenwhite feministshavecalledfor saferstreets,andcurfewof men at nightsthey
havenot distancedthemselvesfromthelinkthatexistsin commonsenseracistthinking
betweenstreetcrimeandBlackpeople.Again,when womenmarchedthroughBlack
innercity areasto 'Reclaimthe Night' they playedinto the handsof the racistmedia
and the fascistorganizations,some of whom immediatelyformedvigilantegroups
patrollingthe streets'protecting'innocentwhite women by beatingup blackmen.
Thereforewe would agreethat'anytalkof maleviolencethat does not emphatically
rejectthe idea that race or colour is relevantautomaticallyreinforcesthese racist
images'(Ware1983).

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 ChallengingImperialFeminism 15

Blackwomen's sexualityhas been used in variousoppressiveways throughout

imperialisthistory.For instance,duringslaverywomen were forcedto breeda slave
labourforce,raped,assaultedandexperimentedon; practicesthatstillcontinuetoday
under'scientific'andsophisticatedguises.
For Asianwomen, one such historicalexampleof controlover them was in the
form of the ContagiousDiseasesAct passedin Indiain 1868.Throughoutthe nine-
teenthcenturythe Britishmilitaryin Indiawas only concernedwith maintainingan
efficient and 'healthy'army who had 'natural'sexual desireswhich needed to be
fulfilled.Prostitutionwas encouragedandlocalIndianwomenwereeithertakenon as
'mistresses'or regularlyvisitedin the brothelsboth withinandoutsideof the canton-
ments.Suchpracticeswereso widespreadthatvenerealdiseaseincreasedrapidly.What
the Act did was call for compulsoryregistrationof brothels and prostitutesand
periodicalmedicalexaminationsand compulsorytreatmentof such 'diseases'.The
soldierswere not requiredto do this. This is just one exampleof stateregulationof
prostituteswhichwasa resultof imperialistpolicieswhichrequiredthemaintenanceof
hugeand'healthy'armies(Ballhatchett,1980).
In identifyingthe institutionof the familyas a sourceof oppressionfor women,
whitefeministshaveagainrevealedtheirculturalandracialmyopia,becausefor Asian
womenin particular,theBritishstatethroughits immigrationlegislationhasdoneallit
can to destroy the Asian family by separatinghusbandsfrom wives, wives from
husbandsandparentsfromchildren.
But while many Blackfeministswould agreethat the ideology of mother/wife
rolesis oppressiveto womenandthatmarriageonly servesto reinforceandinstitution-
alizethat oppression,in a politicalclimatewherethe stateis demandingproof of the
'genuine'natureof 'arrangedmarriages'as a blatantattackon Asianculture,andAsian
people'srightto enterthiscountry,we demandtherightto chooseandstrugglearound
the issue of family oppression ourselves, within our communitieswithout state
intervention,and without white feministsmakingjudgementsas to the oppressive
natureof arrangedmarriages.
Manywhite feministshavearguedthat as feministsthey find it very difficultto
acceptarrangedmarriageswhichthey see as reactionary.Our argumentis thatit is not
up to themto acceptor rejectarrangedmarriagesbut up to us to challenge,accept,or
reform,dependingon our variousperspectives,on our own termsand in our own
culturallyspecificways.

Nuclear Power on the North London Line

With the settingup of the GreenhamCommonWomen'sPeacecampin 1981,world
attentionhas focussed on the women's peace movementin Britain.Thousandsof
women have identifiedthe threatof a nuclearwar as a priority issue to organize
around.Whilesome feministshavesoughtto distancethemselvesfromwomenpeace
activistswho havefalleninto the trapof elevatingthe femininenatureof womenwith
its stresson motheringand nurturing,findingits organizedmanifestationin groups
such as the Familiesagainstthe Bomb and Babiesagainstthe Bomb, otherproblems
remain(RadicalFeministPapers,1984).
The women's peace movementis and continuesto remainlargely white and
middle-classbecauseyet againtheir actionsand demandshaveexcludedany under-

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16 FeministReview

standingor sensitivityto BlackandThirdWorldwomen'ssituations.

Blackwomen'spoliticalprioritieshavenot beento organizearoundthesitingof
AmericancruisemissilesatGreenhamor to focuson thedisarmament campaigns.This
has been inevitablegiventhe implicitand often explicitnationalistsentimentsof its
campaignsas muchas the overallframeworkwithinwhichthey haveaddressedthese
questions.The patrioticcriesof 'We wantto protectour country'whichextendboth
to the mixed left anti-nucleargroups as much as sections of the women's peace
movementis not one with whichmanyBlackpeopleseekto or wantto identifywith,
particularlywhen we know thatwe arenot recognizedor acceptedas legitimateand
equalinhabitantsof this islandandarecontinuouslyfightingfor our rightto be here.
The parochialconcernsof the Campaignfor NuclearDisarmament(CND) and the
women'speacemovementare manifestin theirunwillingnessto take up any inter-
nationalissues.Why,for instance,aretheynot exposing,campaigning andmobilizing
againstBritain'srole in illegalminingof uraniumin Namibiafor fuel for its Trident
submarines? Why areconnectionsnot beingmadewith peoplein the Pacificwho are
fighting for landrights?Why is therecontinuedsilenceandinactionon thewargoing
on in Britain'sown 'backyard',NorthernIreland?Why is it thatsomewhitewomen
who havesoughtto involveBlackwomenin theirpeacecampaignsat Greenhamcan
only include them by askingthem to servicethem yet againand play the role of
caterers?
It is inevitablethat such questionsand issuesdo not featureon the agendasof
eitherthe women'speacemovementor the CND, becauseboth thesemovementsare
imbuedwith the uncriticalacceptanceof the conceptof 'the nation',in particularthe
'Britishnation'.Theirfailureto distancethemselvesor be criticalof anti-Americanism
prevalentin public opinion which supportsnucleararms but opposes American
nucleararmsis a resultof theirdeepseatedandentrenchedpatriotism.In Britain,there
is not a singlesocialor politicalinstitutionthathasnot beenfundamentally affectedby
theideologyof Empireandits corollaryof Britishsuperiority.
As Blackwomenwe areunderno illusionthatthe racismprevalentin the wider
women'smovementandin Britishsocietygenerallywill be absentfromthe women's
peacemovement.Theracisminherentin it canbe illustratedby countlessexperiences
Blackwomenhavehadwithwhitefeministswho arepeaceactivists.
Theslogan'Yanksout' and'Yankeesgo home'hasbeenwidelyadoptedby many
women peaceactivistsand is an illustrationof racismarisingout of a confusionof
collapsingtheAmericanstatewithindividualAmericans.An exampleof sucha tacticis
an incidentwitnessedrecentlywhen a groupof white, middle-classwomen beganto
shout and chant 'Yanksout' and 'Yankeego home' at a BlackAmericansoldier
walkingthroughthe traincarriagethey were sittingin. To someof the Blackwomen
presentthis was reminiscentof 'Blacksgo home' and 'wogs out'. Whenconfronted
with the racismof theiractionone womanjustifiedtheiractionsby sayingthatin an
individualsituation,suchconfrontationsarenecessaryandlegitimate.Necessaryand
legitimateto whom?
It is preciselybecausethe powerrelationsevidentin suchan individualconfron-
tation are complex,that a strategyof isolatingout one Blacksoldierand chanting
'Yankeego home'is racist.Theclassandracepower,white,middle-classwomenhave
is takenfor grantedand not questionedby them and the contradictionsinvolvedin
sucha groupconfrontingone blacksoldierby shoutingat him escapedmostof these
women.Thehistoryof lynchingsof Blacksin Americacannotberelegatedto thepages
of historybooks;thecollectiveexperienceof suchintenseracismis alivein everyBlack
individual'sconsciousand unconsciouspsyche, as is the history of white women's
poweroverBlackmen(Davis,1982).
Thatsuchapoliticallysimplisticresponsecamefroma groupof womenwho were

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 ChallengingImperialFeminism 17

partof a women'sdelegationto picketArmaghprisonin solidaritywith Irishwomen

politicalprisoners,is surprisingand is indicativeof theirlack of analysisand under-
standingof theintrinsiclinksbetweenracismandimperialism.
Internationally,whileBlackandThirdWorldwomenarefightingdailybattlesfor
survival,for food, landandwater,westernwhitewomen'scriesof anguishfor concern
aboutpreservingthe standardsof life for theirchildrenandpreservingthe planetfor
futuregenerationssoundhollow.Whosestandardsof lifearetheyfightingto preserve?
- white, middle-classstandardsundoubtedly.Recently,MadhuKishwar,an Indian
feministcameto speakto the WomenFor Life on Earthandshe stressedthatwhatis
neededis a realisationthat:
A movementfor disarmament beginswitha movementagainsttheuseof guns,the
everydayweapons.Here(in Britain)you mayhavea fearof a nuclearholocaust
anddeathanddestruction- in Indiamillionsdieof waterpollution- thatis a
moredeadlyweaponforwomenin India.I thinkit is veryimportantthatnuclear
pilesbe madetargetsforpoliticalaction,butwe haveto beginwithconfronting
the gunsandthedandas(sticks)thatis disarmament for us (Kishwar,1984).
Many women at Greenhamhave begun to experiencefor the first time the
brutalityof the Britishpolice andsome areslowly realizingwhy manyBlackwomen
are not willing to deliberatelyexposethemselvesto it when it is an everydayoccur-
rencefor them, anyway.Blackwomen areup againstthe stateeverydayof our lives,
andthe terrorof a coercivepoliceforce,a highlytrainedmilitaryandthe multifarious
armsof the'welfare'statearefamiliargroundto us.
The choice to demonstrate'peacefully'or takenon-directactionhas neverbeen
availableto us. Whenthousandsof Blackpeople marchedagainstthe NationalFront
racistsin Southall,in Lewisham,policewerereadyto do battlewith theirtruncheons,
riot shieldsandhorses.Selfdefencein suchinstanceshasbeenthe only optionandthe
armouryavailableto us has consistedof bricks,dustbinlids,chilli bombsand petrol
bombs. The questionof deliberatingover how best to fight our oppressoris not an
abstractone for us nor for peopleinvolvedin nationalliberationstrugglesaroundthe
world.
In saying that as Black women we have sought not to prioritizeour political
energieson organizingaround'peace'anddisarmament, does not in anyway meanwe
do not considertheseascrucialpoliticalissues.
Indeed,the armsraceis fundamentallypoliticalandthe complexitiesof the new
cold warandthe increasingdrivefor Americanglobalsupremacyarecrucialquestions
of importancewhich concernus all. But, it is only when westernpeaceactivists,be
they maleor female,beginto broadenthe parametersof theircampaignsandintegrate
aninternationalperspectivewithintheirframeworks,will therebe a radicalshiftaway
fromthepredominantlywhitecompositionof thesemovements.

Conclusion
For us the way forwardlies in defininga feminismwhich is significantlydifferentto
the dominanttrendsin the women'sliberationmovement.We havesoughtto define
the boundariesof oursisterhoodwithwhitefeministsandin so doinghavebeencritical
not only of theirtheoriesbut also of theirpractice.Truefeministtheory andpractice
entailsan understandingof imperialismand a criticalengagementwith challenging
racism- elementswhich the currentwomen's movementsignificantlylacks, but
whichareintrinsicto Blackfeminism.We arecreatingour own formsandcontent.As
Blackwomen we haveto look at our historyand at our experiencesat the handsof a

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18 FeministReview

racist British state. We have to look at the crucial question of how we organize in order
that we address ourselves to the totality of our oppression. For us there is no choice.
We cannot simply prioritize one aspect of our oppression to the exclusion of others, as
the realities of our day to day lives make it imperative for us to consider the simul-
taneous nature of our oppression and exploitation. Only a synthesis of class, race,
gender and sexuality can lead us forward, as these form the matrix of Black women's
lives.
Black feminism as a distinct body of theory and practice is in the process of
development and debate both here in Britain and internationally and has begun to
make significant contribution to other movements of liberation, as well as challenging
the oppression and exploitation of Black women.

Notes

1 Someattemptshavebeenmadeto look at both racismandfeminism.For exampleJenny

Bourne in her essay (1983) 'Towards an anti-racist feminism' attempts to locate anti racist
practice within a (white) feminist context. However Jenny Bourne's essay fails adequately
to address contemporary debates within feminism and ignores the contribution of black
feminists to the broaderdebate around issues of racism,feminism, class and sexuality.

2 There have been a range of debates around socialism and feminism which have ignored the
issue of race. See for example Rowbotham, Segal and Wainwright (1979), and Sargent(1981)
which has only one essay on 'The Incompatible Menage a Trois.

3 See Cedric Robinson (1983) for a comprehensive analysis of the Black radicaltradition.

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 ChallengingImperialFeminism 19

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FurtherReading
BEECHEY, Veronica (1979) 'On Patriarchy'Feminist Review no 3.
BROWN, Wilmette (1983) Black Women and the Peace Movement London: International
Women's Day Convention.
CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY CULTURAL STUDIES (1978), Women's Studies
Group, Women Take Issue London: Hutchinson.
DAVIS, Miranda (1983) editor, Third World, Second Sex, Women's Struggles and National
Liberation London: Zed Press.
JORDAN,June (1981) Civil WarsNew York: Beacon.
KUHN, Annette and WOLPE, Ann Marie (1978) editors, Feminism and Materialism London:
Routledge and Kegan Paul.
McROBBIE, Angela, and McCABE, Trisha (1982), editors Feminism for Girls: an Adventure
Story London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
RICH, Adrienne (1980) On Lies, Secretsand Silence London: Virago.
REITER, R. (1975) editor, Towards an Anthropology of Women New York: Monthly Review
Press.
RUBIN, Gayle (1975) 'The Traffic in Women: Notes on the Political Economy of Sex' in Reiter
(1975).
SMITH, Barbara(1983) Home Girls New York: Kitchen Table Press.

{Ei Ii4E4fD
II M* E^r9! IHsjB *- ';'SEs ' v- -

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