Course Manual

Introduction to feminist thought

Course Instructors
Sameena Dalwai

Semester I (2019- 2020)

Part 1

Information on “Introduction to feminist thought” offered by Jindal Global Law

School, Semester I, 2019-2020

The following information is provided by the course coordinator. The following

information contains the official record of the details of the course.

Course title: Introduction to feminist thought

Course code:

Course duration: One semester

No. of credit units: 4

Level: Undergraduate (Elective course)

Medium of instruction: English

Pre-requisites: Nil

Pre-cursors: Nil

Equivalent courses: Nil

Exclusive courses: Nil

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Part II
1. Course description

This course is aimed at young women, and men, who are interested in exploring the
contours of a gendered worldview and strive towards a just society. It will introduce
students to concepts of feminism and will explore ideas in different feminisms. We
shall view gender in the context of race, ethnicity, caste, class and sexuality. Feminism
can be defined as looking at the world with a woman’s eye, rather than the attitude of
‘add woman and stir’ to mainstream social sciences. Feminism urges the women’s point
of view to be central to social theory, political action and economic policy.

Yet, this course exhibits that feminism is not a monolith. Different types of feminisms
articulate the development of women’s question in varied manners in different locations
and settings. This course will explore the relation of women with class and labour
through Socialist feminist work; the lived realities of oppression through readings from
Black feminism and Dalit feminism; the violence of development and its effect on
agriculture through Ecofeminism. It will explore the possibility of the world based on
the feminine value system or the ethic of care as a parallel to capitalism and
imperialism.

By introducing students to the main themes and periods in feminism the course will
equip them to view their world around differently and seek gender in mainstream law
subjects. The course would form a base to advanced courses offered at JGLS such as
feminist jurisprudence, international law with a feminist perspectives, caste and gender.

2. Course aims

 To get introduced to the basics of feminist thought

 To gain basic knowledge of key schools, periods, waves of feminism from the
18th century onwards.
 To learn to view the world with the gendered lens and to imbibe a critical
feminist thought into the study of law and society
 To dispel myths about feminism, feminists. To move beyond the simple
binaries of men vs women and learn intersectionality of gender with other
forms and systems of oppression such as race, caste, class, sexuality.
 To work towards nuanced reasoned arguments based on readings and apply
the feminist theories to immediate lived realities
 To provide a strong base with which the students can move on to the more
advanced courses involving gender/ feminist thought.

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 3. Course intended learning outcomes

Intended Learning Outcomes Teaching and Learning Assessment

By the end of the course
students should be able to:
 Read feminist theories
and writing fluently,
and analytically and
critically describe and 40 %
explain the various
topics and readings
covered in class.
 Clearly and
coherently
communicate in
written and verbal
form their positions 30%
on various debates in
feminist history and
thought
 Critically apply
lessons learned from
feminist theories and 30%
movements
Activities
A list of selected readings
is provided for each week.
Students will be given
strong guidance on their
reading and research
through lectures and
tutorials.
Students will, by
responding to questions
develop their analytical
and critical capabilities.
Tasks/Activities
Participation in the
discussions and debates in
class. Lead the discussion in
class after reading and
understanding a theorist.
Respond to social political
concerns with the
understanding and
application of a particular
feminist school of thought
Write a research paper by
engaging with the lessons
leant during the term.

4. Grading of student achievement

O 80 and above Outstanding Outstanding work with strong evidence of knowledge of the
subject matter, excellent organisational capacity, ability to
synthesize and critically analyze and originality in thinking
and presentation.

A+ 75 to 79.75 Excellent Sound knowledge of the subject matter, thorough

understanding of issues; ability to synthesize critically and
analyze.

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A 70 to 74.75 Good Good understanding of the subject matter, ability to identify
issues and provide balanced solutions to problems and good
critical and analytical skills.
A- 65 to 69.75 Adequate Adequate knowledge of the subject matter to go to the next
level of study and reasonable critical and analytical skills.
B+ 60 to 64.75 Marginal Limited knowledge of the subject matter and irrelevant use
of materials and, poor critical and analytical skills.
B 55 to 59.75 Poor Poor comprehension of the subject matter; poor critical and
analytical skills and marginal use of the relevant materials.
________________________________________________
“Pass” in a pass-fail course. “Pass” is indicative on only a
__________ __________________ ________________ basic understanding of the subject matter.
B- 50 to 54.75 Pass ________________________________________________
Fails in the subject

__________ __________________ _________________

F Below 50 Fail

5. Course work and teaching methodology

The syllabus is comprehensive with fourteen modules but these will be compressed to
fit 9 weeks that we have in hand for this two credit course. The course work will be
based on one core article each week and several suggested readings.

Class attendance is mandatory. Students must register a minimum of 70% attendance

for classes failing which the student will not be given a passing grade. Class will
begin 7 to 10 minutes after the official start of the class after which no student will be
admitted.

Class participation will be the major component as this will run as a seminar course
with small number of students discussing the readings and applying them to examples
in life around. Each student will be marked every week.

Short response papers will test the ability of students to apply the theory learnt to
certain socio-political situations. The topics for these are posted for each week in the
syllabus. Students will choose any two from these during the term. The deadline for
submission of a response paper is the following week.

Students are responsible for meeting the deadlines. Late submissions will be allowed
for an extra week, with a 25 percent mark cut. Submissions later than a week will not
be marked.

ASSESSMENT:

Assignment Details Marks Deadline

Response papers Each weekly module has a 10 x 3 A week after
question for response- answers the subject

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 (Written) to which must be submitted by = 30 of module is
the next week. total taught in class
Weekly summary A para summarising the weekly 2 x 10 Before each
readings module
= 20

Class Overall attendance and 10 Noted every

participation participation in classes week
End term exam: Book review: 1500 words 40 Week 14

(Written) Oral in class (10 marks)

Written at the end of term (30

marks)

6. Guidelines for assignments and warning against plagiarism

Assignments must represent individual original work on the part of students. In

other words, students must research, read, think, and assimilate on their own, and then
attempt an assignment. The key to writing or completing a successful assignment is
careful reading and adequate reflection on the reading so as to formulate an approach
or an argument in original terms (ie in the student’s own words).

Plagiarism means “To take the words or an idea of someone else and pass it off as one’s
own.” Plagiarism is a serious matter and will be penalized with a failing grade ie an ‘F’.
Students must refrain from copying words, phrases, sentences, ideas from someone
else’s work (ie fellow students, the prescribed reading, the internet). Instances of
plagiarism will be entered into the student’s academic record.

Good citation practices will help to avoid plagiarism. If a student is relying on the
authority of another scholar or any website, the original source must be acknowledged
by way of footnotes and the quoted material must be placed within quotes. In the event
of confusions regarding proper citation protocol, the course instructor must be
consulted. Academic Integrity and Honesty

Learning and knowledge production of any kind is always a collaborative process. As

such, collaboration demands an ethical responsibility to acknowledge who we have
learnt what from, and how reading and learning from others have helped us shape our
own ideas. Even originality requires an acknowledgement of the sources and the
processes that helped you achieve it. Thus, any idea, sentence or paragraph you refer to
or are inspired by must be cited in the piece of writing or any presentation being made.
Any source from the internet, articles, books, journals, magazines, case law, statute,
photographs, films, paintings, etc. must be credited with the original source. If the
source or inspiration for your idea is a friend, a casual chat, something that you
overheard, or heard being discussed at a conference or in class, even these must be
credited. If you paraphrase or directly quote from a web source in the exam,
presentation or essays, the source must be explicitly mentioned. The university has
strict rules with consequences for students involved in plagiarism. This is an issue of
academic integrity on which no compromise will be made, especially as students have

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already been trained in the perils of lifting sentences or paragraphs from others and
claiming authorship of them.

7. Disability Support and Accommodation Requirements

JGU endeavors to make all its courses accessible to students. All students with a known
disability needing academic accommodations are required to register with the
Disability Support Committee dsc@jgu.edu.in. The Committee has so far identified the
following conditions that could possibly hinder student’s overall well-being. These
include: physical and mobility related difficulties; visual impairment; hearing
impairment; medical conditions; specific learning difficulties e.g. dyslexia; mental
health.

The Disability Support Committee maintains strict confidentiality in its discussions.

The students should preferably register with the Committee in the month of
June/January as disability accommodation requires early planning. DSC will approve
and coordinate all the disability related services such as appointment of academic
mentors, specialized interventions and course related requirements such as accessible
classrooms for lectures, tutorials and examinations.

All faculty members are required to refer students with any of the above-mentioned
conditions to the Disability Support Committee for addressing disability-related
accommodation requirements.

8. Safe Space Pledge

This course may discuss a range of issues and events that might result in distress for
some students. Discussions in the course might also provoke strong emotional
responses. To make sure that all students collectively benefit from the course, and do
not feel troubled due to either the contents of the course, or the conduct of the
discussions, it is incumbent upon all within the classroom to pledge to maintain respect
towards our peers. This does not mean that you need to feel restrained about what you
feel and what you want to say. Conversely, this is about creating a safe space where
everyone can speak and learn without inhibition and fear. This responsibility lies not
only on students, but also the instructor.

9. Cell Phones

Not allowed in class. Maybe confiscated if found in use during class time.
Best to put them on silent mode and keep in your bags.

Part III
Keyword syllabus

Feminism, liberal feminism, socialist feminism, Radical feminism, Black feminism,

Dalit feminism, Islamic feminism, Hindu Right, Cultural feminism, Eco- feminism

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Modules

Module no. Module topic

1. Why feminism
2. Birth of feminism: Liberal feminism
3. Liberal feminism in India
4. ‘All sex as rape’ and controversies of radical feminism
5. Intersectionality and Black feminism
6. The challenge of Dalit feminism
7. Islamic Feminisms in the clash of civilisations
8. Hindu nationalism and women
9. Sexual minorities challenging feminisms
10. Marxist and Socialist feminism
11. Ethics of Care
12. Political Economy of Gender
13. Eco-feminism
14. Cyber-feminism

Part IV

Modules and Readings1:

1. Why feminism?
- Are we now living in the post –feminism era?
- Do we need feminism today? In what areas, locations?

Readings:
 Kamla Bhasin and Nighat Said Khan's Feminism and its Relevance in South
Asia
https://webruhan.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/bhasin-khan-feminism.pdf
 Nivedita Menon's Looking Like a Feminist- Introduction
 Sara Ahmed's Living a Feminist Life- the introductory chapter
 Sokeya Sakhawat Hussain, 'Sultana's Dream’
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultana%27s_Dream

2. Birth of feminisms: Western liberal feminism

- Who is equal to whom in liberalism?
- What did the liberal feminists want for women?

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The course instructors reserve the right to change readings, and add or subtract
selections. Students will be given adequate notice if any changes are made to the reading
list.

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 - Do you think the Indian legal system is influenced by Liberal feminism?

Readings:
 Mary Wollstonecraft- Vindication of the rights of women, 1793
 Sourjourn Truth, Ain’t I a woman?
 Simone de Beauvoir, Second Sex,
 Betty Friedan, “the problem with no name”, in Feminine Mystique,

Watch:

Monalisa Smile / Iron Jawed Angels

Response paper:
What role does the state play in a feminist imagination of the world?

3. Liberal feminism in India

- How may we surmise the women’s question in Colonial India?
- What role do the leaders like Gandhi, Tilak, Ambedkar assign to women?
Is Phule an exception?
- What competing strands of feminist articulation are noticeable in this era?

Readings:
 Jyotirao Phule, Slavery, 1873
 Pandita Ramabai, High Caste Hindu Woman
 Sujata Patel and Madhu Kishwar on Gandhi (Additional)
 Sharmila Rege, Madness of Manu (Additional)

Response paper:
Consider your own family. How are women’s roles imagined over the last
2-3 generations? Is it in any way similar/ dissimilar to how British and
Nationalists imagined women?

4. ‘All sex as rape’ and controversies of radical feminism

- How does Radical feminism understand the status of women?
- What are the solutions suggested by radical feminists?

Readings:
 Catharine MacKinnon, Sexuality, Pornography, and Method: "Pleasure
under Patriarchy, Ethics, Vol. 99, No. 2 (Jan., 1989), pp. 314-346
 Catharine MacKinnon, Reflections on Sex Equality Under Law, in
Women’s Lives, Men’s Laws (2005) [127-46].
 Kate Millet, The sexual politics, Avon, 1970 (Additional )
 Shulamith Firestone, Dialectic of Sex ( Additional)

Response paper:

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 Does Sharon Stone from Basic Instincts need feminism to guide her?
Or Sunny Leone in today’s context?

5. Black feminism and Intersectionality

- How is the position of Black women different than White women?

- What are the woes expressed by black feminists against the mainstream
feminist movement?

Readings:

 Kimberle Crenshaw, “Intersectionality and Identity Politics: Learning

from Violence against Women of Color” 1997 [R1:484] (Required)
 Hazel Carby, White Woman Listen: black feminism and the boundaries
of sisterhood, in Empire Strikes back, 1982 (Required)
 Bell hooks, Ain't I a Woman: Black women and feminism, 1981
(Additional)
 Lourde, Aaudre (1984), Sister Outsider, The Crossing Press Feminist
Series, 1984 (Additional)
 Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge,
Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment, 1990 (Additional)

Response Paper:
“You worry that your sons will become men and turn against you. We live in
the fear that our sons will be shot dead. And that you will turn away.”
Comment on this statement with reference to current American situation.

Class Debate: 10 marks

The intersectionality and essentialism debate: Janet Halley and Angela Harris
challenge Catherine Mackinnon

See:
http://signsjournal.org/currents-affirmative-consent/halley/
and Angela Harris, Race and Essentialism in Feminist Legal Theory, Supp. 7

6. A Dalit and a woman: The challenge of Dalit feminism

Readings:
 Urmila Pawar, Weave of my life
 Gogu Shyamala, Father May Be An Elephant And Mother Only A
Small Basket, But .., Navayana, New Delhi, 2012
 Bama, Karukku, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2011.
 Sharmila, Rege, Writing Caste/Writing Gender: Reading Dalit
Women’s Testimonios, Zubaan, New Delhi, 2006
 Gopal Guru, Dalit Women Speak Differently

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 Watch: Dalit Camera

Response Paper:
Write a brief for mainstream feminists in India to become more
inclusive.

7. Islamic Feminisms in the clash of civilisations

- Do Muslim women need saving?
- Where do Muslim women fit into the clash of civilization thesis?
- Do Islamic feminisms have different terms of contexts for women’s
issues?

Readings:
 Lila Abu-Lughod, Introduction, Do Muslim Women Need Saving?,
(Required)
 Joan Scott, “Politics of Veil”, Princeton University Press, 2010
(Additional)
 Veeena Oldenburg, Lifestyle as resistance,
 Afreen Firdaus and Hiba Ahmed, Muslim Women Do not Need Saving,
https://www.firstpost.com/long-reads/muslim-women-do-not-need-
saving-3392516.html

Response Paper:
Do you find Malala a worthy Nobel Peace Prize winner? What do you think
about the Canadian Education minister saying Malala can teach in Quebec if
she removes her headscarf?

8. Hindu nationalism and women: Nari Shakti and other issues

- What are the roles assigned to women in Hindu nationalism?
- Where does the globalising Indian woman fit in the current cultural
politics in India?

Readings:
 Nivedita Menon, Between the Burqa and the Beauty Parlour?
Globalization, Cultural Nationalism and Feminist Politics ( required)
 Smitha Radhakrishnan, “Examining the “Global” Indian Middle Class:
gender and Culture in the Silicon Valley/Bangalore Circuit”, Journal of
Intercultural Studies, Vol. 29, No. 1, February 2008, pp. 7-20
(Additional)
 Manisha Sethi, Avenging Angels and nurturing mothers: women in
Hindu Nationalism, EPW, 2002 (Additional)

Film Screening:

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 ‘The World of Her Own’

Response Paper:
Is feminism a relevant lens to view the beauty pageant and the RSS
Shakha in the film ‘the world of her own’?

9. Sexual minorities challenging feminisms

- What are the current issues of sexual minorities globally?
- Is India at par with the world in the accepting the rights of sexual
minorities?

Readings:
a. Arvind Narrain, Queer: Despised sexuality, law and social change,
2003
b. Audre Laurde, I am your sister: black women organising across
sexualities, in Carole R. McCann and Seung-Kyung Kim (eds)
Feminist Theory Reader, 2013
c. Urvashi Butalia, Queer and trans women are essential to Indian
feminism
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/may/29/indian-
transgender-feminism-urvashi-butalia
d. Sumit Baudh, Groom for Groom,
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/groom-for-groom/

Response Paper:
How has the decision of the Supreme Court about the section 377 of IPC
affected the Indian society? Cite examples from society and polity.

10. Marxist and Socialist feminisms

- What is the role of Marxism in in understanding contemporary social

problems women face?

Readings:

Friedrich Engels, “Origins of the Family, Private Property and the State,” The
Essential Feminist Reader (ed.) Estelle Freedman, Modern Library: 2007, 104-11. [E]

Alexander Kollontai, “Working Woman and Mother,” 1914 [R1:132]

Mariarosa Della Costa, Women and the subversion of Community, Radical America 6,
no 1 (Jan-feb 1972) (Additional)

Heidi Hartmann, “The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism” 1981 [R2: 187]
(Additional)

Nancy Hartsock. The Feminist Standpoint: Toward a Specific Feminist Historical

Materialism. 1983. [E] (Additional)

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Response Paper:
Does marriage have any other purpose than legitimate child bearing?

11. Difference Feminism: Ethics of Care

- Care matters to legal theory?

Readings:

Carol Gilligan, In a Different Voice (1980). [1-4, 24-65] (Required)

Carrie Menkel-Meadow, Portia in a Different Voice: Reflections on a Women's

Lawyering Process, 1 Berkley Women’s Law Journal. 39, 41 (1985)

Response Paper:
Would Hillary Clinton have been a better President than Bill Clinton?
OR
Do female lawyers function differently than male lawyers?

12. Political Economy of Gender: labour at home and in the market

- What is the relationship between women’s housework and axis of

discrimination?
- How do women fair as workers in the global economy?

Reading:

Heidi I. Hartmann, “The Family as the Locus of Gender, Class, and Political Struggle:
The Example of Housework” Signs, Vol. 6, No. 3 (Spring, 1981), pp. 366-394 [E]

J. Eveline (1998) Heavy, Dirty and Limp Stories: Male Advantage At Work” in
Gender and Institutions, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) 90-105

Maria Mies, Lace Workers of Narasapur: Housewives produce for the global
economy (Additional)

Gayle Rubin, “The Traffic in Women: Notes on the 'Political Economy' of Sex” in
Rayna Reiter, ed., Toward an Anthropology of Women, 157-210. [E] (Additional)

Rhacel Salazar Parrenas, “Servants of Globalization: Women, Migration, and

Domestic Work” 2001 [R2:202] (Additional)

Response Paper:
What do you think about wearing t-shirts from fast fashion brands that has
‘feminist’ printed on it?

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 13. Cultural Feminism and Eco-feminism

- How does feminism link to nature?

- How are struggles for and against development connected to
sustainability?

Readings:

Vandana Shiva, GATT, Agriculture and Third World Women, pp. 231-246

Ester Boserup, Women’s role in economic development

Maria Mies, The need for a new vision: the subsistence perspective, pp. 297-324

Watch:
 Story of Stuff: Cosmetics
 16 Deaths per Day

Response Paper:
How does the JGU campus and our lives here look from the standpoint of eco-
feminism?

14. Cyber-feminism

- What is Haraway’s relationship to cyberfeminism? Is cyberspace

transforming or reinforcing gender relations?

Haraway, D. A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology and Socialist Feminism in

the Late Twentieth Century
http://faculty.georgetown.edu/irvinem/theory/Haraway-CyborgManifesto-1.pdf

Julian Dibbell, “A Rape In Cyberspace: How an Evil Clown, a Haitian Trickster

Spirit, Two Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a Database Into a Society” online:
Julian Dibbell <http://www.juliandibbell.com/texts/bungle_vv.html>

Response Paper:
JGU has many cyber-feminists. Do their feminism in the virtual world
percolate to the physical world?

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