Gendering Decolonisation

Abstract

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Gendering arctic memory: Understanding the legacy of Josephine Diebitsch-Peary

“…There has been a growing body of work that addresses colonial complicity and the need to actively engage in decolonizing practices in historical research (Levine, 2010; Mignolo and Walsh, 2018; Vuorela, 2009). While colonial and post-colonial studies have occasionally investigated Arctic topics, little research has been done using the ideas and theories associated with coloniality (Körber et al, 2017).…”

“…In this context, archives embody the ontological and epistemological possibilities and limits of archival practices (Schwartz and Cook, 2002; Stoler, 2002). So, for example, archives themselves are often separated out in special ‘Womens’ Collections’ that replicate existing social values and hierarchies (Erikson, 2009: 104; Levine, 2010). With the historical legacies of women so clearly gendered, it is worth examining more closely the complex nature of Arctic memory cultures and its relationship to modernity/coloniality.…”

Hakarongo Mai! Rapanui Women and Decolonisation for Development

“…Most literature has ignored women's participation within anti--colonial struggles, leaving them out of the histories of decolonisation (Levine, 2010a), focusing on male perspectives and experiences when constructing knowledge of colonial and postcolonial eras (Spivak, 1988), and upholding decolonisation as a purely masculine achievement (Teaiwa, 1992). As Chapter Two explores further, this is indeed counterproductive to the decolonisation agenda.…”

“…Decolonisation, or the 'rebirth' of nations, has been portrayed as a largely masculine achievement (Teaiwa, 1992), occurring in a masculine space (Green, 2007;Lazreg, 1994;Levine, 2010a), where colonised men confront colonising men.…”

“…Mhalinia Sinha (2004, p. 194) has observed, "political rights for men have flown directly from their eligibility to shed blood for the nation". Levine (2010a) discusses how in British India, French Africa, and elsewhere, women's rights were considered secondary to the task of rebuilding economies and infrastructures of the newly forming nation--states. Rather than seeing women's rights and the project of nation--building as mutually constituted necessities, she asserts, women's claims were denied.…”