Chandra Talpade Mohanty

Chandra Talpade Mohanty (born 1955) is a prominent postcolonial and transnational feminist theorist.^[1] She became well known after the publication of her influential essay, "Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses" in 1988. In this essay, Mohanty critiques the political project of Western feminism in its discursive construction of the category of the "Third World woman" as a homogenous entity. Mohanty states that Western feminisms have tended to gloss over the differences between Southern women, but that the experience of oppression is incredibly diverse, and contingent on geography, history, and culture.^[2]

In 2003, Chandra Mohanty released her book, "Feminism Without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity". In this work, she argues for a bridging of theory and praxis, and the personal and the political. Major themes addressed include the politics of difference, transnational solidarity building, and anticapitalist struggle against globalization.^[3]

Mohanty is originally from Mumbai, India. She holds a Ph.D. and Master’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as well as a Master's degree and a bachelor's degree from the University of Delhi in India. Originally a professor of women's studies at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, she is currently the women's studies department chair at Syracuse University.^[4]

Selected publications

• Feminism and War: Confronting U.S. Imperialism (2008)
• Feminism Without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity (2003)
• Feminist Genealogies, Colonial Legacies, Democratic Futures (1997)
• Third World Women and the Politics of Feminism (1991)

References

1. ^ http://www.cddc.vt.edu/feminism/mohanty.html
2. ^ http://blog.lib.umn.edu/raim0007/RaeSpot/under%20wstrn%20eyes.pdf
3. ^ http://www.dukeupress.edu/books.php3?isbn=8223-3021-0
4. ^ http://wgs.syr.edu/Mohanty.htm

Persondata
Name	Mohanty, Chandra Talpade
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1955
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death