Imperial Feminisms: The Anti-Colonial Examination of Gender and white Womanhood from the 19th Century to Present

Imperial Feminisms: The Anti-Colonial Examination of Gender and White Womanhood from the 19th Century to the Present is an interdisciplinary course examining the historical development of gender theory in the United States and the United Kingdom through the global expansion of feminist movements within imperial and colonial contexts. The course begins with an analysis of nineteenth-century suffrage debates, focusing on how arguments about womanhood, race, and civilization intersected with projects of segregation, racial hierarchy, and colonial governance. It then turns to the early twentieth century to explore the relationships between feminist activism, Jim Crow politics, women's participation in Ku Klux Klan organizations, and the political mobilization of motherhood and protection narratives amid challenges posed by Black Americans and colonized populations. The final section examines late twentieth-century developments in gender theory, including debates surrounding Black male criminality, compensatory masculinity theory, Title VII legislative debates, and the expansion of carceral approaches to domestic violence. Throughout, the course situates white womanhood as a historically contingent political identity and introduces students to critical historical and theoretical approaches for analysing gender, race, and power.

Credit Level: 10 Year taken: Year 4 Undergraduate SCQF Credits: 20