1. The gendered nature of the public / private dichotomy has come up in many of the readings for this course. Compare and contrast the way in which Scott and Sen have discussed the gendered nature of this dichotomy and its effects on outcomes for women.
2. “Today we no longer say: ‘give us more jobs, more rights, consider us your equals or even allow us to compete with you better.’ But rather: let us reexamine the whole question, all the questions. Let us take nothing for granted. Let us not only redefine ourselves, our role, our image-but also the kind of society we want to live in.” – In Search of Answers: Indian Women’s Voices from Manushi. – Kishwar and Ruth,Eds. 1984.
Discuss the extent to which Mies, Escobar and Pearson ‘reexamine the whole question’. What assumptions do each of them challenge and in what ways do they encourage us ‘to redefine ourselves, our role….the kind of society we want to live in’. Provide one specific example of an action that we could take in our everyday lives that would reflect these principles.
3. Mohanty writes, “Women’s bodies and labor are used to consolidate global dreams, desires, and ideologies of success and the good life in unprecedented ways.” What do you think the statement means?
