Empire and Imperialism - Jozi Chaet

Relevance to the Text Generally

Over the course the readings for this week, the information presented throughout the articles has largely focused on the imperial project of the West, and particularly of the United States, through detailed discussions of the involvement of the United States in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since the mid-twentieth century, as well as other imperial and colonial counterinsurgency efforts. Additionally, the articles discussed the impact of the engagement of the United States in those projects, drawing particular attention to the intersections between feminism and the participation of the United States in a number of armed conflicts following the conclusion of the Second World War. While the following post cannot successfully engage with the specificities of all of those complex discussions, this post attempts to think through one of the primary concepts embedded with the work presented by Mohanty et al., Felman, and Khalili over the course of the readings – namely, the way in which the study of imperialism, or the involvement of the state in imperial projects, can contribute to an understanding of the lived experiences of particular individuals or groups. In turn, this post aims to explore the implications of that analysis, with a particular focus on the conversation concerning the women’s issues and feminism, and endeavors to address the potential ways in which that work relates to my emerging research.

Throughout their discussion concerning the complicated ways in which “those in pursuit and justification of [United States] wars continue to use gender, sexuality, race, [and] class” (Mohanty et al. 2008:2), Mohanty et al. reflect on the relationship between imperialist actions and feminism. Specifically, Mohanty et al. suggest that the United States has “gendered, racialized, and sexualized” (Mohanty et al. 2008:3) its practice of imperialist wars, or wars fought “through military and economic policy to advance and consolidate the profit-driven system of capitalism” (Mohanty et al. 2008:3), in an effort to justify the involvement of the country in conflicts both at home and abroad. In particular, Mohanty et al. state that the attempt to save women and civilize men of color has become the rationalization for the involvement of the United States in armed conflicts throughout the Middle East, including Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the persistent war on drugs. Effectively, through the use of discourse that valorizes the impetus for the initial and continued participation of the United States in those conflicts, the nation is able to legitimize its involvement in those endless wars (Mohanty et al. 2008:4). In turn, Mohanty et al. posit that in order to understand the impact of the imperial projects initiated by the United States, and specifically the impact upon women, it is necessary to first examine the “power dynamics and relations of rule that constitute the globe and specifically an imperial [United States] within it” (Mohanty et al. 2008:5). Consequently, it is important to contend with the effects of the imperial wars waged by the United States across the world in an effort to make sense of the way in which “women of many races, ethnicities, nationalities, and religions around the world…experience war” (Mohanty et al. 2008:5). In many ways, the argument made over the course of the introduction to Feminism and War: Confronting US Imperialism echoes the assertions made by Lila Abu-Lughod in her article “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?”, in which she suggests that the United States justified extended involvement in the Middle East, broadly writ, beginning in the early 2000s through the presentation and depiction of women throughout the region as ‘repressed’, ‘oppressed’, and ‘backwards’ (Abu-Lughod 2002).

Application to Real or Imagined Project(s)

The discussion presented by Mohanty et al. concerning the effect of the imperialist involvement of the United States upon the lives of women, the understanding of gender, and feminist issues and engagement is useful in the context of my own developing project. My emergent research is focused on female activist organizations in Jordan, and the relationship between the development of the modern Jordanian state since the mid-twentieth century and both the historical and contemporary capacity for female advocacy organizations throughout the country, through the lens of extant legal provisions in the Jordanian Penal Code (Articles 98, 340) that allow perpetrators of so-called honor crimes to receive mitigated sentences. In beginning foundational research for this project, I have come across several sources which have suggested that the emergence of female activist organizations engaged in the conversation regarding honor-based violence throughout Jordan in 1945, which coincided with the nation’s independence, was a lasting vestige of Western imperial involvement throughout the region and a reflection of a Western perception of the treatment of women in the Middle East, and was consequently not a true representation of the opinions of  majority of Jordanian women. While I have not done anywhere near the amount of research that is necessary to provide an analysis of that particular analytic framework one way or the other, the methodological framework presented by Mohanty et al. provides a foundation for the assessment of the impact of the involvement of the West in the formation of Jordan in the mid-twentieth century, which will serve to compliment the analysis concerning the role of the Jordanian state in the emergence and operation of female advocacy organizations throughout the country.

Discussion Question(s)

In what ways can this methodology be applied? Is it enough to acknowledge the possible impactions of United States imperialism, and how does that acknowledgement shape or impact the research that can be accomplished/how does it alter the way in which research is done?

Spill-over Questions (from last week)

I think that someone brought this up at the end of class (and I apologize for not remembering who as well as for the fact that I might have interpreted that final question incorrectly) –

The articles from both last week concerning queer identity and American exceptionalism and the articles from this week regarding gender identity, feminism, and the involvement of the United States in armed conflicts abroad focused on the imperialism of the United States and the way in which the country justifies its participation in foreign wars, and while I do not disagree with the fundamental argument made by the articles in any way, I have been thinking about how one can, for example, struggle with claiming a queer identity and through the process of coming out without potentially perpetuating the perception that such a process is embedded within the imperialist projects of the United States or the notion of exceptionalism that serves to justify United States imperialism. I don’t know if this thought really makes sense yet, but it is something that I have been mulling over, and felt like this would be an appropriate place to voice questions concerning the ambiguous implications of the readings.