Transcultural Feminist Philosophy

Book excerpt: The question of difference—how to accommodate the complexity and diversity of women’s experiences—remains a central point of reference in debates among feminist thinkers. In Transcultural Feminist Philosophy: Rethinking Difference and Solidarity Through Chinese-American Encounters, Yuanfang Dai addresses influential approaches to the feminist difference critique. Acknowledging that gender oppression assumes different forms in different social and cultural locations, Dai denies that this rules out generalizing about women’s experiences. She proposes a category of women that captures and respects differences and dynamics among women and that can inform possibilities for women in the future. Through a critical examination of multicultural and postcolonial feminisms, she argues that we need both to rethink the concept of culture and to rework multiculturalism as an analytical and political idea. Developing a notion of transculturalism, she draws on Chinese feminist scholarship as she explores how a transcultural approach can address tensions between cultural differences and feminist solidarity. Transcultural thought and action offers a new way to explore the conditions of women’s collective struggles.