Transnational Feminisms in Development: A Manifesto for Emancipatory Praxis

This article joins feminist theory with testimony to deliver a manifesto for development and change. I begin with a review of the intersectional, postcolonial, and decolonial literatures, showing how transnational feminisms are rethinking development from below. Next, I share my growth as a white feminist scholar engaged with antiracist and decolonial praxis. Bringing theory into dialogue with lessons from the field, I identify six pathways for emancipation, or personal commitments to decentering whitestream logic in research and practice. These pathways have helped awaken me from the enchantment of a modern-colonial world-system engaged in endless warfare with difference. Recognizing that we do not have to be alike to be united in the struggle for global justice, I encourage you to share your own commitments to development. Through knowledge sharing, we may reclaim institutional spaces for the purpose of healing justice, helping address the trauma of systemic oppression from within as well as from without.