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Links across difference
Women's Studies International Forum, Vol. 19, Nos. I/2, pp. 1-3, 1996 Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in the USA.All rights reserved 0277-5395/96 $15.00 + .00
Pergamon
SSDI 0277-5395(95)00059-3
INTRODUCTION
LINKS ACROSS DIFFERENCE Gender, Ethnicity, and Nationalism BARBARAEINHORN Research Centre in Women's Studies, Arts Building, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BNI 9QN, England
In a world increasingly marked by tendencies towards globalisation, there is - - perhaps paradoxically - - a trend towards the reaffirmation of local political identities. Gender, ethnicity, and nationalism can all be regarded as key variables in this process. This special issue brings together articles from far-flung countries which, both individually and taken in conjunction, generate a range of new insights into the crucial ways in which gender intersects with questions of ethnicity and nationalism. They offer valuable contributions not just to discussions on identity formation, w o m e n ' s rights, and citizenship within feminist political theory, but also to currently central discussions within social and political thought: about the nature o f individual as o p p o s e d to g r o u p rights, about the kinds o f rights which are basic to citizenship, about individual identities and political group formation; and about the way groups interact nationally, and political entities interrelate internationally. On all of these questions, the articles here provide persuasive evidence that the issue of gender is a central determinant. Sincere thanks are due to the many people involved with the preparation of this special issue, particularly those who acted as referees. Journal policy means that they must remain anonymous, but they will know how valuable their comments have been when they see the quality of the finished articles. I would also like to thank the authors themselves, who have responded cooperatively and constructively to several rounds of editorial comments and queries. My very special thanks go to the commissioning editors, Christine Zmroczek and, particularly, Claire Duchen, who has given constant, caring, and invaluable support while I have acted as Guest Editor for this special issue.
Many of the articles come from countries often seen as located on the peripheries, either of Europe or globally. In these countries, ostensibly on the edge of the map, globally relevant questions of self-identification and identity are being posed. Issues of ethnicity and nationalism are being contested in ways which inflame the passions of participants and observers. Gender is not, at least superficially, the most controversial ingredient at stake. The contention surrounds the search for new forms of group identity in the vacuum created by the collapse of state socialism on the one hand and the related end of the superpower constellation and confrontation which characterised the Cold War period from 1945 to 1989 on the other. Yet using gender as the lens through which we examine this process enables us to illuminate more clearly what is at stake in these contestations, as well as their implications for women's lives. The impact on gender relations of current political and ideological struggles to establish group identities both reflects and influences the relations of power within and between ethnic and national groups and, hence, ultimately influences the shape of international relations (Peterson). The cases considered offer unusual and intriguing cross-cultural perspectives, with unexpected resonances echoing from Catalonia to Azerbaijan, South Korea to Finland, East Timor and Tonga to Kyrgyzstan. Shaping the links that can be made across time and space are specific histories, political conditions, and the "gender contract" operating within different cultures. The complexities of these variables are explored in
2
BARBARAEINHORN
this special issue, which raises provocative and passionately contested questions. How, for instance, do women identify themselves or become identified, both as individuals and as part o f an ethnic or national group (Peterson, Yuval-Davis, Bracewell, Seifert)? This process of identification is explored in articles covering historical periods of nation-state formation (Nash, Marakowitz, Kim), the immediate post-World War II era in which new state borders and Cold War confrontations became established (Sluga, Lentin, Karakasidou), the current search for a new identity in states emerging in the postcommunist, post-Cold War w o r l d (Tohidi, K o s m a r s k a y a , Koran, Rosenberg), and the postcolonial world (Franks, Galley). Nations are often symbolized as a woman; conversely, women often serve as symbolic markers of a group's cultural identity, viewed as repositories of its traditions, reproducers of its authenticity as well as of its workforce and its soldiers. Nations may be "imagined communities" (Anderson, 1983), but struggles o v e r national territory, and ethnically-based identifications of "us" versus "them," have real consequences in which women's specific location is now being uncovered (Einhorn, 1995; Feminist Review, 1993; Gender and History, 1993; Jayawardena, 1986; Kandiyoti, 1991; Mayhall, 1993; Mili6, 1993; Parker, Russo, Sommer, & Yaeger, 1992; Salecl, 1994; Stepan, 1991; YuvalDavis, in press; Yuval-Davis & Anthias, 1989). Ethnic or national identity is often constituted in terms of an enlarged family, with women seen as responsible for the biological and social reproduction of its members (YuvalDavis, Bracewell). Gender relations are thus central to this process; and a focus on the "proper" role of women is often a mask or a code for the political processes of state formation. Cultural heritage is subject to selective readings for political ends. National identity can be conflated with, or constructed in terms of, p o l i t i c a l i d e n t i t y and g e n d e r identity (Sluga) in the process of political boundarysetting between "us" and "them." Gender can also be used as means of "disciplining" minority ethnic groups within the nation-state, as a means of imposing a homogeneous national identity (Karakasidou, Lentin). What happens to women during periods of ethnic/national conflict? Gender is often the symbolic marker, either between or within groups,
separating "self' from "other" (Peterson). Present in processes of nation-state formation (Gailey, Korat, Lentin, Sluga), it becomes sharply outlined during situations of military conflict, when women's bodies become the symbolic and actual stage upon which conflict is acted out. Instrumental in the biological, cultural, and symbolic reproduction of their ethnic and national collectivities, women find their reproductive rights determined by others as part of ethnic and nationalist strategies: rape as a systematic weapon of war (Korat, Seifert); population control as a strategy of domination (Franks, Yuval-Davis); subordination of women's aspirations to the perceived interests of the collectivity (Bracewell), all reveal the centrality of control over women's sexuality, fertility, and autonomy to the projects of what several authors call "state nationalism" ( B r a c e w e l l , Korad, Peterson, Seifert). How can women subvert these processes? Women can and, in some cases, do open up the spaces for i n t e r e t h n i c d i a l o g u e ( K o r a t , Kosmarskaya, Tohidi). They can - - and do - reject the unitary identity imposed on them by others, defending the possibility of self-identification in terms of multiple identities (Bracewell, Franks, Korat., Peterson, Yuval-Davis). What can be made of the problematic relationship between nationalism and feminism? Must they always be in opposition? Received feminist wisdom tells stories of women's secondary role, active but marginalised in nationalist struggles against domination (Jaquette, 1994; Jayawardena, 1986; Franks; Lentin). Yet historical data suggests that women have sometimes been given education or political rights precisely because of struggles to gain national independence (Kim, Nash) or to establish a homogeneous national identity (Karakasidou). B e y o n d that, they have often been able to achieve political subject status by acting within and gradually moving beyond the narrow confines of the role ascribed them as custodians of national traditions (Nash, Franks, Marakowitz, Galley) or embodiments of traditional codes of conduct (Tohidi). On the other hand, conservative state nationalist projects can instrumentalize and objectify women, depriving them of political subject status as citizens (Bracewell, Korat, Kim). Are there different ways of incorporating the nationalist script into a feminist framework? Perhaps these articles suggest a need to redefine femi-
Links Across Difference
3
Anderson, Benedict. (1983). Imagined communities:
ed., pp. 223-238). Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Jayawardena, Kumari. (1986). Feminism and nationalism in the Third World. London: Zed Books. Kandiyoti, Deniz. (1991). Identity and its discontents: Women and the nation. Millennium, 20(3), 429-443. Mayhall, Stacey L. (1993, Summer). Gendered nationalism and "new" nation-states: "Democratic progress" in Eastern Europe: Gender in international relations. The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, •7(2), 91-100. Mili~, Andjelka. (1993). Women and nationalism in the former Yugoslavia. In Nanette Funk & Magda Mueller (Eds.), Gender politics and post-communism: Reflections
Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism
from eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union
n i s m in the light o f the problematic relationship b e t w e e n the t w o . C e r t a i n l y this s p e c i a l issue contributes m a n y theoretical insights as w e l l as rich empirical data from little-known stages upon w h i c h the relationship o f gender, ethnicity, and nationalism are b e i n g enacted. REFERENCES
(2nd ed.). London: Verso. Einhorn, Barbara. (1995). Ironies of history: Citizenship issues in the new market economies of East Central Europe. In Barbara Einhorn & Eileen Janes Yeo reds.), Women and market societies: Crisis and opportunity
(pp. 217-233). Aldershot, UK: Edward Elgar. Feminist Review. (1993, Summer). Special Issues: Nationalisms and national identities (Vol. 44) and Thinking through ethnicities (Vol. 45). Gender and History (1993, Summer). Special Issue: Gender, nationalisms and national identities (Vol. 5). Jaquette, Jane S. (1994). Women's political participation and the prospects for democracy. In Jane S. Jaquette (Ed.), The women's movement in Latin America (2nd
(pp. 109-122). London: Routledge. Parker, Andrew, Russo, Mary, Sommer, Doris, & Yaeger, Patricia (Eds.). (1992). Nationalisms and sexualities. New York: Routledge. Salecl, Renata. (1994). The spoils offreedor~" Psychoanalysis and feminism after the fall of socialism. London: Routledge. Stepan, Nancy. (1991). The hour of eugenics: Race, gender and nation in Latin America. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Yuval-Davis, Nira. (in press). Gender and nation. London: Sage. Yuval-Davis, Nira, & Anthias, Floya. (1989). Womannation-state. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Pergamon
SSDI 0277-5395(95)00059-3
INTRODUCTION
LINKS ACROSS DIFFERENCE Gender, Ethnicity, and Nationalism BARBARAEINHORN Research Centre in Women's Studies, Arts Building, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BNI 9QN, England
In a world increasingly marked by tendencies towards globalisation, there is - - perhaps paradoxically - - a trend towards the reaffirmation of local political identities. Gender, ethnicity, and nationalism can all be regarded as key variables in this process. This special issue brings together articles from far-flung countries which, both individually and taken in conjunction, generate a range of new insights into the crucial ways in which gender intersects with questions of ethnicity and nationalism. They offer valuable contributions not just to discussions on identity formation, w o m e n ' s rights, and citizenship within feminist political theory, but also to currently central discussions within social and political thought: about the nature o f individual as o p p o s e d to g r o u p rights, about the kinds o f rights which are basic to citizenship, about individual identities and political group formation; and about the way groups interact nationally, and political entities interrelate internationally. On all of these questions, the articles here provide persuasive evidence that the issue of gender is a central determinant. Sincere thanks are due to the many people involved with the preparation of this special issue, particularly those who acted as referees. Journal policy means that they must remain anonymous, but they will know how valuable their comments have been when they see the quality of the finished articles. I would also like to thank the authors themselves, who have responded cooperatively and constructively to several rounds of editorial comments and queries. My very special thanks go to the commissioning editors, Christine Zmroczek and, particularly, Claire Duchen, who has given constant, caring, and invaluable support while I have acted as Guest Editor for this special issue.
Many of the articles come from countries often seen as located on the peripheries, either of Europe or globally. In these countries, ostensibly on the edge of the map, globally relevant questions of self-identification and identity are being posed. Issues of ethnicity and nationalism are being contested in ways which inflame the passions of participants and observers. Gender is not, at least superficially, the most controversial ingredient at stake. The contention surrounds the search for new forms of group identity in the vacuum created by the collapse of state socialism on the one hand and the related end of the superpower constellation and confrontation which characterised the Cold War period from 1945 to 1989 on the other. Yet using gender as the lens through which we examine this process enables us to illuminate more clearly what is at stake in these contestations, as well as their implications for women's lives. The impact on gender relations of current political and ideological struggles to establish group identities both reflects and influences the relations of power within and between ethnic and national groups and, hence, ultimately influences the shape of international relations (Peterson). The cases considered offer unusual and intriguing cross-cultural perspectives, with unexpected resonances echoing from Catalonia to Azerbaijan, South Korea to Finland, East Timor and Tonga to Kyrgyzstan. Shaping the links that can be made across time and space are specific histories, political conditions, and the "gender contract" operating within different cultures. The complexities of these variables are explored in
2
BARBARAEINHORN
this special issue, which raises provocative and passionately contested questions. How, for instance, do women identify themselves or become identified, both as individuals and as part o f an ethnic or national group (Peterson, Yuval-Davis, Bracewell, Seifert)? This process of identification is explored in articles covering historical periods of nation-state formation (Nash, Marakowitz, Kim), the immediate post-World War II era in which new state borders and Cold War confrontations became established (Sluga, Lentin, Karakasidou), the current search for a new identity in states emerging in the postcommunist, post-Cold War w o r l d (Tohidi, K o s m a r s k a y a , Koran, Rosenberg), and the postcolonial world (Franks, Galley). Nations are often symbolized as a woman; conversely, women often serve as symbolic markers of a group's cultural identity, viewed as repositories of its traditions, reproducers of its authenticity as well as of its workforce and its soldiers. Nations may be "imagined communities" (Anderson, 1983), but struggles o v e r national territory, and ethnically-based identifications of "us" versus "them," have real consequences in which women's specific location is now being uncovered (Einhorn, 1995; Feminist Review, 1993; Gender and History, 1993; Jayawardena, 1986; Kandiyoti, 1991; Mayhall, 1993; Mili6, 1993; Parker, Russo, Sommer, & Yaeger, 1992; Salecl, 1994; Stepan, 1991; YuvalDavis, in press; Yuval-Davis & Anthias, 1989). Ethnic or national identity is often constituted in terms of an enlarged family, with women seen as responsible for the biological and social reproduction of its members (YuvalDavis, Bracewell). Gender relations are thus central to this process; and a focus on the "proper" role of women is often a mask or a code for the political processes of state formation. Cultural heritage is subject to selective readings for political ends. National identity can be conflated with, or constructed in terms of, p o l i t i c a l i d e n t i t y and g e n d e r identity (Sluga) in the process of political boundarysetting between "us" and "them." Gender can also be used as means of "disciplining" minority ethnic groups within the nation-state, as a means of imposing a homogeneous national identity (Karakasidou, Lentin). What happens to women during periods of ethnic/national conflict? Gender is often the symbolic marker, either between or within groups,
separating "self' from "other" (Peterson). Present in processes of nation-state formation (Gailey, Korat, Lentin, Sluga), it becomes sharply outlined during situations of military conflict, when women's bodies become the symbolic and actual stage upon which conflict is acted out. Instrumental in the biological, cultural, and symbolic reproduction of their ethnic and national collectivities, women find their reproductive rights determined by others as part of ethnic and nationalist strategies: rape as a systematic weapon of war (Korat, Seifert); population control as a strategy of domination (Franks, Yuval-Davis); subordination of women's aspirations to the perceived interests of the collectivity (Bracewell), all reveal the centrality of control over women's sexuality, fertility, and autonomy to the projects of what several authors call "state nationalism" ( B r a c e w e l l , Korad, Peterson, Seifert). How can women subvert these processes? Women can and, in some cases, do open up the spaces for i n t e r e t h n i c d i a l o g u e ( K o r a t , Kosmarskaya, Tohidi). They can - - and do - reject the unitary identity imposed on them by others, defending the possibility of self-identification in terms of multiple identities (Bracewell, Franks, Korat., Peterson, Yuval-Davis). What can be made of the problematic relationship between nationalism and feminism? Must they always be in opposition? Received feminist wisdom tells stories of women's secondary role, active but marginalised in nationalist struggles against domination (Jaquette, 1994; Jayawardena, 1986; Franks; Lentin). Yet historical data suggests that women have sometimes been given education or political rights precisely because of struggles to gain national independence (Kim, Nash) or to establish a homogeneous national identity (Karakasidou). B e y o n d that, they have often been able to achieve political subject status by acting within and gradually moving beyond the narrow confines of the role ascribed them as custodians of national traditions (Nash, Franks, Marakowitz, Galley) or embodiments of traditional codes of conduct (Tohidi). On the other hand, conservative state nationalist projects can instrumentalize and objectify women, depriving them of political subject status as citizens (Bracewell, Korat, Kim). Are there different ways of incorporating the nationalist script into a feminist framework? Perhaps these articles suggest a need to redefine femi-
Links Across Difference
3
Anderson, Benedict. (1983). Imagined communities:
ed., pp. 223-238). Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Jayawardena, Kumari. (1986). Feminism and nationalism in the Third World. London: Zed Books. Kandiyoti, Deniz. (1991). Identity and its discontents: Women and the nation. Millennium, 20(3), 429-443. Mayhall, Stacey L. (1993, Summer). Gendered nationalism and "new" nation-states: "Democratic progress" in Eastern Europe: Gender in international relations. The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, •7(2), 91-100. Mili~, Andjelka. (1993). Women and nationalism in the former Yugoslavia. In Nanette Funk & Magda Mueller (Eds.), Gender politics and post-communism: Reflections
Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism
from eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union
n i s m in the light o f the problematic relationship b e t w e e n the t w o . C e r t a i n l y this s p e c i a l issue contributes m a n y theoretical insights as w e l l as rich empirical data from little-known stages upon w h i c h the relationship o f gender, ethnicity, and nationalism are b e i n g enacted. REFERENCES
(2nd ed.). London: Verso. Einhorn, Barbara. (1995). Ironies of history: Citizenship issues in the new market economies of East Central Europe. In Barbara Einhorn & Eileen Janes Yeo reds.), Women and market societies: Crisis and opportunity
(pp. 217-233). Aldershot, UK: Edward Elgar. Feminist Review. (1993, Summer). Special Issues: Nationalisms and national identities (Vol. 44) and Thinking through ethnicities (Vol. 45). Gender and History (1993, Summer). Special Issue: Gender, nationalisms and national identities (Vol. 5). Jaquette, Jane S. (1994). Women's political participation and the prospects for democracy. In Jane S. Jaquette (Ed.), The women's movement in Latin America (2nd
(pp. 109-122). London: Routledge. Parker, Andrew, Russo, Mary, Sommer, Doris, & Yaeger, Patricia (Eds.). (1992). Nationalisms and sexualities. New York: Routledge. Salecl, Renata. (1994). The spoils offreedor~" Psychoanalysis and feminism after the fall of socialism. London: Routledge. Stepan, Nancy. (1991). The hour of eugenics: Race, gender and nation in Latin America. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Yuval-Davis, Nira. (in press). Gender and nation. London: Sage. Yuval-Davis, Nira, & Anthias, Floya. (1989). Womannation-state. Basingstoke: Macmillan.