Abstract
Feminism in Afghanistan is rooted in context, which complicates feminist discourses positioned as secular and individualistic movements. The ontologies of dominant conceptualisations should be reflexively approached, particularly those with roots in post-Enlightenment rationalism such as individuality, agency and freedom, or Western liberal feminism like gender and sexuality. I present the perspective of Afghan women artists’ experiences and critiques of liberal feminism as encountered through NGOs operating in Afghanistan. They have identified the paternalistic role that some women’s rights work have assumed in the country. In their challenge to feminism as label, participants challenge homogenisation of Afghan women and reconceptualise agency. Their experiences comprise a complex sociohistorical context which demands equally complex responses. I suggest that Kabuli art practice contributes to a feminism as praxis (Pabon 2013). In this paper, I suggest that we pivot our understanding of feminism and feminist in the Kabul context, and argue that feminism can be the verb without the label, a way to reconsider the lens through which Afghan women contribute to feminist epistemologies and which are equally valid in Western liberal feminist discourses. I discuss a progressive feminist politics which reconceptualises agency and which looks beyond feminism as identity construction to a feminism as praxis through the unprompted sentiments of the Kabuli artists with whom I spoke.
Presenters
Bilquis GhaniGender Equity Programs Manager, Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion, The University of Technology Sydney, Australia
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2021 Special Focus - Voices from the Edge: Negotiating the Local in the Global
KEYWORDS
FEMINISM, KABUL, ARTS, CULTURE, EPISTEMOLOGIES, DECOLONIAL THEORY, CONFLICT, AGENCY
