International Relations from the decolonial feminisms. A dialogic approach to a decolonial feminist economy

Abstract

Since the mid-twentieth century, the modern-colonial capitalist system has been consolidated by a Eurocentric logic that has aggravated the North-South gap. Thus the international economic relations that imposed the generation and racialization of labour were forged. In this sense, the assurance of the socio-economic rights of the working class of the Global North was the product of a process imbricated by the factors of modernity, (neo)colonialism and development. Therefore, the urgency of deconstructing the current ecocide and genocidal economic system is presented, for this new world order has profited from the overexploitation and death of thousands of women. This investigation implements a theoretical-methodological intersectional approach, that is to say, to understand the subordination of women there is a need to do so from a set of co-constitutional variables (gender, race, sexuality, spirituality, etc.) and from “situated knowledges” as Donna Haraway puts it. This perspective allows us to go beyond gender oppression, for which it will be essential to actively listen to the experiences of other women who have been marginalized and excluded by hegemonic and Eurocentric feminisms, only considered as objects of study never as political subjects. This work is implicated in the will to study and move towards an alternative reading of international relations. For this purpose, it is my proposal to begin in the feminist margins of decolonial feminisms, from the ideas of thinkers who are characterized by not seeking a consensus but a conversation from difference. Regarding the structure, the first part of the article will present a critique of mainstream international relations discourse from a decolonial perspective. Thus, the aim is to prove through a critique of the hegemonic paradigm that international relations serves the interests of the Global North as a consequence of Eurocentric thinking. Subsequently, the relegation of reproductive work to women linked to the colonial process will be studied. Furthermore, it will seek to demonstrate the effects of the international economic system on the subalternized, racialized, and colonized lives of workers, refugees, or migrants. In relation to this issue, the study and review of historical factors is fundamental because international relations cannot be understood without studying history; that is, the creation of the current international economic system as a consequence of the construction of the international and sexual division of labour and the processes of colonization and racialization. In turn, the above study has as an objective to demonstrate that the care economy is the backbone of the functioning of the international economic system. In other words, if women - traditionally responsible for maintaining lives - went on general strike, the world economy would come to a standstill. Likewise, the violence caused by the modern/colonial capitalist system on the bodies of the subalternized will be analyzed. In this sense, the epistemologies of the South become essential for the study of the neocolonial North-South economic relations where violence against women plays a key role.  Examples of this are free-trade zones, extractivism, or in the worst of the cases: wars. Finally, a dialogue between decolonial feminisms and the feminist economy is presented to rethink and justify welfare as a path towards the protection of planetary life. In short, the global context is a system that has ceded the baton to a model that makes it impossible to guarantee the care of lives as a consequence of a nature that is Eurocentric, racist, colonial, heteropatriarchal, ecocidal and so forth. The proposal to urge an alternative is justified through a crisis of a systemic nature which, despite attempts to blur its permanence, is still present through political and socio-economic conflicts. Thus, the Global North is suffering from a process leading to areas that were once part of the centre are now peripheral - as a consequence of the globalised crisis and increased by austerity policies. This consolidates a political, economic, ecological and ethical crisis, which forces us to question the direction in which we are navigating and how we will manage this process, even if this seems inevitable with respect to environmental degradation and being immersed in a context of social hyper-segmentation, where growing inequalities seem to be naturalized and at the same time legitimized. For this reason, this article aims to establish a dialogue between descolonial feminisms and feminist economics to seek a consensus for the creation of a feminist, subversive and common agenda. For this sort of reflection and questioning the presence of international relations becomes indispensable. From the beginning, this discipline should go hand in hand with the transition phase aimed at replacing capital with the care economy and sustainability of life as the epicentre of the system. This research seeks to outline the nonconformity of accepting that history has already been written against those who prevent us from dreaming of the change we want and believe in. But why now? The present moment is decisive. In the face of the threat to planetary life from a destructive economic system, it is more necessary than ever to participate in the creation of another paradigm of international relations through other knowledges.  Undoubtedly, the image of the Amazon in flames is further proof of the urgency of initiating a transformation of the global political and socio-economic system. From where and for what purpose is knowledge produced? What role does the economy play within international relations? Who benefits and who is harmed by the globalized capitalist model? Where do women stand within the economic system? Which lives are worth living? Is it possible to initiate an alternative to capitalism from Europe? These questions are not posed with the aim of giving a definitive answer, but with the intention of provoking dialogue and reflection. That is to say, against the logic of the ethics of war, it is manifested to promote the transition of the current international economic system towards a new model for which it will be essential to initiate an analysis of international relations from feminist genealogies and from decolonial thought.