Unsettling Relations: The University as a Site of Feminist Struggles

Lori A. Dunn is an ESL teacher and editor of the Toronto women’s
magazine Feminie.

These five essayists have compiled readable papers on the issues
surrounding their experiences with academic feminism. Those two words
alone constitute the largest conundrum facing feminists in the
university setting, being as oxymoronic as “military intelligence”
or “progressive conservative.” The authors examine the effects of
academic guidelines and dogma on their feminist political agendas,
finding very real conflicts. Issues addressed by these women in theses,
classes, and discussions directly oppose the
“white-European-male-as-norm” cultural ideal held by the influential
but insular university community.

Although speaking from a broad spectrum of social, ethnic, cultural,
and political backgrounds, the authors find themselves agreeing on a
number of issues. In particular they agree about the extent of sexism,
classism, and racism in the methods and “knowledge” of the various
disciplines. As well, they disagree with the academic worship of
“pure” rational, objective thought, preferring to address the
validity of subjective, experiential data in their work, defending it to
the “status quo” in academia.

The essays embody their authors’ belief in connecting theory to
personal experience. The women write clearly about their own lives,
allowing readers to make their own connections to individual lives and
political struggles. Bannerji, Carty, Dehli, Heald, and McKenna put
theory into practice, and make their own mark by describing their
stories and struggles, and especially their victories.