When capital embraces feminism: femonationalism and femocolonialism in debate

Abstract

Abstract: This article is based on the need to evaluate the partial victories of contemporary feminist movements in the context of the restructuring of capital at a global level, through a study of transformations in the relationship between "capitalism" and "feminism" over the last half century. It is part of an axis that has not yet been developed by current gender studies, aiming to understand the reconfiguration of contemporary capitalism in terms of its relationship with the struggles for gender equality and the advance towards sexual democracy, that is, its unprecedented capacity to instrumentalize, incorporate and partially absorb the feminist project of emancipation, redefining it in terms of market. We explore the recomposition of this relationship in the phenomena of femonationalism and femocolonialism, which have instrumentalized certain feminist achievements and agendas in order to favour capitalist expansion, reaffirm and legitimize processes of racialization and neocolonialism around the world. We points out to the need to reflect on the idea of instrumentalization, going beyond an understanding in terms of merely manipulation and considering their neutralizing effects on alternative feminist projects.