Jessie's entry
I'm just going to jump right in in response to Kapur's statement that liberalism "is unable to transcend the need for an Other." This was confusing at first to me because it goes against the very project, but after thinking about it more and reading the examples given, it makes a bit more sense to me. It appears that often projects like liberalism or the capabilities approach tend to ignore those who pose a possible threat to the project or those who are a "bigger challenge." However I still do not understand the examples of migrants and homosexuals.
Some others talked about sati and the idea of "death by culture." Tradition and culture are imposed upon and carried by women and their bodies. It is expected that women will carry on traditions despite any harm and oppression caused by them. Although Kapur was critiquing Nussbaum, I think she made a good point in saying that "the thing women must most mistrust is habit, disguised in the form of tradition, as it has invariable been used to their disadvantage. Women need to recognise that tradition has often been articulated by men and used to subordinate women to do men's bidding" (16). Obviously such a statement cannot be applied to all traditions, but in the case of sati, I think it can. And what could possibly be "cultural" about a woman being sacrificed (whether coerced/ forced or not) on her husband's funeral pyre? Also, the "tradition" of wife-burning (which is often confused with sati) can be applied to this idea-- wife-burning has not even been around very long but is often excused-- EXCUSED!-- as a "tradition." I think that often liberals get into the habit of being so politically correct and culturally accepting and tiptoeing around issues that often real problems and violence go excused after slight protest from those who perform the tradition. A blind eye is turned and the oppressors keep the power. I know this could be easily turned into a who's-speaking-for-whom and who's-saving-who-from whom discussion, and of course that needs to be addressed, as it always does. But it is not only Westerners who need to reexamine the "traditions" of non-Western cultures-- in fact, that really is not a good place to start. There are plenty of "traditons" or habits in our midst that should be looked at more closely. I could go on and on, but I realize I've gone of onto quite a tangent, and I'm stopping here.