Toward a Politics of the (Im)possible: The Body in Third World Feminisms

This book works at the intersection of two related yet different fields. One is the heterogeneous feminist effort to question universal forms of knowing. The second field follows from this conundrum: how does one think of the body when s/he speaks of embodiment? Toward a Politics of the (Im)Possible engages the forefront of contemporary thought on the body, while remaining mindful of the requirements of a feminist approach.

The author explores the dynamics of the production of the `body' with a focus on the `others' (death, sexual and colonial differences) that fracture and define the notion of the body. An ethical responsibility to the `others' consonant with this ontologically differentiated body distinguishes this notion of embodiment from standard versions of `third world feminism'. The development of this notion requires an elaboration of the ways in which power and scientific rationality work (epistemically) in a postcolonial setting. Finally, the author presents the notion of embodied knowledges as inseparable from a deconstructive politics of the (im)possible.

Anirban Das holds a PhD in Philosophy from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India. He is currently a Fellow in Cultural Studies at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, India.