Ethnocentrism in socialist-feminist development theory : the case of China

Abstract

The hypothesis to be tested is that the socialist-feminist theory of development is ethnocentric in the specific case of China. Ethnocentrism is defined as the mistaken assumption that one's worldview is shared by people in other societies. The thesis points out that ethnocentrism is a concern in feminist development studies because development entails values and beliefs about how a society ought to change. The thesis argues that it is important to analyze ethnocentric connotations of socialist-feminist development literature in the case of women in China who experience little cultural similarity or interaction with western feminists. The thesis explores the subject under three general headings--issues of sexuality, political issues and socio-economic issues. The thesis concludes that socialist-feminist development theory is ethnocentric in the case of China. First, by failing to make an adequate theoretical distinction between the universal and the specific, the theory wrongfully assumes that certain key concepts are universally applicable. Secondly, the important class/gender debate highlights theoretical weaknesses concerning the relationship between socialism and feminism, which is especially relevant in the case of China. Thirdly, the extent of differences between Chinese and western societies lies at the heart of ethnocentric tendencies in socialist-feminist development theory to make a priori assumptions about the lives of women in China.