The power of representation in International Relations:

an analysis from postcolonial and decolonial feminisms

Abstract

The representation of subalternized women in international relations is still an insufficiently explored topic. Liberal feminism, linked to a positivist epistemology, assumes women as a unique and universal category, making an insufficient reading of the experiences and needs of subalternized women. Although the feminist struggle based on the notion of equality and freedom is ​considerable​​, its gains are insufficient as it has been found that legal isonomy does not guarantee ​the full realization​​ of their rights. In addition, legislation, public policies, and international agreements have followed a model of formal inclusion susceptible to interpretations that end up confining women in the spaces from which they have historically sought to free themselves. Given this context, taking postcolonial and decolonial feminisms as references for questioning the Eurocentric and American liberal perspective, we investigate how alternative feminisms can fill the gaps of liberal feminism by including subalternized women in the debates on representation in the International Relationes. To this end, we start from Spivak's “representation dilemma” and conclude that representation, seen as an ethical and solidary exercise between theorized and theorizing subjects, can contribute to shed light on their inherent power relations.