Globalectics, critical discourse studies (CDS) and Southern feminisms

Abstract

Feminist research in critical discourse studies, like other strands of CDS, has been primarily North-centric. The transdisciplinary nature of this field has led to its theories and methods travel globally, including to parts of the Global South, without being critically appropriated. This has resulted in the neglect of a vast body of knowledge that is available in the Southern world (both in a geographical and epistemic sense). The neoliberal and colonial Metadiscursive regimes that regulate knowledge production and dissemination have, however, been challenged in recent years. Southern feminism is one such response to western feminist theory that views the women of the South as a homogenous group and without agency. Southern theories, including Muslim feminism, resist patriarchy, colonialism and capitalist structures through local epistemic struggles defined by their colonial histories, religious ethos and cultural values. The feminist CDS, however, largely ignores these insights. The purpose of this article is to argue, drawing on Thiongo's globalectics as an inclusive theoretical vision, that the dialog of Southern feminisms with Northern epistemologies can enrich feminist research within CDS. I conclude my article by discussing three types of critical discourse analysts who can learn from globalectics to inform their work within CDS and decolonial research.