Postcolonialism and Mothering

Postcolonial Scholars and Theory

Former colonies included both those termed settler colonies, meaning they were inhabited by a large number of European migrants as well as natives, and nonsettler colonies, which European powers controlled but did not inhabit in large numbers. Scholars do not agree on the exact boundaries of postcolonialism in terms of geography or time. Some scholars eliminate former colonies such as Canada, Australia, or the United States. Some scholars limit their study to the period after colonialism went into decline in the mid-20th century, while others expand their time frame to include the colonial period itself. Other questions include whether to encompass those European colonies that have not achieved independence or minorities such as the Native Americans in the United States and First Nations in Canada. Still other scholars study globalization, modernization, and capitalism as new forms of colonization.

Scholars within the field of postcolonial studies have addressed a wide variety of issues related to colonization and its aftermath, as well as specific postcolonial issues related to gender and motherhood. A major focus of postcolonial studies is the consequences of colonialism and indigenous resistance. Other topics include the various power relationships in postcolonial societies, the social and economic impacts of colonialism, the impact of racism and exploitation, local and national struggles to adapt to independence, the development of postcolonial nationalism, and the cultural expressions of postcolonial societies. Some scholars emphasize the transnational and multicultural aspects of post-colonialism, while others emphasize the individual postcolonial experience based on a person's gender, social status, country, race, and other factors.

A number of postcolonial theorists and historians have studied issues of gender, female roles, and motherhood in reference to colonization. Notable postcolonial scholars working in this area include Anne McClintock, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Elleke Boehmer, and Chandra Talpade Mohanty. These scholars see a close connection between feminism, gender studies, and postcolonial studies. The political and social aspects of colonialism include the oppression of indigenous peoples by European imperial nations. Feminist scholars argue that women are similarly oppressed by Western society, which is patriarchal in nature, so that indigenous women in colonized countries were doubly oppressed due to their gender. This raises the important debate of which factor is the most important determinant in shaping women's postcolonial lives: their gender roles or indigenous racial status.

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