Testimony, Memory and Solidarity across National Borders: Paul Ricoeur and Transnational Feminism

Authors

  • Elizabeth Purcell SUNY-Oneonta

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/errs.2017.369

Keywords:

Feminism, Paul Ricoeur, Hospitality, Social Justice, Memory, Transnationalism

Abstract

In many ways, globalization created the problem of representation for feminist solidarity across the borders of the nation state. This problem is one of presenting a cohesive identity for representation in the transnational public sphere. This paper proposes a solution to this problem of a cohesive identity for women’s representation by drawing on the work of Paul Ricœur. What these women seem to have in common are shared political aims, but they have no basis for those aims. This paper provides a basis for these aims by turning to Ricœur’s work on collective memory from Memory, History, Forgetting. The paper concludes that it is the shared testimony through narrative hospitality, which can provide a foundation for a social bond for those with common political aims. More specifically, this common knowledge provides a justification for the representation of women and their allies in the transnational public sphere.

Author Biography

Elizabeth Purcell, SUNY-Oneonta

Elizabeth Purcell, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in Philosophy at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oneonta.

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Published

2017-07-31

Issue

Section

Varia