Speaking Face to Face : The Visionary Philosophy of María Lugones

The first in-depth analysis of the radical feminist theory and coalitional praxis of scholar-activist María Lugones. Speaking Face to Face provides an unprecedented, in-depth look at the feminist philosophy and practice of the renowned Argentinian-born scholar-activist María Lugones. Informed by her identification as “nondiasporic Latina” and US Woman of Color, as well as her long-term commitment to grassroots organizing in Chicana/o communities, Lugones’s work dovetails with, while remaining distinct from, that of other prominent transnational, decolonial, and women of color feminists. Her visionary philosophy motivates transformative modes of engaging cultural others, inviting us to create political intimacies rooted in a shared yearning for interdependence. Bringing together scholars and activists across fields, this volume charts her profound impact in and beyond the academy for the past thirty years. In so doing, it exemplifies a new method of coalitional theorizing—traversing racial, ethnic, sexual, national, gendered, political, and disciplinary borders in order to cultivate learning, embrace heterogeneity, and provide a unique framework for engaging contemporary debates about identity, oppression, and activism. Across thirteen original contributions, authors address issues of intersectionality, colonial and decolonial subjectivities, the multiplicity and the coloniality of gender, indigenous spiritualities and cosmologies, pluralist and women of color feminisms, radical multiculturalism, popular education, and resistance to multiple oppressions. The book also includes a rare interview with Lugones and an afterword by Paula Moya, ultimately offering both new critical resources for longstanding admirers of Lugones and a welcome introduction for newcomers to her groundbreaking work. “This is an important contribution to Latinx studies, Latina feminist philosophy, queer studies, and the burgeoning field of decolonial feminism, a field that Lugones almost single-handedly launched. It is interdisciplinary, but also a wonderful pedagogical resource. It provides readers who are both familiar and unfamiliar with her work a thorough and judicious point of entry.” — Eduardo Mendieta, author of Global Fragments: Globalizations, Latinamericanisms, and Critical Theory Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Introduction: Like an Earthquake to the Soul: Experiencing the Visionary Philosophy of María Lugones Speaking Face To Face Coalitional Selves, Multiple Realities Moving with and Beyond Intersectionality Gender, Coloniality, and Decolonial Embodiments Knowing on the Edge of Worlds and Sense “I Won’t Think What I Won’t Practice” Notes References Part I: Coalitional Selves, Multiple Realities 1. Trash Talks Back “If You See Oppression, You Tend Not to See Resistance” On the Creation of Trash Trash Talks Back On Being Treated Like Trash Trash Talks Back, Revisited On the Logic of Resistance and the Logic of Trash Notes References 2. A Focus on the “I” in the “I We” : Considering the Lived Experience of Self- in- Coalition in Active Subjectivity Kelli Zaytoun Beyond the “monosensical” Self Self in Concrete Coalitional Context Self in Coalitional Context: Meeting at the Limens Self-in-Coalition as Fusion The Knowing Self-In-Coalition Self-in-Coalition in Summary Notes References 3. The Ripple Imagery as a Decolonial Self: Exploring Multiplicity in Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s Dictée Dictée And Multiplicity Coloniality as Active Reduction of Multiplicity Decolonial Selves in Dictée The Ripple Imagery Notes References Part II: Moving with and beyond Intersectionality 4. Beyond the “Logic of Purity”: “Post-Post-Intersectional” Glimpses in Decolonial Feminism Post-Post-Intersectionality Intermeshing/interlocking/intersecting Multiplicity/fragmentation (mis)representation Intersectionality and Decolonial Feminism Notes References 5. Witnessing Faithfully and the Intimate Politics of Queer South Asian Praxis Moving Beyond A Shared Sense of Angst and Grief Cutting Mother Tongues: Heteropatriarchy in (neo)colonial Worlds of Indian English Model-Minority Investments in “relative Cultural Superiority” Hijra Cosmologies and Opaque Cultural Codes of Respect/izzat and Love From A Queer Politics of Rupture to a Queer South Asian Praxis of “being There” A Love That Can Be Verified Notes References Part III: Gender, Coloniality, and Decolonial Embodiments 6. Border Thinking/Being/Perception: Toward a “Deep Coalition” across the Atlantic The Janus-Faced Empire and its Non-European Colonies Distortion of the Colonial/modern Gender Paradox in the Caucasus and Central Asia A Potentiated Antiagonistic Border Thinking in the Eurasian Borderlands A Deep Coalition After All? References 7. Motion Sickness and the Slipperiness of Irish Racialization Early Colonizations of Ireland Irish Racialization and Diaspora (1800–1998) The Shadow of Colonial Inheritances A Phenomenology of Slipperiness Example A Example B Example C Example D An Epidemiology of Motion Sickness Notes References 8. Toward a Decolonial Ethics Why Ethics? The Coloniality of Ethics Decolonizing Ethics Toward a Decolonial Ethics Notes References Part IV: Knowing on the Edge of Worlds and Sense 9. Beyond Benevolent Violence: Trans of Color, Ornamental Multiculturalism, and the Decolonization of Affect Affects, LGBT Counterpublics, and the Politics of Transnormativity The Part for the Whole: Agreement to Trans[f](n)orm Benevolent Violence Scarring from Benevolent Violence Notes References 10. Travel to Death-Worlds Incarceration as a Death-World Jail Research Travel to Death-Worlds Methods, Motivation, and the Politics of Empathy Jail’s Lonely Tortures White Self-Regard and the Bodiless Researcher Jail Interviews Living in Pain Notes References Part V: Hablando Cara a Cara 11. Deep Coalition and Popular Education Praxis Building a Coalitional Approach to Popular Education Learning to See Resistance Building Coalition: Linking Resistant Selves Toward Resistant Relationality Affirming and Activating Our Transformative Capacities Notes References 12. Walking Illegitimately: A Cachapera/Tortillera and a Dyke Notes References 13. Carnal Disruptions: Mariana Ortega Interviews María Lugones Afterword Notes References Chronological List of María Lugones’s Publications 1983 1984 1987 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016–2019 Contributors Index "Speaking Face to Face' provides an unprecedented, in-depth look at the feminist philosophy and practice of the renowned Argentinian-born scholar-activist María Lugones. Informed by her identification as "nondiasporic Latina" and US Woman of Color, as well as her long-term commitment to grassroots organizing in Chicana/o communities, Lugones's work dovetails with, while remaining distinct from, that of other prominent transnational, decolonial, and women of color feminists. Her visionary philosophy motivates transformative modes of engaging cultural others, inviting us to create political intimacies rooted in a shared yearning for interdependence. Bringing together scholars and activists across fields, this volume charts her profound impact in and beyond the academy for the past thirty years. In so doing, it exemplifies a new method of coalitional theorizing—traversing racial, ethnic, sexual, national, gendered, political, and disciplinary borders in order to cultivate learning, embrace heterogeneity, and provide a unique framework for engaging contemporary debates about identity, oppression, and activism. Across thirteen original contributions, authors address issues of intersectionality, colonial and decolonial subjectivities, the multiplicity and the coloniality of gender, indigenous spiritualities and cosmologies, pluralist and women of color feminisms, radical multiculturalism, popular education, and resistance to multiple oppressions. The book also includes a rare interview with María Lugones and an afterword by Paula M.L. Moya, ultimately offering both new critical resources for longstanding admirers of Lugones and a welcome introduction for newcomers to her groundbreaking work."--Page 4 de la couverture Speaking Face to Face' provides an unprecedented, in-depth look at the feminist philosophy and practice of the renowned Argentinian-born scholar-activist María Lugones. Informed by her identification as "nondiasporic Latina" and US Woman of Color, as well as her long-term commitment to grassroots organizing in Chicana/o communities, Lugones's work dovetails with, while remaining distinct from, that of other prominent transnational, decolonial, and women of color feminists. Her visionary philosophy motivates transformative modes of engaging cultural others, inviting us to create political intimacies rooted in a shared yearning for interdependence.0Bringing together scholars and activists across fields, this volume charts her profound impact in and beyond the academy for the past thirty years. In so doing, it exemplifies a new method of coalitional theorizing--traversing racial, ethnic, sexual, national, gendered, political, and disciplinary borders in order to cultivate learning, embrace heterogeneity, and provide a unique framework for engaging contemporary debates about identity, oppression, and activism. Across thirteen original contributions, authors address issues of intersectionality, colonial and decolonial subjectivities, the multiplicity and the coloniality of gender, indigenous spiritualities and cosmologies, pluralist and women of color feminisms, radical multiculturalism, popular education, and resistance to multiple oppressions. The book also includes a rare interview with María Lugones and an afterword by Paula Moya, ultimately offering both new critical resources for longstanding admirers of Lugones and a welcome introduction for newcomers to her groundbreaking work