Feminist world-building: Creative energies, collective journeys

Shobha Shukla *

... So goes the theme of the 4th Asia Pacific Feminist Forum (APFF) which will be held in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand next month. This theme is a pointer towards channelising the energies of people of all genders who work to defend human rights and promote gender equality to collectively resist the patriarchal, militarised and greed-driven world we are living in, and envisioning a feminist world order.

What is a feminist world order?

A feminist system means having a different kind of development model that is based on sharing and caring. As opposed to the current patriarchal systems which use power and violence against most other people in order for a few to gain power, feminism uses care and solidarity to share and redistribute power. A feminist system is one that is socially just and ecologically sustainable for everyone - everywhere, and it is rooted in development justice.

For Abia Akram, founder and CEO of the National Forum of Women with Disabilities in Pakistan, "a feminist world is a place where women and all diverse genders can feel their strength and be engaged meaningfully at grassroots level to bring about systematic changes, where we can see the engagement of the feminist approach through transformative laws, and legal practices that are shaped according to human rights perspective."

Sharing her personal experience, Eni Lestari, a migrant rights activist and the Chairperson of International Migrants Alliance says, "I have been involved with women migration and feminist movements for more than two decades now. I have seen how neoliberal globalisation has intensified structural exploitation, and how every new crisis brings more poverty, displacement and unemployment. I moved out of my country Indonesia as a migrant because of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. At that time, me and my colleagues had thought that this displacement would be a passing phenomenon. But sadly, since then more and more people have been forced to displace as migration has become part of the economic development project for many capitalist countries. Today, the number of migrants has reached nearly 300 million- which is equal to the whole population of my country.”

"In a feminist world there would be such an economic and political environment in every country where everyone will be treated fairly with equality and where no one will have to migrate or get displaced just to survive. A feminist world is a world where women will lead, facilitate and ensure that everyone in society is treated with justice and equality," added Eni Lestari.

Feminist world is a joyous world

For Ivy Josiah, a women's rights activist and former President and Executive Director of Malaysia’s Women’s Aid Organisation, a feminist world is a joyous world for all, where no one will be left behind, in the real sense (and not just as a tagline).

"If feminists lead the world and we adopt feminist policies I truly believe there will be a peaceful world. War is a choice, and so is peace. Feminist policies and action plans would be inclusive - there will be consent from the people. Women (and other gender diverse people) as feminists know that, because we have been discriminated ourselves. So, we understand what it is like to be left behind. So, because of that personal political experience, we will bring in inclusiveness if we are in-charge of the world. When we run the world, I know that it will be a more joyous and inclusive world and I hope that comes true soon," she said.

And as Ivy rightly remarks “Men and other people from gender diverse communities, can be feminists too!” In fact, anyone can be a feminist irrespective of their gender or sexual orientation or identity (if they firmly believe in development justice). Feminism is about having a different ideology (development justice) based on solidarity and care."

A feminist world will be anti-capitalism

Maximisation of profits for a tiny number of people is what drives capitalism while it forces a vast majority of our population (and our planet) to face unbridled exploitation and human rights and environmental violations.

"That is why, a feminist world will be anti-capitalism. It will not benefit just the few rich people, but will be shared equitably. The current neoliberal policies thrive on exploitation of the poor people. This shameless exploitation of people - robbing people of their lands, of their resources - will be stopped if feminists run the world," says Ivy.

Shrinking spaces for civil society

For Abia, another point of deep concern is that the current political systems are shrinking the spaces of civil society organisations. Creating an enabling environment where everyone has equal rights and opportunities is missing from the agenda of countries. Their budgetary allocations are not justifiable as they are not including the gender perspective in a way that women and girls with disabilities, transgender and LGBTQIAP+ communities, all get resources and opportunities with equity and in a rights-based manner. This is only possible when we have a seat at the table and share the space at high-level forums. There has to be meaningful engagement and equitable representation from the feminist movements."

Present world order is anti-thesis of a feminist world order

The present world order is the anti-thesis of a feminist world order. Today’s so called development model is driven by patriarchy, fundamentalism, militarism, and corporate capitalism. Such a world order has channeled wealth, power and resources from the working people to the rich, and from developing countries to wealthy countries. It has resulted in financial, environmental, food and energy crises which continue to devastate the lives of women, especially in the Global South.

Eni rues that, “A lot of promises have been made in the past for the welfare of people. But at the end of the day what we witness is catastrophic poverty, climate crisis, large scale displacement of people and human rights violations. So all this beautiful language of development becomes meaningless. What is being promoted as development today is only for the very few global elite, and is making the rest of us poorer every day. It is making countries more dependent upon foreign investments and loans. Suddenly we find ourselves trapped into the vicious cycle of debts. This is not what the people want. We cannot close our eyes anymore and pretend that the world is 'okay'. No we are not 'okay'."

Five transformative shifts of development justice model

Yes indeed, the current world order urgently needs to replaced with the development justice model that addresses inequalities of wealth, power and resources between countries, between rich and poor, and between men and women and gender diverse communities - a model that puts peoples over profit.

This development justice model is grounded in five transformative shifts - redistributive justice, economic justice, social and gender justice, environmental justice, and accountability to peoples. This is a future that the vast majority of peoples want- global equity, ecological sustainability, social justice, human rights enjoyment and dignity for all. In addition, this is the only model that can save our planet too.

And that is the reason why forums like Asia Pacific Feminist Forum (APFF) become critically important. This tri-annual event, organised by APWLD (Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development), brings together feminists and women's rights activists of all genders from across Asia and the Pacific to celebrate achievements of feminist and strengthen solidarities and collective resolutions for structural changes. The 4th APFF is to be held in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand.

The APFF 4 will not just be a celebratory space, but also a fiercely political space for strategising, knowledge-exchange, and feminist mobilising and advocacy to build a roadmap for a feminist world order. If a feminist world is to come to be, then that future is now.