•  2482
    Reclaiming Third World Feminism: Or Why Transnational Feminism Needs Third World Feminism
    Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism 12 (1). 2014.
    Third World and transnational feminisms have emerged in opposition to white second-wave feminists’ single-pronged analyses of gender oppression that elided Third World women’s multiple and complex oppressions in their various social locations. Consequently, these feminisms share two “Third World feminist” mandates: First, feminist analyses of Third World women’s oppression and resistance should be historically situated; and second, Third World women’s agency and voices should be respected. Despi…Read more
  •  1983
    A Third World Feminist Defense of Multiculturalism
    Social Theory and Practice 30 (1): 73-103. 2004.
    Many influential Western feminists of diverse backgrounds have expressed concerns that multiculturalism, while strengthening the power of racial ethnic minorities vis-à-vis the majority, worsens the position of its most vulnerable members, women. Despite their good intentions, these feminists have been consistently dismissive of the voices of racial ethnic women, many of whom argue for the importance of sustaining their own “illiberal” cultures within the Western context. I offer a Third World f…Read more
  •  1401
    Liberal multiculturalism: An oxymoron?(Will Kymlicka)
    Philosophical Forum 38 (1). 2007.
    Will Kymlicka argues that societal culture matters to liberalism because it contributes to its members’ freedom. If so, multiculturalism that advocates group rights to sustain minority societal cultures in the liberal West is in fact entailed by liberalism, the core value of which is individual freedom. “Freedom,” then, functions as the main bridge between liberalism and multiculturalism in Kymlicka’s position. Kymlicka is correct that societal culture contributes to its members’ freedom by prov…Read more
  •  1350
    This piece contextualizes a discussion by liminal feminists on the identifiers ‘women of color’ and ‘Third World women’ that emerged from some uncomfortable and constructive conversations at the 2015 FEAST conference. I focus on concerns of marginalization and gatekeeping that are far too often reiterated within the uneasy racial dynamics among feminist philosophers.
  •  1309
    Is confucianism compatible with care ethics? A critique
    Philosophy East and West 53 (4): 471-489. 2003.
    This essay critically examines a suggestion proposed by some Confucianists that Confucianism and Care Ethics share striking similarities and that feminism in Confucian societies might take “a new form of Confucianism.” Aspects of Confucianism and Care Ethics that allegedly converge are examined, including the emphasis on human relationships, and it is argued that while these two perspectives share certain surface similarities, moral injunctions entailed by their respective ideals of ren and cari…Read more
  •  792
    In Defense of Nonliberal Nationalism
    Political Theory 34 (3): 304-327. 2006.
    Although nonliberal nationalism has played a prominent role in previously and currently colonized nations of the Third World, its assessment by liberal political theorists has been less than favorable. These theorists believe that nonliberal nationalisms are bound to be oppressive to marginalized members, since they view nonliberal cultures, which such movements aim to protect and maintain, to be essentialist and static monoliths that do not recognize the fundamental value of individual rights. …Read more
  •  742
    Confucian Family for a Feminist Future
    Asian Philosophy 22 (4): 327-346. 2012.
    The Confucian family, not only in its historical manifestations but also in the imagination of the Confucian founders, was the locus of misogynist norms and practices that have subjugated women in varying degrees. Therefore, advancing women’s well-being and equality in East Asia may seem to require radically transforming the Confucian family to approximate alternative ideal conceptions of the family in the West. This article opposes such a stance by arguing that (1) Western conceptions of the fa…Read more
  •  727
    The possibility of nationalist feminism
    Hypatia 18 (3): 135-160. 2003.
    Most Third World feminists consider nationalism as detrimental to feminism. Against this general trend, I argue that “polycentric” nationalism has potentials for advocating feminist causes in the Third World. “Polycentric” nationalism, whose proper goal is the attainment and maintenance of national self-determination, is still relevant in this neocolonial age of capitalist globalization and may serve feminist purposes of promoting the well-being of the majority of Third World women who suffer di…Read more
  •  638
    This article aims to refute the “incompatibility thesis” that nationalism is incompatible with transnational feminist solidarity, as it fosters exclusionary practices, xenophobia, and racism among feminists with conflicting nationalist aspirations. I examine the plausibility of the incompatibility thesis by focusing on the controversy regarding just reparation for Second World War “comfort women,” which is still unresolved. The Korean Council at the center of this controversy, which advocates fo…Read more
  •  624
    Confucian Mothering: The Origin of Tiger Mothering?
    In Mathew Foust & Sor-Hoon Tan (eds.), Feminist Encounters with Confucius, Brill. pp. 40-68. 2016.
    In recent years, the notion of “tiger mother” has been popularized since Amy Chua’s publication of her memoir, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother (2011). This notion is allegedly representative of “Chinese” mothering that produces “stereotypically successful kids” (ibid., p.3). No wonder, the characteristics of the tiger mother revolve around strict disciplining and pressuring of children to excel academically based on her assumption that children “owe everything” to her and that she knows “what is…Read more
  •  577
    Confucian Democracy and Equality
    Asian Philosophy 20 (3): 261-282. 2010.
    “Confucian democracy” is considered oxymoronic because Confucianism is viewed as lacking an idea of equality among persons necessary for democracy. Against this widespread opinion, this article argues that Confucianism presupposes a uniquely Confucian idea of equality and that therefore a Confucian conception of democracy distinct from liberal democracy is not only conceptually possible but also morally justifiable. This article engages philosophical traditions of East and West by, first, recons…Read more
  •  554
    Iris Marion Young’s politics of difference promotes equality among socially and culturally different groups within multicultural states and advocates group autonomy to empower such groups to develop their own voice. Extending the politics of difference to the international sphere, Young advocates “decentered diverse democratic federalism” that combines local self-determination and cosmopolitanism, while adamantly rejecting nationalism. Herr argues that nationalism, charitably interpreted, is not…Read more
  •  545
    I shall argue that, with a proper realignment of core Confucian values, an explicitly feminist reading of Confucianism—a conception of Confucian feminism—could be constructed to promote the feminist goal of gender equality in contemporary Confucian societies. My paper proceeds in the following order: first, I shall identify two aspects of Confucianism implicated in the Confucian subjugation of women: li and family. Given the centrality of both li and family in Confucianism, it may seem that Conf…Read more
  •  468
    Islamist Women's Agency and Relational Autonomy
    Hypatia 33 (2): 195-215. 2018.
    Mainstream conceptions of autonomy have been surreptitiously gender-specific and masculinist. Feminist philosophers have reclaimed autonomy as a feminist value, while retaining its core ideal as self-government, by reconceptualizing it as “relational autonomy.” This article examines whether feminist theories of relational autonomy can adequately illuminate the agency of Islamist women who defend their nonliberal religious values and practices and assiduously attempt to enact them in their daily …Read more
  •  419
    Cultural claims and the limits of liberal democracy
    Social Theory and Practice 34 (1): 25-48. 2008.
    Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson’s theory of deliberative democracy has been widely influential and favorably viewed by many as a successful attempt to combine procedural and substantive aspects of democracy, while remaining quintessentially liberal. Although I admit that their conception is one of the strongest renditions of liberal democracy, I argue that it is inadequate in radically multicultural societies that house non-liberal cultural minorities. By focusing on Gutmann’s position on minori…Read more
  •  326
    This article considers whether the international legal human rights system founded on liberal individualism, as endorsed by liberal theorists, can function as a fair universal legal regime. This question is examined in relation to the collective right to self-determination demanded by indigenous peoples, who are paradigmatic decent nonliberal peoples. Indigenous peoples’ collective right to self-determination has been internationally recognized in the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peop…Read more
  •  315
    Democracy in decent nonliberal nations: A defense
    Philosophical Forum 40 (3): 309-337. 2009.
    Western democracy theorists accept the "liberal democracy thesis" and claim that the only morally justifiable conception of democracy is liberal democracy regulated by substantive liberal values. According to this thesis, democracy not regulated by liberal values in nonliberal nations, if at all feasible, necessarily leads to the oppression of minorities and is therefore morally unjustifiable. This article aims to refute the liberal democracy thesis by arguing that democracy in "decent" nonliber…Read more
  •  234
    Liberal Presumptions: A Response to Curtis
    Political Theory 35 (3): 341-47. 2007.
    In his “Critical Response,” William Curtis presents three main criticisms against my position elaborated in “In Defense of Nonliberal Nationalism.” First, he alleges that my conception of national membership is “voluntarist” and ultimately liberal. Second, he claims that my position on nonliberal democracy is “quintessentially liberal.” Third, he charges that my account of nonliberal nationalism would allow the oppression of minorities. The first charge is based on Curtis’s misreading of my arti…Read more
  •  61
    Agency without autonomy: valuational agency
    Journal of Global Ethics 6 (3): 239-254. 2010.
    National minority women’s defense of nonliberal minority cultures that encompass sexist customs and rules has greatly perplexed liberal theorists. Many attempted to resolve this puzzle by attributing constrained agency to such women and dismissing their defense as unreasonable. This article argues that this liberal assessment of minority women’s position is philosophically indefensible and that the failure of mainstream liberalism to make sense of these women’s response indicates not that these …Read more
  •  23
    Introduction: Contested Terrains
    Hypatia 32 (3): 477-487. 2017.
    Editors' introduction to a special issue of Hypatia on "Contested Terrains: Women of Color, Third World Women, Feminisms and Geopolitics
  •  16
    Junzi 君子 as a Confucian Feminist Ideal
    Journal of Chinese Philosophy 49 (3): 240-253. 2022.
    I propose a conception of Confucian feminism faithful to the original vision of the Confucian masters centered on the moral ideal of the junzi. Although the junzi 君子 has traditionally been conceived as male-gendered, my proposal for Confucian feminism is predicated on reclaiming the junzi as a gender-transcending feminist ideal. It follows in the footsteps of two premodern Korean female Confucian scholars, Yun-ji-dang and Chōng-il-dang, who deserve to be considered the first Confucian feminists.…Read more
  •  14
    Confucian democracy as popular sovereignty
    Asian Philosophy 29 (3): 201-220. 2019.
    ABSTRACTIs Confucian democracy philosophically justifiable? In recent decades, prominent Confucian theorists have answered this question in the negative, arguing that the political system that is c...
  •  7
    From Liberal Feminist to Buddhist Nun
    Journal of World Philosophies 3 (2): 114-116. 2018.
    In her Women and Buddhist Philosophy, Jin Y. Park examines the life and philosophy of the Korean Zen Buddhist nun Kim Iryŏp. By retracing the evolution of Iryŏp’s philosophy, the book not only explores a distinct way of doing philosophy—narrative philosophy—but also demonstrates a Buddhist nun’s full agency in her conversion as well as her dedicated Buddhist practice.
  • Procedural Autonomy: An Account of Autonomy Compatible with Contingency
    Dissertation, State University of New York at Buffalo. 1992.
    This dissertation is dedicated to developing a principle of autonomy that is suited to human rational agents situated in particular and contingent settings. In doing so, I start out by examining a very influential conception of autonomy which defines autonomy in terms of an agent's ability to "transcend" her particular and contingent life-situation. I call such a conception of autonomy deontological autonomy. I argue that there is an inherent inconsistency in the deontological approach since deo…Read more