WOMEN, (UNDER)DEVELOPMENT, EMPIRE: THE OTHER(ED) MARGINS IN AMERICAN STUDIES By MELISSA LEE HUSSAIN A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of PH.D. IN AMERICAN STUDIES WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY Program in American Studies May 2010 ©Copyright by MELISSA LEE HUSSAIN, 2010 All Rights Reserved ©Copyright by MELISSA LEE HUSSAIN, 2010 All Rights Reserved The members of the Committee appointed to examine the dissertation of MELISSA LEE HUSSAIN find it satisfactory and recommend that it be accepted. _________________________________ Victor Villanueva, Jr., Chair _________________________________ Joan Burbick _________________________________ Pavithra Narayanan _________________________________ T.V. Reed ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Remember that you are all people and that all people are you. Remember you are this universe and that this universe is you. Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you. Remember language comes from this. Remember the dance that language is, that life is. Remember to remember. —Joy Harjo, “Remember” I would like to thank my committee for their encouragement and guidance throughout my stay at Washington State University, and through the chaos of living in five states and two countries while working on my dissertation. They have all helped me grow so much—not just as a scholar, but also as a human being. Victor Villanueva has been not only a real friend to me through many of life’s challenges, but has also been instrumental in shaping my understanding of political economy on a global—rather world-systems—scale and how it speaks to ideology and the rhetorics of racism and imperialism. Victor’s course on contemporary rhetoric was exceptional not only because of the rigorous theoretical lens through which he taught the course, but because he also managed to get a bunch of grumpy, sleep-deprived graduate students excited about learning and laughing (and even dancing!) at 9:00 in the morning. If I could think of one excuse not to finish graduate school, it would be so that I could keep taking his courses indefinitely. Joan Burbick’s guidance has been fundamental as well, particularly in terms of shaping my thinking about feminist theory and nationalism. Early on in my graduate work, I had the iii privilege and pleasure of working with her as my teaching mentor in her course on women writers in the West. I also learned a great deal from her about the interconnections between literature and social, political, and economic forces in her graduate course on backgrounds of American literature. And I am grateful to her for providing support when it was sorely needed: she accompanied my husband and I to the local office of the Department of Homeland Security, when my husband was subject to a rather terrifying post-9/11 “interview” (racial profiling) process. T.V. Reed’s outstanding graduate seminar on the theory and methods of American Studies was instrumental in my development as a scholar, not only for the wide-ranging theoretical grounding his course provided, but also for how he tied theory to practice in significant ways. And his friendship is a unique one—he has been (simultaneously) my teacher, advisor, program chair, and the minister for my wedding. Without his support, both my life and scholarship would have suffered a great deal. Pavithra Narayanan was a welcome addition to my committee just at a time when I was in desperate need of some guidance in terms of thinking about South Asian feminism and the specifics of Bangladesh as a site of study, and in terms of applying the tools of political economy to postcolonial studies. She has been a source of real encouragement and support. There are many others at Washington State University to whom I am deeply grateful. Nelly Zamora—the graduate secretary for most of my stay at WSU—not only made sure my paperwork was in order, but made sure I had enough to eat. She is one of the kindest people I have ever met. And Jean Wiegand—the academic coordinator for American Studies through the majority of my Ph.D program—was extremely helpful to me, particularly given the fact that she iv helped me sort out paperwork and deadlines from a distance. Shelli Fowler, who was the director of composition while I was a Teaching Assistant, was an excellent mentor in critical and transformative pedagogy. And I am deeply indebted to a number of other professors at WSU for their influence on both my scholarship and teaching: Marian Sciachitano, Nada Elia, Linda Heidenreich, and Noël Sturgeon in Women’s Studies; Alex Hammond, Elizabeth Siler, Carol Siegel, Virginia Hyde, and Camille Roman in English; John Streamas, David Leonard, Mary Bloodsworth-Lugo, José Alamillo, and Richard King in Comparative Ethnic Studies. Carol Villanueva was a critical teacher for me in Pullman—I learned much from her about the police state, political economy and world-systems theory. Fellow graduate students have been some of my best teachers, and the most substantial portion of my learning took place in late-night conversations with them about theory and politics. So thanks go to Susan McDowall, Matt McDowall, James Neiworth, Siskanna Naynaha, Wendy Olson, Serena Villanueva-Tarr, Sky Wilson, Kelvin Monroe, Jeanette Garceau, Tony Zaragoza, Jesú Estrada, Christina Vala, Jody Pepion, David Warner, Winona Beck, Ayano Gizona, Marta Maldonado, José Anazagasty, Lisa Williams, and a number of others. During my stay in Bangladesh from 2006 to 2008 and in ongoing subsequent conversations, I learned a great deal from so many Bangladeshi scholars and activists. Thanks go to Khaliquzzaman Elias for giving me the opportunity to teach English at North South University and thus the chance to interact with a number of excellent faculty members and students in the Department of English. Anu Muhammad of the Department of Economics at Jahningarnar University and Ahmed Kamal of the Department of History at Dhaka University have not only been significant resources for me theoretically and have pointed me towards other critical v scholars and activists, but they have also been dear friends. Members of the grassroots feminist organization Narripokkho—particularly Shireen Huq and Firdous Azim—not only allowed me to interview them, but they were extremely hospitable and supportive to me, and provided me with a number of resources critical to my research. And Farida Akhter—a feminist activist who co- founded, with other women, the policy research organization UBINIG 1—has been of great assistance to me through interviews and ongoing conversations. I also thank the Bengali feminist creative writer Selina Hossain for her interview, and Azfar Hussain for translating it. Some Bengali feminist scholars located in the U.S. and England have also been extremely helpful to me—I thank Lamia Karim, Elora Shehabuddin, Naila Kabeer and Elora Chowdhury for various brief encounters, and for speaking with me about feminist politics in Bangladesh, and the role they play as Bengali feminists located in the West. I owe special thanks to a number of committed left activists in Bangladesh, particularly Zonayed Saki and Taslima Akhter, who have taught me much about activist politics in one of the poorest countries of the world, and who have taken along with them to marches, rallies, demonstrations, meetings, lectures, and a variety of other events, and even guided me through the maze-like streets of Dhaka by rickshaw on so many occasions, to help me hunt down resources and materials. I also had the privilege of working with the Marxist-feminist organization Biplobi Nari Songhoti, and even published an essay in their journal, Muktashwar , thanks to the translation into Bangla by Taslima Akhter. I thank, therefore, Taslima Tahreen, Farzana Boby, Israt Poppy, Monalisa Rahman, Nasrin Siraj, Nusrat Sehab, Champu Ju, Rumana Koli, Lisa Aarzoomand, Shamuli, and Rebeka Nila—among others—for their patience with me and my broken Bangla, and for their tremendous hospitality. I also want to thank Abul Hassan vi Rubel and Taslima Tahreen for showing me their school for poor children in Dhaka, called Amader Pathshala [Our School], a school that is radically different from the run-of-the mill NGO-run schools for poor children in that Amader Pathshala follows a Freirean pedagogy. And for the various ways they taught me about activist politics in Bangladesh, I also want to thank Nurul Kabir, Piash Karim, Arup Rahee, Faruk Wasif, Moshahida Sultana, and Zahid Akter. I also want to thank Rosemary Hennessy, S. Charusheela, Colette Morrow, and Carol Mason, feminist scholars with whom I have crossed paths along the way, and who have enriched my work in a number of ways. Thanks go to Susan McDowall, Siskanna Naynaha, James Neiworth, Rachel Peterson, Joel Wendland, Christine Drewel, Archana Sharma, Perin Gurel, Mike Lupro, Piash Karim, Matt Barbee, Anu Muhammad, and Lamia Karim for looking at drafts of my work along the way, and for offering critical feedback. I would also like to thank my mother and father for believing in me, for their love and support, and for journeying halfway across the planet to visit me while I lived in Bangladesh, and for taking care of Salma at critical points along the way, so that I could get my work done. I thank Ken, Wes and Elaine for their love and support offered in so many ways throughout the years, and to Maranda and Hnin Oo Wai for their special friendship. Thanks to my nephews: to Kieran, for teaching me how to look for fairies, and to Tristan, for sharing with me the most infectious laughter. And to all my family in Bangladesh: Amma, Abba, Dipu, Urmi, Audrey, Jasra, Rosy, Shafique, Akash, Rumi, Pintu, Purnata, Bokul khala, Sobhan mama, Rekha khala, Lutu khalu, Tuku mama, Megna mami, Abantee, and Rupunty, thank you for welcoming this Bideshi so readily into your family and opening your hearts to me: ami tomader khub vii bhalobashi .