Gary Y. Okihiro (1945-2024) was Visiting Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity, Race, and Migration at Yale University and the author of many books, including
Third World studies requires a strategic mastery of the language and ideologies of the ruling class to engage and transform oppression and exploitation. But liberation also requires discourses and practices not of the master’s creation. If divide and rule is a principal strategy in the exercise of power, then syntheses can mitigate that design. Third World studies can embrace elements of feminist and queer theories, (post-1968) ethnic studies, critical theory, and poststructuralism to find common ground for discursive and material solidarities. Liberation is not a destination but a direction in process. The struggle continues.
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