| An endeavor that traverses the interdisciplinary areas of American studies, rhetorical theory, women's studies, ethnic studies, postcolonial studies, and literary studies, this project emerged from two basic questions: (1) What does it mean to do American Studies, if U.S. imperialism is taken into account? (2) In this era of globalization, what does a country like Bangladesh---one of the poorest countries on this planet, which relies heavily on aid from the World Bank, the IMF, and western donors---have to do with U.S. imperialism? The fundamental argument of this study is that if one inserts the tools of feminist political economy and rhetorical critique into certain methodologies of American Studies and also internationalizes American Studies to account for U.S. imperialism, Bangladesh---described as the "periphery of the periphery"---provides a crucial and challenging site of both theoretical and political interventions. Taking into account the many possible pitfalls for a project that "internationalizes" American Studies---one that could very well reproduce imperialism---this study asks what links can be found between such macrostructures of power-relations as U.S. imperialism, capitalism, racism, and patriarchy if we examine, for instance, the eugenist-racist "family planning" programs of USAID in Bangladesh or the country reports produced by the World Bank. However, this study does not simply fix and freeze a Third World site such as Bangladesh as an object of oppression and domination, but highlights active resistances to U.S. imperialism, capitalism, racism, and patriarchy emanating from Bangladesh in various forms, including cultural productions, feminist activist work, and mass movements. Also, a fundamental question of this study is how academic work can be pressed into the service of social change. |
