Phenomenological variation and intercultural transformation: Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology and Abu-Lughod’s ethnography in dialogue
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2021
Department/School
History and Philosophy
Publication Title
Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Philosophia
Abstract
"This paper develops phenomenological resources for understanding the nature of intercultural understanding, drawing on the work of Merleau-Ponty in dialogue with feminist anthropologist Abu-Lughod. Part One criticizes Western framings of non-Western violence against women that render the experience of non-Western Others inaccessible. Part Two discusses how certain strains in Western feminism reinforce some of these problematic framings. Part Three offers a phenomenological account of our experience of other persons, and Part Four argues that intercultural understanding takes the form of a “variation” between one’s own and the other’s experience. Part Five explores the implications of this phenomenology of cross-cultural understanding for interpreting dynamic cultural transformations, and the politics of violence against women, in an interconnected and unequal world. Keywords: Maurice Merleau-Ponty; Lila Abu-Lughod; critical phenomenology; feminist anthropology; multiculturalism "
Link to Published Version
Recommended Citation
McMahon, L. (2021). Phenomenological variation and intercultural transformation: Merleau-ponty’s phenomenology and abu-lughod’s ethnography in dialogue. Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Philosophia, 66(1), 67–98. https://doi.org/10.24193/subbphil.2021.1.04