How Progressive are Multidimensional Accounts of Autonomy? Transnational Feminist-Friendly Amendments and a Critical Intersectional Relational Autonomy

Bibliographic Data

ID12148367
AuthorsHerjeet Marway (0000-0003-2783-899X, University of Birmingham, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume39
Issue4
Pages891-915
Publication date2024-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHypatia (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0887-5367 • E-ISSN: 1527-2001
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/hyp.2024.29
OpenAlexW4398179803
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited46

“Multidimensional” accounts of autonomy offer multiple, rather than unitary, dimensions along which to measure autonomy. Such accounts are significant developments in the literature and help generate nuanced, degree-based frameworks. However, transnational feminists—those theorizing feminism in light of (post)colonialism and global neoliberalism—may raise concerns about multidimensional accounts for women in the Global South. For instance, there may be worries about the generalized focus and implicit individualism that still lurks. Sympathetic to both non-unitary autonomy and transnational feminist projects, I argue that multidimensional accounts can be salvaged from such critiques with two amendments. First, they can adopt what I label a “critical” relational framing, and second, they can include intersectional identities. Using commercial surrogates in India as an example, I show how these amendments to multidimensional theories might better serve these women of color, and indeed all persons

Autonomy · Political science · Sociology · Gender Studies · Law · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Reproductive Health and Technologies

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