Introduction

When western political theorists do attempt to offer an account of social criticism (that is an account of how to bring about the world they advocate), they must provide an account of how their version of social criticism would negotiate the competing pressures against cultural relativism and essentialism. Social criticism should be sensitive to difference in the experiences of oppression without letting recognition of difference be an obstacle to criticism; it should have critical force without consciously or inadvertently marginalizing those whose experiences don't conform to the experiences of oppression being addressed by a specific criticism. Feminists are particularly invested in the relativist–essentialist debate because frequently the cultural practices under scrutiny have different effects on women and men, because essentializing about human beings based on men has made women invisible or their claims to justice illegitimate, and because essentializing about women based on certain women's experiences and interests risks making other women and their claims invisible. For Third World feminism the challenge is to be sensitive to anti-essentialist concerns about the inaccuracies and potential harms that can come from considering Third World women activists as a category of activist while supporting their varied projects of critical activism.

Political theory generally needs social criticism to bring its implied changes about, but not any social criticism will do. Third World feminist social criticism makes political theory and practice more informed and inclusive and thus improves both the quality of and equality in public decision making.