Domesticated Dispossessions? Towards a Transnational Feminist Geopolitics of Development

Geopolitics today is increasingly marked by the violent convergence of (in)security, market integration, and dispossession. Yet few studies address the connected, counter-insurgent geopolitics of ostensibly ameliorative, women-focused development interventions in the (post)colonial world. This paper charts a new theorisation of the geopolitics of development by focusing on gendered social movements, intersecting relations of difference, and social reproduction in two seemingly distinct areas: rural Guatemala and urban India. It introduces a transnational feminist geopolitical analytic – based on relational comparison, critical ethnography, and collaborative dialogue – to elucidate both specificity and global interconnection. Specifically, this consists of analysing struggles over dispossession through processes of ‘de(bt)velopment’ in the Ch'orti’ Highlands and ‘redevelopment’ in Mumbai at key historical conjunctures. These struggles illuminate not only (in)securities experienced by marginalised groups but also the transformative potentialities and domesticating limitations of social mobilisation. In conclusion, the paper offers insights into the how of doing more liberatory geopolitical praxis.