Volume V (2022) (2015)
Nomadic Theory and the Role of Women
Victoria Attala Marist College
Abstract
This paper addresses the nomadic theory with regard to the role of women, particularly third-wave feminism. Rosi Braidotti offers an alternative insight on the classical European subject of knowledge by proposing a model of collective subjectivity. Braidotti’s nomadic ethics aligns with third-wave feminism and allows the empowerment of modern women, and all individuals who fit the category of the Other , since nomadic ethics separates itself from the normative moral protocols. As a result, this essay pertains to the benefits of a sustainable ethical theory. The essay will clarify the role of nomadic theory by introducing Braidotti’s analysis of Deleuze’s nomadic ethics, which will later be tied to Totality and Infinity by Emmanuel Levinas.
History has power; it helps individuals understand the past and its relationship with the present.
“Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both.” 1 However, the knowledge we acquire depends on who writes this history. For centuries, there
has been a Eurocentric approach to history, a western storytelling that holds fixed values and beliefs
that have been instrumental in shaping detrimental roles for individuals in society today. This paper
aims to analyze the benefits of nomadic ethics, which moves away from the classical subject of
knowledge, and its alignment with third-wave feminism, which empowers not only women, but all
individuals. It is important to keep in mind that this paper proposes a sociopolitical critique of the
universal subject of knowledge and structure of thinking, not science as such.
What is nomadic ethics? The nomadic theory believes ideas and identities can exist outside a
pre-established framework or social contract. Nomadic Theory , by Rosi Braidotti, rejects the
classical European subject of knowledge and commits to the nomadic vision of a collective subject that promotes a process of change. 2 Unlike the European view, imbued with strong European
nationalism, the nomadic vision emphasizes “our” being in this together. In addition, Braidotti is a
pioneer in European Women’s Studies. In her work, “ The Subject in Feminism, ” the philosopher
1 C. Wright Mills, The Sociological Imagination , (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000). 2 Rosi Braidotti, Nomadic Theory: The Portable Rosi Braidotti, (New York: Columbia University Press, 2011): 210.
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