Abstract
The interrelated set of critiques leveled by Chandra Talpade Mohanty and Gayatri Chakrovorty Spivak demanded greater reflexivity among feminists so as to avoid the tacit ethnocentricism that undergirded the early foundation of the second-wave feminist movement. This chapter provides a brief biographical sketch of Donna Haraway. It outlines the debate over universalism versus relativism by identifying some of the main principles of each position. The chapter examines how a few critical scholars in organization and management studies have engaged with ‘other’ women’s experiences. Universalism is foregrounded in philosophies—dating back to the stoics, though appearing in its most prominent incarnation in modern liberalism—that are predicated on the idea that certain rights ought to have universal applicability. In sum, for Donna Haraway, universalism and relativism ‘are both “god tricks” promising vision from everywhere and equally and fully’ and, through their prestidigitation, they perform in maintaining asymmetrical power relations by functioning in the service of the powerful while, concomitantly, disenfranchising the disempowered.
