Feminism remains foreign - What needs to change for a new world Order

Insights from Kavita N. Ramdas, a globally recognised advocate for gender equity and justice, drawn from a thought-provoking and inspiring webinar with the Centre for the Study of Global Development at The Open University on 24 April 2025.

Written by Laud Freeman, PhD Researcher, Gender Equity Advocate and Humanitarian, The Open University, UK  

May 2025 

Disorder in Global Order

First, we must draw attention to what Kavita believes to be the disorder underlying the current global order, marked by contradictions between narratives of progress and the reality of escalating inequality, conflict, and environmental degradation. The prevailing global order privileges economic growth over human dignity and environmental sustainability, with  institutions and governance structures in the Global North continuing to replicate colonial hierarchies, extractive capitalism, and militarised security logics. This disorder, Kavita suggests, is not accidental but sustained by ideologies that disconnect people from each other and from the planet. 

Colonial Roots of Development

Second, the current global development model is deeply embedded and inseparable from its colonial origins. Development, Kavita notes, is often treated as neutral or benevolent, but it emerged directly from the logics of conquest, exploitation, and racial hierarchy. This skewed development model continues to reflect colonial thinking, where the Global North dictates what progress looks like for the rest of the world. Colonialism was not just about geography or borders, but about deeply entrenched ideologies, particularly white, Western, Christian supremacy that shaped institutions and values we still uphold today.

Global Dependency and Economic Extraction

Third, we must challenge the prevailing belief that the Global South is dependent on the Global North. On the contrary, Kavita argues, it is the Global North that remains dependent on the labour, resources, and compliance of the Global South. International systems such as the IMF and World Bank, dominated by powerful Global North nations, enforce debt regimes that strip Global South countries of sovereignty and force austerity measures that hurt the most vulnerable. Citing data, Kavita shows that in 2023, developing nations sent $1.4 trillion to wealthy nations, noting that this amount far exceeded the amount received in aid. The global economy continues to extract far more than it gives.

The Invisible Economy of Care Driven by Women

Fourth, a massive blind spot in current economic thinking continues to be the unpaid care work performed by women around the world - caring for children, the elderly, the sick and other vulnerable individuals and groups. Kavita highlights that this is not just labour, but is essential to proper and smooth societal functioning; yet it is systematically devalued or completely ignored in economic metrics like GDP. Take the COVID-19 pandemic, when care workers were briefly hailed as heroes, but the moment quickly passed. Any economy that fails to account for the work that sustains life is deeply flawed and inherently patriarchal.

Indigenous Knowledge and Resistance

Despite systemic oppression, Kavita celebrates the resistance and wisdom of Indigenous, rural, and marginalised communities. Their cosmologies understand the Earth not as an inanimate property to be extracted for economic gain but as a living, sacred entity. Stories of communities in Jharkhand convey mourning the loss of ancient trees and of farmers resisting extractive development projects - not out of backwardness, but from a radically different, deeply humane and responsible stewardship worldview. These traditions, offer a sustainable alternative to the dominant narratives of growth and progress.

Philanthropy and the Redistribution of Power

Drawing from her own experience in philanthropy, Kavita acknowledges the potential of philanthropy to support justice movements. But she also urges deeper self-reflection. Many philanthropic foundations are built on wealth accumulated through colonialism, slavery, and capitalist exploitation. Real solidarity means not just funding communities, but trusting them, ceding control, and shifting power. As Martin Luther King Jr. said: “Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the economic injustice which makes philanthropy necessary.”

Feminism as a Framework for Liberation

Radical, intersectional feminism is imperative. Citing Bell Hooks, Kavita frames feminism not as a gender-only issue but as a struggle against all forms of domination - racism, casteism, colonialism, ableism, capitalism and patriarchy. We must warn against tokenistic inclusion, which merely puts women in power without changing the systems they operate in. Representation alone does not guarantee justice. A feminist future requires reimagining what power looks like, not simply who holds it.

Valuing Marginalised Knowledge and Histories

Kavita reflects on the erasure of traditional women’s knowledge encompassing key aspects and facets of life - birth, healing, land stewardship, amongst others. Such knowledge is often dismissed as unscientific or primitive. From midwives to forest dwellers, women have long been custodians of life-affirming wisdom. While modern systems have continually sought to discredit, suppress or criminalise them, these practices endure in rituals, songs, and oral traditions. Their survival is not just a cultural artifact - it is a form of resistance and a guide toward a more just and sustainable future.

The Urgency of Feminism of Intersectionality, Solidarity and Structural Transformation

Feminism, in Kavita’s view, must stand against all forms of bigotry and exclusion - whether antisemitism, Islamophobia, casteism, or xenophobia. Justice, she emphasised, is not divisible. It must be unapologetically intersectional. 

Kavita calls for a brand of intersectional feminism that marks a departure from the kind that serves neoliberalism. Stakeholders in global development must go beyond symbolic gestures, rhetoric, tokenism and unquestioned adherence to the status quo, but instead support structural transformation. From the academic community, she asks: “What are we doing as an academic community to challenge ourselves? How can we be stronger and bolder advocates?” True change, Kavita insists, comes from redistributing power, centring the voices of the oppressed, and radically reimagining how we care for each other and the planet.