Géographies féministes au Québec, intersectionnalité et décolonialisme : Vers une géographie de l'émancipation?

Abstract

Emerging in the mid-1980s, feminist geography has remained on the margins of Quebec's geography, as if it were a minor branch of the discipline. However, after having integrated concerns related to the geography of gender and sexualities, feminist geography expands on and consolidates theoretical, epistemological, and methodological levels by integrating intersectional and decolonial approaches. It is developing to such an extent that it is now legitimate to talk about feminist geographies in Quebec. In fact, by adopting intersectional and decolonial approaches, feminist geographies question the construction of the discourses and body of knowledge constituting the geography of Quebec, which claimed to be universal. In addition, the related analytical tools allow us to revisit established areas of interest such as migration and Indigenous issues, by giving women a voice. By paving the way for the co-construction of knowledge, these approaches promote the visibility of the complexity of power relations and relationships to space of the different population groups living in Quebec. In other words, feminist geographies, by giving voice to women from subaltern social groups such as immigrant and aboriginal women, can help create a geography of emancipation.