On Feminist Nomadism

Barry Smith T o grasp the full poignancy of Rosi Braidotti's piece, and of the sad strain of academic feminism that it represents, it is necessary to think back to a time, not·so long ago, when children still represented the primary form of social insurance for almost all groups in society. This was a time, too, when infant mortality rates were by modem standards atrociously high, giving rise to the inevitable consequence that the bulk of the creative energy of women was spent in a struggle with "Braidotti gives us an extra insight into why the work that is done in such [Women's Studies] departments is in many cases of such such low quality: its method· ology consists not in formulating and test· ing hypotheses and subjecting one's results to the hard court of experiment and criticism, but rather, merely, in 'listening to the multiplicity of women's voices."'