Kawthar Fedjki
Abstract
The implications of personal autonomy not existing within a vacuum requires consideration of the social, relational and temporal implications. These dimensions of autonomy can inform the larger context of oppression faced by individuals, as their impact can be analyzed on both an individual and mutual manner. Through application of the internalist and externalist positions of relational autonomy, these analyses can be conducted with regards to the impact of these dimensions on autonomy to understand the extend of the effect of oppression. The example of the Retro Woman, contrasted with Marina Oshana’s Taliban Woman, will demonstrate how oppression faced by women can be observed from their socio-political identity and context along the temporal axis, and persist even after they are removed from the context wherein the oppression originated. By analyzing the hypothetical case from the perspective of established frameworks of relational autonomy, such as those presented by John Christman and Oshana, it demonstrates how they may not be well-placed to account for all of these dimensions and their impact on autonomy.