Transnational Feminisms and Psychologies: Selves, Suffering, and Moral Personhood in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Drawing from a larger study of non fatal suicidal behavior in Sri Lanka, we examine the narratives of two young women and their mothers following the daughter’s suicide-like act. These accounts offer insights into how the moral person is constructed in Sri Lanka and, particularly, what it means to be a good daughter and a good woman in Sri Lanka. We reflect on the implications that radically different conceptions of the self and personhood have for construing mental health and wellbeing outside a Western psychological framework. We also examine briefly how such conceptions of self and personhood have shaped feminisms in different locales.

Keywords:

• Critical psychology
• feminist
• individualism/collectivism
• transnational
• Sri Lanka

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The field of cultural psychology should not be confused with the older field of cross-cultural psychology. The former, which relies mainly on emic approaches, investigates the cultural models that serve as the resources people use to make sense of themselves and their worlds. The latter has typically focused on comparisons between countries, not cultures, and searches for universals as well as differences (Ellis & Stam, 2015).