Applying Antonio Gramsci’s philosophy to postcolonial feminist social and political activism in nursing Louise Racine RN PhD Assistant Professor, College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada Abstract Through its social and political activism goals, postcolonial feminist theoretical approaches not only focus on individual issues that affect health but encompass the examination of the complex interplay between neocolonialism, neoliberalism, and globalization, in mediating the health of non-Western immigrants and refugees. Postcolonial feminism holds the promise to influence nursing research and practice in the 21st century where health remains a goal to achieve and a commitment for humanity.This is especially relevant for nurses, who act as global citizens and as voices for the voiceless. The commitment of nursing to social justice must be further strengthened by relying on postcolonial theories to address issues of health inequities that arise from marginalization and racialization. In using postcolonial feminist theories, nurse researchers locate the inquiry process within a Gramscian philosophy of praxis that represents knowledge in action. Keywords: nursing philosophy, nursing research, philosophy of nursing, the marginalized culture, non-Western populations. Over the past three decades, the influence of post- modern, poststructuralist, and postcolonial feminist theories, as paradigmatic alternatives to the Received View of science, is acknowledged to explore health issues related to race, gender, social classes, and power in nursing (Cheek, 2000; Allen, 2002; Anderson, 2002; Aranda, 2006). Among these approaches, the rel- evance of postcolonial feminism for examining how health intersects with race, gender, ethnicity, and social class has been established in nursing research on Aboriginal and non-Western immigrants. Much of the literature on postcolonial feminism has focused on developing epistemological assumptions and their methodological applications in nursing research (Reimer-Kirkham & Anderson, 2002; Racine, 2003; Browne et al., 2005; Mohammed, 2006). Few papers, however, have explored how social and political activ- ism can be used to challenge contemporary health and social inequities that affect marginalized and racialized populations such as non-Western immi- grants and refugees. Correspondence: Louise Racine, University of Saskatchewan, College of Nursing (St. Andrew’s Office 411), 107 Wiggins Road, Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7N 5E5. Tel.: +(306) 966 6366; fax: +(306) 966 6609; e-mail: louise.racine@usask.ca Original article 180 © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd Nursing Philosophy (2009), 10, pp. 180–190