Feminism and the Power of Love

Feminism and the Power of Love is a crucial addition to the rapidly expanding field of Love Studies. Too few books tackle the problematic status of 'love' in feminist theory, but even fewer address the central theme of this book, namely the tension between two indisputable facts: love plays and replays sex and gender relationships of power; but it is also a vital source of human enhancement and energy. Understanding this tension through a variety of disciplines and methodological lenses, this book represents an important advance of feminist theory. Professor Eva Illouz, author of Why Love Hurts Politics, economy, revolution, history: what's love got to do with these? Everything, or so the provocative essays collected in Feminism and the Power of Love claim. Whether you find love a distinctly patriarchal invention or a necessary affect for utopian transformations, the conversations arrayed here will convince you of the value of love studies for contemporary feminist theory. Professor Robyn Wiegman, Duke University The contribution that Feminism and the Power of Love has been making to the wider field of Love Studies has been transformative. The contributors to this book look critically at love as a site where emotional and reproductive labor are distributed unequally whilst acknowledging the crucial function of loving care in human bonding. This approach throws a much needed light on the complexity of love as a manifestation of interconnected desires, emotions, social relations and cultural modes of expression. If you are interested in intimacy, love or relationships you will find this book indispensable for your study and research whether you agree with its premises and outcome or not. Professor Michael Gratzke, Hull University, Convener of the Love Research Network What might be cutting-edge concepts of love? Transformative intimacies? Anti-ownership possibilities? Non-oppressive bonds? Feminism and the Power of Love breaks new grounds as it introduces feminist love studies, arguing that while love is an intimate affair, it also has a huge influence on public and political life. Showcasing creative energies and diverse methodologies, the volume historicizes love, teases out the contradictions of love, and calls on feminist theorists to shape the field of love studies. Katarzyna Marciniak, Ohio University

Adriana Garca-Andrade is Professor at the Department of Sociology, Universidad Autnoma Metropolitana (UAM), Mxico Lena Gunnarsson is a Postdoctoral fellow at Department of Gender Studies, Lund University, Sweden Anna G. Jnasdttir is Senior Professor at rebro University, Sweden

Chapter 1 The Power of Love: Towards an Interdisciplinary and Multi-Theoretical Feminist Love Studies Lena Gunnarsson, Adriana Garca-Andrade, and Anna G. Jnasdttir Part 1. QUESTIONING LOVE AND POWER Chapter 2 The Difference that Love (Power) Makes Anna G. Jnasdttir Chapter 3 Alienation in Love: Is Mutual Love the Solution? Ann Ferguson Chapter 4 What Has Happened to the Feminist Critique of Romantic Love in the Same-Sex Marriage Debate? Renata Grossi Part 2. LOVE AND AFFECT Chapter 5 Love as Affective Energy: Where Feminist Love Studies Meets Feminist Affect Theory Margaret E. Toye Chapter 6 From Murderous Love to Worldly Love? Affect Theory, Violence against Women, and the Materiality of Love Kathleen B. Jones Part 3. TOGETHERNESS AND ITS FORMS Chapter 7 Feminist Visions and Socio-Political Meanings of Non-Monogamous Love Justyna Szachowicz Sempruch Chapter 8 The Invisible Ties We Share: A Relational Analysis of the Contemporary Loving Couple Adriana Garca-Andrade and Olga Sabido-Ramos Chapter 9 Silent Love: On Irigarays Suggestion of Cultivating Sexual Difference Silvia Stoller Chapter 10 Love, Feminism, and Dialectics: Repairing Splits in Theory and Practice Lena Gunnarsson Notes on Contributors Index