Thinking Gender – serie

In this anthology, prominent contemporary theorists assess the benefits and dangers of postmodernism for feminist theory. The contributors examine the meaning of postmodernism both as a methodological position and a diagnosis of the times. They consider such issues as the nature of personal and social identity today, the political implications of recent aesthetic trends, and the consequences of changing work and family relations on women's lives. Contributors: Seyla Benhabib, Susan Bordo, Judith Butler, Christine Di Stefano, Jane Flax, Nancy Fraser, Donna Haraway, Sandra Harding, Nancy Hartsock, Andreas Huyssen, Linda J. Nicholson, Elspeth Probyn, Anna Yeatman, Iris Young.

Bartky draws on the experience of daily life to unmask the many disguises by which intimations of inferiority are visited upon women. She critiques both the male bias of current theory and the debilitating dominion held by notions of "proper femininity" over women and their bodies in patriarchal culture.

In this book, the author attempts to integrate previous work on Foucault with feminist theory. She expands discussion of feminism and sexual liberation, charts the impact of Foucault on humanistic studies, and picks up an aspect of the mothering theme, the question of new reproductive technologies.

A challenging reassessment of the concepts and institutions of modern liberal democracy in the light of postmodern theory and the politics of difference.

A trenchant critique of sexuality in an age of discipline, where bodies and pleasures have become sites of regulatory power.

This is the first collection by influential feminist theorists to focus on the heart of traditional epistemology, dealing with such issues as the nature of knowledge and objectivity from a gender perspective.

Diana Tietjens Meyers examines the political underpinnings of psychoanalytic feminism, analyzing the relation between the nature of the self and the structure of good societies. She argues that impartial reason--the approach to moral reflection which has dominated 20th-century Anglo-American philosophy--is inadequate for addressing real world injustices. Subjection and Subjectivity is central to feminist thought across a wide range of disciplines.

Diana Tietjens Meyers examines the political underpinnings of psychoanalytic feminism, analyzing the relation between the nature of the self and the structure of good societies. She argues that impartial reason--the approach to moral reflection which has dominated 20th-century Anglo-American philosophy--is inadequate for addressing real world injustices. Subjection and Subjectivity is central to feminist thought across a wide range of disciplines.

Sharge explores the moral pemises of feminist sexual politics, focusing in particular on the emotive issues of abortion, prostitution and adultery, in order to develop an interpretative and pluralist approach to feminist ethics.

Published in 1982, Carol Gilligan's In a Different Voice proposed a new model of moral reasoning based on care, arguing that it better described the moral life of women. An Ethic of Care is the first volume to bring together key contributions to the extensive debate engaging Gilligan's work. It provides the highlights of the often impassioned discussion of the ethic of care, drawing on the literature of the wide range of disciplines that have entered into the debate.Contributors: Annette Baier, Diana Baumrind, Lawrence A. Blum, Mary Brabeck, John Broughton, Owen Flanagan, Marilyn Friedman, Carol Gilligan, Catherine G. Greeno, Catherine Jackson, Linda K. Kerber, Mary Jeanne Larrabee, Zella Luria, Eleanor E. Maccoby, Linda Nicholson, Bill Puka, Carol B. Stack, Joan C. Tronto, Lawrence Walker, Gertrud Nunner-Winkler.

Provides the first broad introduction to feminist work in classical studies. Including lesbian theory, black feminist theory, American and French feminist theory, classics will never be the same again.

Allison Weir sets forth a concept of identity which depends on an acceptance of nonidentity, difference, and connection to others, defined as a capacity to participate in a social world. Weir argues that the equation of identity with repression and domination links "relational feminists" like Nancy Chodorow, who equate self-identity with the repression of connection to others, and poststructuralist feminists like Judith Butler, who view any identity as a repression of nonidentity or difference. Weir traces this conception of identity as domination back to Simone de Beauvoir's theories of the relation of self and other.

An adequate analysis of experiences and situations specific to women, especially mothering, requires consideration of women's difference. A focus on women's difference, however, jeopardizes feminism's claims of women's equal individualist subjectivity, and risks recuperating the inequality and oppression of women, especially the view that all women should be mothers, want to be mothers, and are most happy being mothers. This book considers how thinkers including Simone de Beauvoir, Julia Kristeva, Nancy Choderow and Adrienne Rich struggle to negotiate this dilemma of difference in analyzing mothering, encompassing the paradoxes concerning embodiment, gender and representation they encounter. Patrice Di Quinzio shows that mothering has been and will continue to be an intractable problem for feminist theory itself, and suggests the political usefulness of an explicitly paradoxical politics of mothering.

An adequate analysis of experiences and situations specific to women, especially mothering, requires consideration of women's difference. A focus on women's difference, however, jeopardizes feminism's claims of women's equal individualist subjectivity, and risks recuperating the inequality and oppression of women, especially the view that all women should be mothers, want to be mothers, and are most happy being mothers. This book considers how thinkers including Simone de Beauvoir, Julia Kristeva, Nancy Choderow and Adrienne Rich struggle to negotiate this dilemma of difference in analyzing mothering, encompassing the paradoxes concerning embodiment, gender and representation they encounter. Patrice Di Quinzio shows that mothering has been and will continue to be an intractable problem for feminist theory itself, and suggests the political usefulness of an explicitly paradoxical politics of mothering.

First published in 1995. This volume presents a debate between four of the top feminist theorists in the United States. Seyla Benhabib, Judith Butler, Drucilla Cornell and Nancy Fraser discuss some of the key questions facing feminist theory. Each articulates her own position in an initial essay, then responds to the others in a follow-up essay, making possible a conversation between these influential feminist thinkers. Begun as a symposium on the issue of feminism and postmodernism, the volume evolved into a discussion of broader issues such as the usefulness of postmodernism as a theoretical concept; the role of philosophy in social criticism; how historical narrative is best conceptualized; the status of the subject of feminism; and the political effects of different formulations of all these issues. Unlike many collections which assume a given topic and ask various thinkers to respond to it, this format enables the contributors themselves to articulate their own views on the key questions facing feminist theory and distinguish their views from others.

Feminist Geneaologies, Colonial Legacies, DemocraticFutures provides a feminist anaylsis of the questions of sexual and gender politics, economic and cultural marginality, and anti-racist and anti-colonial practices both in the "West" and in the "Third World." This collection, edited by Jacqui Alexander and Chandra Talpade Mohanty, charts the underlying theoretical perspectives and organization practices of the different varieties of feminism that take on questions of colonialism, imperialism, and the repressive rule of colonial, post-colonial and advanced capitalist nation-states. It provides a comparative, relational, historically grounded conception of feminist praxis that differs markedly from the liberal pluralist, multicultural understanding that sheapes some of the dominant version of Euro-American feminism. As a whole, the collection poses a unique challenge to the naturalization of gender based in the experiences, histories and practices of Euro-American women.

A ground-breaking volume of all new essays covering the conjunction of two topics--feminism and families--that, for all their centrality in our culture, have not been adequately examined in light of one another. While the family has suffered feminist neglect, most women are in fact members of families, living their lives within the social context of families, even at a time when the concept of "family" has become bewilderingly unstable. The intersection of families and feminism is thus one in need of philosophical reflection, as a basis both for good public policy and for the ethical relationships of intimate life.

With technological advances in reproduction no longer confined to the laboratory or involving only the isolated individual, women and men are increasingly resorting to a variety of technologies unheard of a few decades ago to assist them in becoming parents. The public at large, and feminists as a group, are confused and divided over how to view these technologies and over what positions to take on the moral and legal dilemmas they give rise to. Farquhar argues that two perspectives have tended to dominate feminist discussions of these issues. She labels these: "fundamental feminism" and "market liberalism." By linking a theoterical approach with a practical set of issues, Farquhar's The Other Machine provides a rigorous analysis of contemporary feminist debates.

The last five years have witnessed the birth of a vibrant new group of young scholars who are writing about queer law, politics, and policy--topics which are no longer treated as of interest only to lesbians and gay men, but which now garner the attention of political theorists of all stripes. Playing With Fire--the first scholarly collection on queer politics by US political theorists--opens the intersection of lesbian and gay studies and political theory to a wide audience. It covers a wide range of issues, including: the theory of queer identities; the contrasts among ethnic, racial, and sexual identities; the debate between liberals and communitarians; the right to privacy; and the meaning of equal citizenship.

The last five years have witnessed the birth of a vibrant new group of young scholars who are writing about queer law, politics, and policy--topics which are no longer treated as of interest only to lesbians and gay men, but which now garner the attention of political theorists of all stripes. Playing With Fire--the first scholarly collection on queer politics by US political theorists--opens the intersection of lesbian and gay studies and political theory to a wide audience. It covers a wide range of issues, including: the theory of queer identities; the contrasts among ethnic, racial, and sexual identities; the debate between liberals and communitarians; the right to privacy; and the meaning of equal citizenship.

Dislocating Cultures takes aim at the related notions of nation, identity, and tradition to show how Western and Third World scholars have misrepresented Third World cultures and feminist agendas. Drawing attention to the political forces that have spawned, shaped, and perpetuated these misrepresentations since colonial times, Uma Narayan inspects the underlying problems which "culture" poses for the respect of difference and cross-cultural understanding.Questioning the problematic roles assigned to Third World subjects within multiculturalism, Narayan examines ways in which the flow of information across national contexts affects our understanding of issues. Dislocating Cultures contributes a philosophical perspective on areas of ongoing interest such as nationalism, post-colonial studies, and the cultural politics of debates over tradition and "westernization" in Third World contexts.

Dislocating Cultures takes aim at the related notions of nation, identity, and tradition to show how Western and Third World scholars have misrepresented Third World cultures and feminist agendas. Drawing attention to the political forces that have spawned, shaped, and perpetuated these misrepresentations since colonial times, Uma Narayan inspects the underlying problems which "culture" poses for the respect of difference and cross-cultural understanding.Questioning the problematic roles assigned to Third World subjects within multiculturalism, Narayan examines ways in which the flow of information across national contexts affects our understanding of issues. Dislocating Cultures contributes a philosophical perspective on areas of ongoing interest such as nationalism, post-colonial studies, and the cultural politics of debates over tradition and "westernization" in Third World contexts.

This collection challenges the traditional divide between the investigation of ethics is a private concern and politics as a public, group concern.

Race/Sex is the first forum for combined discussion of racial theory and gender theory. In sixteen articles, avant-garde scholars of African American philosophy and liberatory criticism explore and explode the categories of race, sex and gender into new trajectories that include sexuality, black masculinity and mixed-race identity.

The relation between feminism and men is often presumed to be antagonistic, so that men are expected to resist feminism, and feminists are assumed to hate men. That pattern of opposition is disrupted, however, by the continually increasing numbers of men who are participating in feminist theory and practice, trying to integrate feminist perspectives into their scholarship, teaching, work, play, friendships, and romantic involvements. Responses to this male feminism have varied. Sometimes male feminists find some female feminists critical of men who oppose or decline to join feminist projects, but also rebuff the few men who do undertake feminist projects. On the other hand, some women feminists have unequivocally welcomed men as allies in political, business, religious, and academic contexts. The essays in Men Doing Feminism reveal that there is justification for both views, the skeptical and the enthusiastic, because feminist men are as diverse as feminist women.Many of the eighteen contributors to this book--women, men, blacks, whites, gays, straights, transsexuals--use personal narrative to show ways that men's lives can shape their approaches to doing feminism and to convey the opportunities and challenges involved in integrating feminism into a man's life. Some authors argue that men's experiences prepare them to make contributions that are of crucial importance to feminist theory. Others argue that men must radically reform, or even abandon manhood and masculinity if they are to be feminists.In Men Doing Feminism , feminist theory is used to illuminate men's lives, and men's lives serve as a basis for feminist theory.Contributors: Michael Awkward, Susan Bordo, Harry Brod, Tom Digby, Judith K. Gardiner, C. Jacob Hale, Sandra Harding, Patrick Hopkins, Joy James, David Kahane, Michael Kimmel, Gary Lemons, Larry May, Brian Pronger, Henry Rubin, Richard Schmitt, James P. Sterba, Laurence Mordekhai Thomas, and Thomas E. Wartenberg.

The relation between feminism and men is often presumed to be antagonistic, so that men are expected to resist feminism, and feminists are assumed to hate men. That pattern of opposition is disrupted, however, by the continually increasing numbers of men who are participating in feminist theory and practice, trying to integrate feminist perspectives into their scholarship, teaching, work, play, friendships, and romantic involvements. Responses to this male feminism have varied. Sometimes male feminists find some female feminists critical of men who oppose or decline to join feminist projects, but also rebuff the few men who do undertake feminist projects. On the other hand, some women feminists have unequivocally welcomed men as allies in political, business, religious, and academic contexts. The essays in Men Doing Feminism reveal that there is justification for both views, the skeptical and the enthusiastic, because feminist men are as diverse as feminist women.Many of the eighteen contributors to this book--women, men, blacks, whites, gays, straights, transsexuals--use personal narrative to show ways that men's lives can shape their approaches to doing feminism and to convey the opportunities and challenges involved in integrating feminism into a man's life. Some authors argue that men's experiences prepare them to make contributions that are of crucial importance to feminist theory. Others argue that men must radically reform, or even abandon manhood and masculinity if they are to be feminists.In Men Doing Feminism , feminist theory is used to illuminate men's lives, and men's lives serve as a basis for feminist theory.Contributors: Michael Awkward, Susan Bordo, Harry Brod, Tom Digby, Judith K. Gardiner, C. Jacob Hale, Sandra Harding, Patrick Hopkins, Joy James, David Kahane, Michael Kimmel, Gary Lemons, Larry May, Brian Pronger, Henry Rubin, Richard Schmitt, James P. Sterba, Laurence Mordekhai Thomas, and Thomas E. Wartenberg.

Weaving personal narrative with a synthesis of feminist mothering theory and psychoanalytic theories of narcissism, Isaac D. Balbus describes his effort to share in the care of his daughter during her first four years.

This is the first collection by influential feminist theorists to focus on the heart of traditional epistemology, dealing with such issues as the nature of knowledge and objectivity from a gender perspective.

Bartky draws on the experience of daily life to unmask the many disguises by which intimations of inferiority are visited upon women. She critiques both the male bias of current theory and the debilitating dominion held by notions of "proper femininity" over women and their bodies in patriarchal culture.