In The Past Decade The Central Principles Of Western Feminist Theory Have Been Dramatically Challenged. Many Feminists Have Endorsed Post-structuralism's Rejection Of Essentialist Theoretical Categories, And Have Added A Powerful Gender Dimension To Contemporary Critiques Of Modernity. Earlier Concepts Of Gender, The Body, Equality, And Women Have Been Radically Undermined, And Newer Concerns With Difference, Identity, And Power Have Emerged. Destabilizing Theory Explores These Developments In A Set Of Specially Commissioned Essays By Feminist Theorists. Does This Change Amount To A Real Shift Within Feminist Theory, Or Will Feminism's Links With An Emancipatory Modernism Reinstate An Older Political Agenda? Can We Transcend The Common Counterposition Of Equality And Difference, Or Is Feminism Condemned To Argue Within The Terms Of This Binary Opposition? Contributors Include Griselda Pollock, Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Rosemary Pringle And Sophie Watson, Moira Gatens, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Sylvia Walby, And Biddy Martin As Well As The Two Editors. The Essays Deal With Subject Matter As Wide-ranging As The State, Experience, Art, Lesbianism, And The Politics Of Translation, And Engage With Major Debates In Philosophy, Political Theory, And Sociology.

Destabalizaing Theory - Contemporary Feminist Debates

edited by Michèle Barrett and Anne Phillips

Barrett, Michèle, 1949-; Phillips, Anne

Wiley-Blackwell (an imprint of John Wiley & Sons Ltd)

Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Blackwell Publishers

Cambridge: Polity

Ploity Press

United Kingdom and Ireland, United Kingdom

Reprinted, Cambridge, 1998

Oxford, UK, 1992

US, 1992

Includes bibliographical references and index

ix, 224 pages : 23 cm
In the past decade the central principles of western feminist theory have been dramatically challenged. Many feminists have endorsed post-structuralism's rejection of essentialist theoretical categories, and have added a powerful gender dimension to contemporary critiques of modernity. Earlier 'women' have been radically undermined, and newer concerns with 'difference', 'identity', and 'power' have emerged. Destabilizing theory explores these developments in a set of specially commissioned essays by feminist theorists. Does this change amount to a real shift within feminist theory, or will feminism's links with an emancipatory modernism reinstate an older political agenda? Can we transcend the common counterposition of equality and difference, or is feminism condemned to argue within the terms of this binary opposition?
Includes index
Preface and acknowledgements -- 1. Introduction / Michèle Barrett and Anne Phillips -- 2. Universal pretensions in political thought / Anne Phillips -- 3. Post-post-modernism? theorizing social complexity / Sylvia Walby -- 4. 'Women's interests' and the post-structuralist state / Rosemary Pringle and Sophie Watson -- 5. Feminist encounters: locating the politics of experience / Chandra Talpade Mohanty -- 6. Sexual practice and changing lesbian identities / Biddy Martin -- 7. Power, bodies and difference / Moira Gatens -- 8. Painting, feminism, history / Griselda Pollock -- 9. The politics of translation / Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak -- 10. Words and things: materialism and method in contemporary feminist analysis / Michèle Barrett -- Index
Includes index

Introduction / Michèle Barrett And Anne Phillips -- Universal Pretensions In Political Thought / Anne Phillips -- Post-post Modernism? / Sylvia Walby -- Women's Interests And The Post-structuralist State / Rosemary Pringle And Sophie Watson -- Feminist Encounters / Chandra Talpade Mohanty -- Sexual Practice And Changing Lesbian Identities / Biddy Martin -- Power, Bodies And Difference / Moira Gatens -- Painting, Feminism, History / Griselda Pollock -- The Politics Of Translation / Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak -- Words And Things / Michèle Barrett. Edited By Michèle Barrett And Anne Phillips. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.

This major new book is the most up--to--date account of current feminist debates, written by some of the worlda s leading feminist thinkers. The 1980s saw a devastating critique of the simple unities of woman or womana s experience as a theoretical basis for feminist politics.

viii 224p large paperback, highlighting to about 2 dozen pages

2023-06-28