Feminist Criticism and Social Change (RLE Feminist Theory)

Feminist Criticism and Social Change (RLE Feminist Theory) PDF Author: Deborah Rosenfelt
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136204504
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 291

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Book Description
This lively and controversial collection of essays sets out to theorize and practice a ‘materialist-feminist’ criticism of literature and culture. Such a criticism is based on the view that the material conditions in which men and women live are central to an understanding of culture and society. It emphasises the relation of gender to other categories of analysis, such as class and race, and considers the connection between ideology and cultural practice, and the ways in which all relations of power change with changing social and economic conditions. By presenting a wide range of work by major feminist scholars, this anthology in effect defines as well as illustrates the materialist-feminist tendency in current literary criticism. The essays in the first part of the book examine race, ideology, and the literary canon and explore the ways in which other critical discourse, such as those of deconstruction and French feminism, might be useful to a feminist and materialist criticism. The second part of the book contains examples of such criticism in practice, with studies of individual works, writers and ideas. An introduction by the editors situates the collected essays in relation both to one another and to a shared materialist/feminist project. Feminist Criticism and Social Change demonstrates the important contribution of materialist-feminist criticism to our understanding of literature and society, and fulfils a crucial need among those concerned with gender and its relation to criticism.

Feminist Criticism and Social Change (RLE Feminist Theory)

Feminist Criticism and Social Change (RLE Feminist Theory) PDF Author: Deborah Rosenfelt
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136204504
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 291

Get Book Here

Book Description
This lively and controversial collection of essays sets out to theorize and practice a ‘materialist-feminist’ criticism of literature and culture. Such a criticism is based on the view that the material conditions in which men and women live are central to an understanding of culture and society. It emphasises the relation of gender to other categories of analysis, such as class and race, and considers the connection between ideology and cultural practice, and the ways in which all relations of power change with changing social and economic conditions. By presenting a wide range of work by major feminist scholars, this anthology in effect defines as well as illustrates the materialist-feminist tendency in current literary criticism. The essays in the first part of the book examine race, ideology, and the literary canon and explore the ways in which other critical discourse, such as those of deconstruction and French feminism, might be useful to a feminist and materialist criticism. The second part of the book contains examples of such criticism in practice, with studies of individual works, writers and ideas. An introduction by the editors situates the collected essays in relation both to one another and to a shared materialist/feminist project. Feminist Criticism and Social Change demonstrates the important contribution of materialist-feminist criticism to our understanding of literature and society, and fulfils a crucial need among those concerned with gender and its relation to criticism.

The Oppositional Imagination

The Oppositional Imagination PDF Author: Joan Cocks
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0415635209
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
The Oppositional Imagination draws together elements from Marxism, analytical philosophy, post-structuralism, and post-colonial criticism to analyse the elusive interplay of culture and power. It focuses its attention on cultural domination, opposition and evasion in the realm of sex and gender. Joan Cocks reflects on questions crucial to both political theorists and feminists: the relationship between political theory and practical life; the possibility of bringing together a philosophical and a literary language to comprehend and evoke concrete experience; and the reconciliation of radical political commitment with an appreciation of shades of grey in the social world. She explores the variety of ways in which power and eroticism intersect; the liberating and tyrannical impulses of marginal cultures; and the place of the loyalist, the eccentric, the critic, the traitor, and the rebel in the sexual struggle. The Oppositional Imagination reaffirms the centrality of political theory and feminist practice while at the same time challenging certain of their key principles in thought-provoking ways.

The Feminist Difference

The Feminist Difference PDF Author: Barbara Johnson
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674001916
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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Book Description
Employing surprising juxtapositions, THE FEMINIST DIFFERENCE looks at fiction by black writers from a feminist/psychoanalytic perspective, at poetry, and at feminism and law. The author presents an unfailingly close reading of moments at which feminism seems to founder in its own contradictions--and moments that reemerge as sources of a revitalized critical awareness. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Feminist Knowledge (RLE Feminist Theory)

Feminist Knowledge (RLE Feminist Theory) PDF Author: Sneja Gunew
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136204423
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 370

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Book Description
The ‘minority’ feminist viewpoints have often been submerged in the interests of maintaining a mainstream, universal model of feminism. This anthology takes into account the various differences among women while looking at the important areas of feminist struggle. While sisterhood is indeed global, it certainly does not mean that all women are required to submerge their specific differences and assimilate to a universal model. Consequently, the collection includes essays by leaders in the field of post-structuralist enquiry as well as by those immersed in the new spirituality, and the social consequences of recent biological research. Other essays reflect the political struggles which continue to be waged with different strategies by socialist and radical feminists, and the self-searching analyses undertaken by feminists uneasy about their inclusion within educational institutions and the radical new interpretations of sexuality within the cultural domain. The collection begins with a critique of white mainstream feminism emanating from Aboriginal women in Australia. The implications of the critique indicate that there is a pervasive racism within the feminist movement.

Between Men and Feminism (RLE Feminist Theory)

Between Men and Feminism (RLE Feminist Theory) PDF Author: David Porter
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136204571
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
Between Men and Feminism had its origins in a lively colloquium at St John’s College, Cambridge in 1990. It discusses how two decades of feminism have affected the ways men define their own masculinities, and how they have responded in their own social, sexual and political lives to the challenges posed by the evolving feminist critiques of patriarchy and maleness itself. The collection contains a great diversity of approaches from Britain and North America. It includes viewpoints from academics, a poet, an educational researcher and the members of an active men’s group. Gay issues feature prominently, as do psychoanalytical views, and a number of the pieces provide a refreshingly personal and practical outlook. Between Men and Feminism shows men finding their own way within the spaces feminism has opened to them, rediscovering their own gendered voices and participating in the transformation of controllong ideologies in their daily lives. These very readable accounts will appeal not only to students in the social sciences and gender studies, but to all men who find themselves responding to the feminist challenge.

Coming to Terms

Coming to Terms PDF Author: Elizabeth Weed
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0415635217
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
For over a decade, feminist studies have occupied an extraordinary position in the United States. On the one hand, they have contributed to the development of a strong 'identity' politics; on the other, they have been part of the post-structuralist critique of the unified subject - its experience, truth and presence - and of the massive challenge to Western metaphysics and humanism. Along with race and ethnic studies, feminist enquiry has moved beyond the fiction of a unitary feminism to address the differences within the study of difference. The essays in this volume all address feminism's relationships to theory and politics at the level of the criticism and production of knowledge. Readers and students of politics, history, literature, philosophy, sociology and the sciences - anyone with a stake in theory and politics - will benefit from this powerful book.

At the Boundaries of Law (RLE Feminist Theory)

At the Boundaries of Law (RLE Feminist Theory) PDF Author: Martha Albertson Fineman
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136204776
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 394

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Book Description
Feminists have recently begun to challenge the powerful influence of the law on the social and cultural construction of women’s roles, identities, and rights. At the Boundaries of Law is a timely and path-breaking work that provides a series of non-technical, interdisciplinary explorations into the nature and effects of legal regulation on women’s lives. Together the essays examine the fertile – and radically revisionary – links between feminism and legal theory. But At the Boundaries of Law rejects the abstract ‘grand theorizing’ of traditional feminist legal theory, focusing instead on the concrete and material implications of the legal injustices endured by women. These essays emphasise the complex diversity of female experience, collectively arguing for legal theory and practice that both recognises and accommodates the concept of ‘difference’ – in gender, class, race and sexual orientation. At the Boundaries of Law also raises provocative questions about the methodology and future of feminist legal theory itself. In its rich variety of issues and approaches, this volume will command the interest not only of legal theorists, but of those interested in women’s studies, philosophy, politics, sociology and history. It is sure to set the future agenda for scholars, policymakers and anyone concerned with the role of law in society.

Contemporary Western European Feminism (RLE Feminist Theory)

Contemporary Western European Feminism (RLE Feminist Theory) PDF Author: Gisela Kaplan
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136195033
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 366

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Book Description
Contemporary Western European Feminism is a ground-breaking history of feminism. Gisela Kaplan invites a critical analysis of current ideas, terms and assumptions about our modern world. Written confidently and with compassion, this is the story of a long revolution that has set out to change predominant attitudes and transform value hierarchies and human lifestyles. By outlining the postwar histories of individual countries Kaplan contextualises women’s movements and documents a significant chapter of European social history. She poses questions about the interrelationship between the new movements and the parliamentary democracies in which they occurred, while analysing the contradictions of living in modern capitalist countries. Contemporary Western European Feminism also tackles important contradictions, such as those between the welfare state and the free market economy; industrialisation and religious value systems; social engineering and the production of wealth; and dissent and patrimonial systems of democracy. For those wanting to know more about Europe without the intimidating barriers of language and for those already experts in its social history, Contemporary Western European Feminism is essential reading.

Men in Feminism (RLE Feminist Theory)

Men in Feminism (RLE Feminist Theory) PDF Author: Alice Jardine
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136204075
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
What are men doing in feminist discourse? Although many feminists have commented on the relation, actual or possible, of men to feminist thinking and practice, and although some male academics have written about feminism, there has so far been little shared discussion. Men in Feminism is the first substantial attempt to produce a dialogue between feminists and their male allies. This lively book, comprised of essays by both men and women, is a controversial sally in the current debate over the future of feminist theory. Its focus is one seemingly direct and yet surprisingly prickly question: the actual and potential relationship of men to the now impressive and widely recognized body of feminist writing. Each essay attempts to assess the benefits or damage of male participation in feminism; several of the contributions stand in direct dialogue with others. The editors present, mediate and reflect upon the agreements and arguments in the book, as well as between themselves as editors. Their dialogue-afterword draws together the questions at the heart of the volume. Offering few comfortable answers, Men in Feminism will open up discussion of this theoretical and thoroughly political issue.

Materialist Feminism and the Politics of Discourse (RLE Feminist Theory)

Materialist Feminism and the Politics of Discourse (RLE Feminist Theory) PDF Author: Rosemary Hennessy
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136201378
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
Materialist Feminism and the Politics of Discourse confronts the impasses in materialist feminist work on rethinking ‘woman’ as a discursively constructed subject. The book looks at the problem of examining critically the social dimensions on which theories of discourse are premised: how such theories understand ‘materiality’; the relation between ‘women’s experience’ and feminist politics, and that between history and discourse. Rosemary Hennessy considers the work of Kristeva, Foucault, Laclau and Mouffe, and argues for a materialist feminist re-articulation of discourse as ideology. Concerns over identity and difference are incorporated into a rewriting of materialist feminism's analysis of women's oppression across capitalist and patriarchal structures. In adapting postmodernist theories in this way, Hennessy develops a project of social change, where feminism, while maintaining its specificity, is necessarily aligned with other emancipatory movements.