The Gender of Critical Theory

The Gender of Critical Theory PDF Author: Lois McNay
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192599569
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 284

Get Book

Book Description
Frankfurt School Critical Theory describes itself as an unmasking critique of power. However, it has surprisingly little to say about major structural oppressions, including gender. A distinctive feature of critique is that, in diagnosing what is wrong with the world, it ought to be guided by the experiences of oppressed groups. Yet, in practice, it tends to pay little heed to these experiences. The Gender of Critical Theory shows how these oversights and tensions stem from the preoccupation with normative foundations that has dominated Frankfurt School theory since Habermas and has given rise to a mode of paradigm-led inquiry that undermines an effective critique of oppression. The assumption of paradigm-led inquiry that too strong a focus on lived experience has parochializing effects on theory stands in tension with its other tenet that emancipatory critique ought to be primarily concerned with the situation of oppressed groups. To alleviate this tension, this book offers a reconfigured account of context-transcendence as the critical insight afforded not by a monist interpretative paradigm but by reasoning dialogically across experiential and theoretical perspectives. By bringing feminist work on gender to bear on Frankfurt School critical theory, it argues that, far from stymying emancipatory critique, attentiveness to the experiences of oppressed groups is one of its enabling conditions. Lived experience can reveal dimensions to oppression that are not necessarily visible from the external vantage point of the theorist. The ways in which vulnerable groups respond to their circumstances may also make an invaluable contribution to the development of models of transformative social practice. Combining feminist ideas with inherent but underutilised resources in the Frankfurt School tradition, this book proposes the idea of critique as theorising from experience.

The Gender of Critical Theory

The Gender of Critical Theory PDF Author: Lois McNay
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192599569
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 284

Get Book

Book Description
Frankfurt School Critical Theory describes itself as an unmasking critique of power. However, it has surprisingly little to say about major structural oppressions, including gender. A distinctive feature of critique is that, in diagnosing what is wrong with the world, it ought to be guided by the experiences of oppressed groups. Yet, in practice, it tends to pay little heed to these experiences. The Gender of Critical Theory shows how these oversights and tensions stem from the preoccupation with normative foundations that has dominated Frankfurt School theory since Habermas and has given rise to a mode of paradigm-led inquiry that undermines an effective critique of oppression. The assumption of paradigm-led inquiry that too strong a focus on lived experience has parochializing effects on theory stands in tension with its other tenet that emancipatory critique ought to be primarily concerned with the situation of oppressed groups. To alleviate this tension, this book offers a reconfigured account of context-transcendence as the critical insight afforded not by a monist interpretative paradigm but by reasoning dialogically across experiential and theoretical perspectives. By bringing feminist work on gender to bear on Frankfurt School critical theory, it argues that, far from stymying emancipatory critique, attentiveness to the experiences of oppressed groups is one of its enabling conditions. Lived experience can reveal dimensions to oppression that are not necessarily visible from the external vantage point of the theorist. The ways in which vulnerable groups respond to their circumstances may also make an invaluable contribution to the development of models of transformative social practice. Combining feminist ideas with inherent but underutilised resources in the Frankfurt School tradition, this book proposes the idea of critique as theorising from experience.

Gender and Sexuality

Gender and Sexuality PDF Author: Chris Beasley
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 9780761969792
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 312

Get Book

Book Description
About various theories of gender, sexuality, feminism and masculinity including queer theory, transgender theorizing, modernist liberationism and social constructionism.

Gender-Critical Feminism

Gender-Critical Feminism PDF Author: Holly Lawford-Smith
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198863888
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 312

Get Book

Book Description
Includes bibliographical references (pages 265-287) and index.

Gender

Gender PDF Author: Carol C. Gould
Publisher: Key Concepts in Critical Theor
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 510

Get Book

Book Description
Here is a comprehensive collection of the most important essays on gender in the last two decades. It presents lively, controversial and critical discussions concerning such themes as the social constitution of gender; the nature of sexual oppression; the relation of gender to family, class, race and culture; and feminist perspectives on science and philosophy. It also includes leading essays on questions of ethics and difference in the law, such as privacy, pornography and reproductive rights. It is an indispensable text for courses in feminist philosophy and theories of gender, as well as an important resource for scholars in philosophy and the social sciences.

Women, Ideology and Violence

Women, Ideology and Violence PDF Author: Cheryl Anderson
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 9780567082527
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 168

Get Book

Book Description
Cheryl Anderson examines the laws relating to women that are found in the Book of the Covenant and the Deuteronomic law. She argues that the laws can be divided into those that treat women similarly to men (defined as 'inclusive' laws) and those that treat women differently ('exclusive' laws). She then suggests that the exclusive laws, which construct gender as male dominance/female subordination, do not just describe violence against women but are inherently violent toward women. As a non-historical critique of ideology, critical theory is used to offer analytical insights that have significant implications for understanding gender constructions in both ancient and contemporary settings.

The Difference Within

The Difference Within PDF Author: Elizabeth A. Meese
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9781556190421
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 246

Get Book

Book Description
The essays in this volume represent the most recent thinking collected on the problematics of feminism and critical theory, engaging the question of the relationship between these terms and the differences within each in terms of the other. As a whole, this piece of an extended conversation within feminism suggests both the illusory comfort of generic demarcations and the discomforting power of the play of difference. The articles are theoretically wide-ranging and provocative, offering discussion of works by such authors as Nella Larsen, Frances Harper, William Faulkner, Toni Morrison, and Alice Walker.

Intersectionality as Critical Social Theory

Intersectionality as Critical Social Theory PDF Author: Patricia Hill Collins
Publisher: Duke University Press Books
ISBN: 9781478005421
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book

Book Description
In Intersectionality as Critical Social Theory Patricia Hill Collins offers a set of analytical tools for those wishing to develop intersectionality's capability to theorize social inequality in ways that would facilitate social change. While intersectionality helps shed light on contemporary social issues, Collins notes that it has yet to reach its full potential as a critical social theory. She contends that for intersectionality to fully realize its power, its practitioners must critically reflect on its assumptions, epistemologies, and methods. She places intersectionality in dialog with several theoretical traditions—from the Frankfurt school to black feminist thought—to sharpen its definition and foreground its singular critical purchase, thereby providing a capacious interrogation into intersectionality's potential to reshape the world.

Gender Reckonings

Gender Reckonings PDF Author: James W. Messerschmidt
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 1479837350
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 384

Get Book

Book Description
Vivid narratives, fresh insights, and new theories on where gender theory and research stand today Since scholars began interrogating the meaning of gender and sexuality in society, this field has become essential to the study of sociology. Gender Reckonings aims to map new directions for understanding gender and sexuality within a more pragmatic, dynamic, and socially relevant framework. It shows how gender relations must be understood on a large scale as well as in intimate detail. The contributors return to the basics, questioning how gender patterns change, how we can realize gender equality, and how the structures of gender impact daily life. Gender Reckonings covers not only foundational concepts of gender relations and gender justice, but also explores postcolonial patterns of gender, intersectionality, gender fluidity, transgender practices, neoliberalism, and queer theory. Gender Reckonings combines the insights of gender and sexuality scholars from different generations, fields, and world regions. The editors and contributors are leading social scientists from six continents, and the book gives vivid accounts of the changing politics of gender in different communities. Rich in empirical detail and novel thinking, Gender Reckonings is a lasting resource for students, researchers, activists, policymakers, and everyone concerned with gender justice.

The Sexual Politics of Meat (20th Anniversary Edition)

The Sexual Politics of Meat (20th Anniversary Edition) PDF Author: Carol J. Adams
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1441173285
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 353

Get Book

Book Description
>

Feminism and Power

Feminism and Power PDF Author: Mary Caputi
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 0739175807
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 220

Get Book

Book Description
Feminism and Power: the Need for Critical Theory is a six-chapter manuscript which offers an important critique of “power feminism.” The latter, having produced such spinoffs as “grrrl power,” “choice,” “babe,” “lipstick,” and “stiletto” feminisms, encourages women to be strong, self-sufficient, feisty, and independent. While I have no argument with much of that tough-minded ideal, I ask whether this “brave new girl” doesn’t too readily acquiesce in a neo-liberal ideology whose underlying tenets derive from American rugged individualism. At its worst, this strain within Third Wave feminism contains no critique of capitalism, no distance on neoliberal theory, no effort to address the injustices contained in globalization’s asymmetries and the industrialized North’s exploitation of developing countries. Feminism and Power: the Need for Critical Theory therefore argues that the critical theories of Theodor Adorno and Jacques Derrida have much to offer feminism, and a feminist understanding of female empowerment. Its pages rely on Adorno’s assertion that it is only by allowing the sufferer to speak that we can unveil social truth rather than be duped by the bravado of victory culture. Similarly, it demonstrates how Derrida’s insistence on the trace, as well as the asymmetries of friendship and hospitality, lead feminism away from the perils of contented triumphalism. The book promotes listening as a paradigmatic feminist gesture, rather than always speaking up and out.