Feminist Contentions: A Philosophical Exchange

by Seyla Benhabib, Judith Butler, Drucilla Cornell, Nancy Fraser

Thinking Gender (1995)

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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. The topics focus anything the writer feels strongly about.

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Interesting structure where four theorists give papers on the overlap between feminism and postmodernism, then respond to one another through criticism and adaptation of theories. Some excellent presentation on the difficulties of retaining a 'female' perspective in a society where identity is individualistic; competing opinions from psychology (Cornell) to philosophy (Butler) to social theory (Benhabib) that come together in the chapters of criticism. Difficult to read (some jargon, and some heavy theory) but worth the time.

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35+ Works 1,142 Members
Seyla Benhabib is the Eugene Meyer Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at Yale University Her many books have been translated into more than fourteen languages, and include Dignity in Adversity. The Rights of Others, and The Claims of Culture (Princeton).
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56+ Works 10,833 Members
Judith Butler was born in 1956. She is nationally known for her writings on gender and sexuality. She argues that men and women are not dissimilar and that the notion they are is cultural not biological in books such as Bodies That Matter: On The Discursive Limits Of "Sex" (1993), Excitable Speech: Contemporary Scenes Of Politics (1996), and The show more Psychic Life Of Power: Theories In Subjection (1997). In Gender Trouble (1990), the title a play on John Waters' camp classic Female Trouble (1975), Butler claims that both gender and drag are a kind of imitation for which there is no original. A professor of philosophy at University of California at Berkeley, Butler attended Yale, receiving a B.A. in 1978 and a Ph.D. in philosophy in 1984. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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24+ Works 670 Members
Drucilla Cornell is National Research Foundation Professor in Customary Law, Indigenous Ideals and the Dignity Jurisprudence at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and Professor of Political Science, Women's Studies, and Comparative Literature at Rutgers University. The most recent of her many books are Between Women and Generations: show more Legacies of Dignity, Defending Ideals: War, Democracy, and Political Struggles, and Moral Images of Freedom: A Future for Critical Theory. show less
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28+ Works 1,678 Members
Nancy Fraser is Henry A. and Louise Loeb Professor of Philosophy and Politics at the New School for Social Research and the author of Adding Insult to Injury: Debating Redistribution, Recognition, and Representation; Redistribution or Recognition? A Political-Philosophical Exchange (with Axel Honneth); Justice Interruptus: Critical Reflections on show more the Postsocialist Condition; and Unruly Practices: Power, Discourse, and Gender in Contemporary Social Theory. show less

Some Editions

Nicholson, Linda (Introduction)

Series

Common Knowledge

Canonical title
Feminist Contentions: A Philosophical Exchange
Original title
Der Streit um Differenz
Original publication date
1993 (German original) (German original); 1995 (English translation) (English translation)
Disambiguation notice
Full title (1995): Feminist contentions : a philosophical exchange / Seyla Benhabib ... [et al.] ; introduction by Linda Nicholson; originally published ... (show all)in German in 1993 as: Der Streit um Differenz

Classifications

Genres
Nonfiction, Sexuality and Gender Studies, Philosophy, General Nonfiction
DDC/MDS
305.4201Society, government, & cultureSocial sciences, sociology & anthropologySocial group - Age, Gender, EthnicityWomenSocial role and status of womenStandard subdivisions
LCC
HQ1190 .S7813Social sciencesThe family. Marriage, Women and SexualityThe Family. Marriage. WomenWomen. Feminism
BISAC

Statistics

Members
140
Popularity
234,264
Reviews
1
Rating
½ (3.63)
Languages
English, Estonian, German, Portuguese (Portugal)
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
8
ASINs
1