Reconstructing Political Theory: Feminist Perspectives - Hardcover

9780271017242: Reconstructing Political Theory: Feminist Perspectives

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0271017244 ISBN 13: 9780271017242

Publisher: Penn State University Press, 1997

In this volume, a companion to Feminist Interpretations and Political Theory (Penn State, 1991) edited by Mary Lyndon Shanley and Carole Pateman, leading feminist theorists rethink the traditional concepts of political theory and expand the range of problems and concerns regarded as central to the analysis of political life. Written by well-known scholars in philosophy, political science, sociology, and law, the book provides a rich interdisciplinary account of key issues in political thought.

While some of the chapters discuss traditional concepts such as rights, power, freedom, and citizenship, others argue that topics less frequently discussed in political theory—such as the family, childhood, dependency, compassion and suffering—are just as significant for an understanding of political life. The Introduction shows how such diverse topics can be linked together and how feminist political theory can be elaborated systematically if it takes notions of independence and dependency, public and private, and power and empowerment as central to its agenda.

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From the Back Cover:

In this volume leading feminist theorists re-think the traditional concepts of political theory and expand the range of problems and concerns regarded as central to the analysis of political life. Written by well-known scholars in philosophy, political science, sociology and law, the book provides a rich interdisciplinary account of key issues in political thought.

While some chapters discuss traditional concepts such as rights, power, freedom and citizenship, others argue that less frequently discussed topics in political theory - such as the family, childhood, dependency, compassion and suffering - are just as significant for an understanding of political life. The opening chapter by Narayan and Shanley shows how this diverse set of topics can be linked together and how feminist theory can be elaborated systematically if it takes notions of independence and dependency, public and private, and power and empowerment as central to its agenda.

This book will be of interest to a wide audience concerned with the study of gender, and to all those in political science, philosophy, legal studies and women's studies who are interested in the way in which political theory and practice can be fruitfully reconceived with the help of feminist perspectives.

About the Author:

Uma Narayan is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Mary Lyndon Shanley is Professor of Political Science, both at Vassar College.

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