Theorizing Backlash: Philosophical Reflections on the Resistance to Feminism (Studies in Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0742513742 ISBN 13: 9780742513747

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2002

Synopsis

Contrary to the popular belief that feminism has gained a foothold in the many disciplines of the academy, the essays collected in Theorizing Backlash argue that feminism is still actively resisted in mainstream academia. Indeed, as feminist perspectives have been brought to bear on topics of traditional philosophical interest, many feminist thinkers have been confronted with scorn and marginilization. Contributors to this volume consider the professional, philosophical, and personal backlashes against feminist thought, and reflect upon their ramifications. The conclusion is that the disdain and irrational resentment of feminism, even in higher education, amounts to a backlash against progress.

About this title

About the Author:

Anita M. Superson is associate professor of philosophy at the University of Kentucky. Ann E. Cudd is professor of philosophy at the University of Kansas.

Review:

This collection of essays powerfully demonstrates that there is a backlash against feminism and feminist theory not only outside of the academy, but also within academic philosophy. These essays make it clear that women are held to a different professional standard than men within the university and that feminist philosophy is 'ghettoized' within the discipline. They force us to face the fact that the ideals of equality and respect for differences are still too often little more than rhetoric both within and outside the academy. (Kelly Oliver, SUNY, Stony Brook)

This anthology offers a fascinating insight into the state of academic philosophy in the contemporary United States. (Philosophy in Review)

Cudd and Superson's lively, if sadly still pertinent, anthology presents essays informed by differing analyses put to work on the authors' own as well as others' experiences of the 'horrid details' of discrimination. The authors are clearly committed to helping their colleagues, and many others, transmute personal experiences into critique, thence effective action. (APA Newsletter on Feminism and Philosophy)

Theorizing Backlash ... should be read mainly by men in philosophy, from graduate school through department chairs, and by college and university administrators as well. (Ethics: An International Journal of Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy)

Theorizing Backlash provides a critical and long overdue examination of the ways in which sexism―together with other forms of oppression―is perpetuated in the discipline of philosophy, and signals the need for widespread change. Reading this book is an excellent place to begin. (Sally Haslanger, Ford Professor of Philosophy and Women's and Gender Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

About this edition

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0742513742
• ISBN 13: 9780742513747
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 296
• Editor: Ann E. Cudd, Anita M. Superson