Signifying Woman: Culture and Chaos in Rousseau, Burke, and Mill (Contestations)

Woman has been defined in classic political theory as elusive yet dangerous, by her nature fundamentally destructive to public life. In the view of Linda M. G. Zerilli, however, gender relations shape the very grammar of citizenship. In deeply textured interpretations of Rousseau, Burke, and Mill, Zerilli recasts our understanding of woman as the agent of social chaos and makes a major advance for feminist political theory.

Linda M. G. Zerilli is Associate Professor of Political Science and Associate Director of the Walt Whitman Center for the Culture and Politics of Democracy at Rutgers University.