Freedom, Feminism, and the State

Freedom, Feminism, and the State

Author: Wendy McElroy

Publisher:

Published: 1991

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 9780945999676

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Many feminists have believed that government is the natural ally of the women’s movement. However, this book demonstrates that the opposite is true: government has long been a major oppressor of women and their rights. Feminism is not a new political force; its origins can be traced back to the abolitionist movement before the Civil War. Fighting to end slavery, women became conscious of their own legal disabilities. From these anti-statist roots, the women's movement eventually divided over such issues as sex, the family, and war. McElroy's book traces individualist feminism from those early roots until the present day. Her research demonstrates that in vital issues from sex and birth control to business and science, government has been the real obstacle in preventing women from achieving personal freedom and equal rights. This book discusses such controversies as individualism and socialism in the feminist tradition, economic freedom and the role of women, and the contemporary differences between mainstream and individualist feminism. Through McElroy’s work and those of a distinguished group of contributors, this book issues a ringing call for women to recapture their individualist heritage.


Book Synopsis Freedom, Feminism, and the State by : Wendy McElroy

Download or read book Freedom, Feminism, and the State written by Wendy McElroy and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many feminists have believed that government is the natural ally of the women’s movement. However, this book demonstrates that the opposite is true: government has long been a major oppressor of women and their rights. Feminism is not a new political force; its origins can be traced back to the abolitionist movement before the Civil War. Fighting to end slavery, women became conscious of their own legal disabilities. From these anti-statist roots, the women's movement eventually divided over such issues as sex, the family, and war. McElroy's book traces individualist feminism from those early roots until the present day. Her research demonstrates that in vital issues from sex and birth control to business and science, government has been the real obstacle in preventing women from achieving personal freedom and equal rights. This book discusses such controversies as individualism and socialism in the feminist tradition, economic freedom and the role of women, and the contemporary differences between mainstream and individualist feminism. Through McElroy’s work and those of a distinguished group of contributors, this book issues a ringing call for women to recapture their individualist heritage.


Freedom Feminism

Freedom Feminism

Author: Christina Hoff Sommers

Publisher: A E I Press

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780844772622

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Women's equality is one of the great achievements of Western civilization. Yet most American women today do not consider themselves "feminists." Why is the term that describes one of the great chapters in the history of freedom in such disrepute? In Freedom Feminism: Its Surprising History and Why It Matters Today, Christina Hoff Sommers seeks to recover the lost history of American feminism by introducing readers to conservative feminism's forgotten heroines. More importantly, she demonstrates that a modern version of conservative feminism -- in which women are free to employ their equal status to pursue happiness in their own distinctive ways -- holds the key to a feminist renaissance. Freedom Feminism is a primer in the Values & Capitalism series intended for college students.


Book Synopsis Freedom Feminism by : Christina Hoff Sommers

Download or read book Freedom Feminism written by Christina Hoff Sommers and published by A E I Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Women's equality is one of the great achievements of Western civilization. Yet most American women today do not consider themselves "feminists." Why is the term that describes one of the great chapters in the history of freedom in such disrepute? In Freedom Feminism: Its Surprising History and Why It Matters Today, Christina Hoff Sommers seeks to recover the lost history of American feminism by introducing readers to conservative feminism's forgotten heroines. More importantly, she demonstrates that a modern version of conservative feminism -- in which women are free to employ their equal status to pursue happiness in their own distinctive ways -- holds the key to a feminist renaissance. Freedom Feminism is a primer in the Values & Capitalism series intended for college students.


At the Heart of Freedom

At the Heart of Freedom

Author: Drucilla Cornell

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 1998-09-14

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 1400822556

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How can women create a meaningful and joyous life for themselves? Is it enough to be equal with men? In this provocative and wide-ranging book, Drucilla Cornell argues that women should transcend the quest for equality and focus on what she shows is a far more radical project: achieving freedom. Cornell takes us on a highly original exploration of what it would mean for women politically, legally, and culturally, if we took this ideal of freedom seriously--if, in her words, we recognized that "hearts starve as well as bodies." She takes forceful and sometimes surprising stands on such subjects as abortion, prostitution, pornography, same-sex marriage, international human rights, and the rights and obligations of fathers. She also engages with what it means to be free on a theoretical level, drawing on the ideas of such thinkers as Kant, Rawls, Ronald Dworkin, Hegel, and Lacan. Cornell begins by discussing what she believes lies at the heart of freedom: the ability for all individuals to pursue happiness in their own way, especially in matters of love and sex. This is only possible, she argues, if we protect the "imaginary domain"--a psychic and moral space in which individuals can explore their own sources of happiness. She writes that equality with men does not offer such protection, in part because men themselves are not fully free. Instead, women must focus on ensuring that individuals face minimal interference from the state and from oppressive cultural norms. They must also respect some controversial individual choices. Cornell argues in favor of permitting same-sex couples to marry and adopt children, for example. She presses for access to abortion and for universal day care. She also justifies lifestyles that have not always been supported by other feminists, ranging from staying at home as a primary caregiver to engaging in prostitution. She argues that men should have similar freedoms--thus returning feminism to its promise that freedom for women would mean freedom for all. Challenging, passionate, and powerfully argued, Cornell's book will have a major impact on the course of feminist thought.


Book Synopsis At the Heart of Freedom by : Drucilla Cornell

Download or read book At the Heart of Freedom written by Drucilla Cornell and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 1998-09-14 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How can women create a meaningful and joyous life for themselves? Is it enough to be equal with men? In this provocative and wide-ranging book, Drucilla Cornell argues that women should transcend the quest for equality and focus on what she shows is a far more radical project: achieving freedom. Cornell takes us on a highly original exploration of what it would mean for women politically, legally, and culturally, if we took this ideal of freedom seriously--if, in her words, we recognized that "hearts starve as well as bodies." She takes forceful and sometimes surprising stands on such subjects as abortion, prostitution, pornography, same-sex marriage, international human rights, and the rights and obligations of fathers. She also engages with what it means to be free on a theoretical level, drawing on the ideas of such thinkers as Kant, Rawls, Ronald Dworkin, Hegel, and Lacan. Cornell begins by discussing what she believes lies at the heart of freedom: the ability for all individuals to pursue happiness in their own way, especially in matters of love and sex. This is only possible, she argues, if we protect the "imaginary domain"--a psychic and moral space in which individuals can explore their own sources of happiness. She writes that equality with men does not offer such protection, in part because men themselves are not fully free. Instead, women must focus on ensuring that individuals face minimal interference from the state and from oppressive cultural norms. They must also respect some controversial individual choices. Cornell argues in favor of permitting same-sex couples to marry and adopt children, for example. She presses for access to abortion and for universal day care. She also justifies lifestyles that have not always been supported by other feminists, ranging from staying at home as a primary caregiver to engaging in prostitution. She argues that men should have similar freedoms--thus returning feminism to its promise that freedom for women would mean freedom for all. Challenging, passionate, and powerfully argued, Cornell's book will have a major impact on the course of feminist thought.


Feminism and Freedom

Feminism and Freedom

Author: Michael E. Levin

Publisher: Transaction Publishers

Published: 1987-01-01

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 9781412823548

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Levin argues that feminists deny that innate sex differences have anything to do with the basic structure of society.


Book Synopsis Feminism and Freedom by : Michael E. Levin

Download or read book Feminism and Freedom written by Michael E. Levin and published by Transaction Publishers. This book was released on 1987-01-01 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Levin argues that feminists deny that innate sex differences have anything to do with the basic structure of society.


The Subject of Liberty

The Subject of Liberty

Author: Nancy J. Hirschmann

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2009-01-10

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 1400825369

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This book reconsiders the dominant Western understandings of freedom through the lens of women's real-life experiences of domestic violence, welfare, and Islamic veiling. Nancy Hirschmann argues that the typical approach to freedom found in political philosophy severely reduces the concept's complexity, which is more fully revealed by taking such practical issues into account. Hirschmann begins by arguing that the dominant Western understanding of freedom does not provide a conceptual vocabulary for accurately characterizing women's experiences. Often, free choice is assumed when women are in fact coerced--as when a battered woman who stays with her abuser out of fear or economic necessity is said to make this choice because it must not be so bad--and coercion is assumed when free choices are made--such as when Westerners assume that all veiled women are oppressed, even though many Islamic women view veiling as an important symbol of cultural identity. Understanding the contexts in which choices arise and are made is central to understanding that freedom is socially constructed through systems of power such as patriarchy, capitalism, and race privilege. Social norms, practices, and language set the conditions within which choices are made, determine what options are available, and shape our individual subjectivity, desires, and self-understandings. Attending to the ways in which contexts construct us as "subjects" of liberty, Hirschmann argues, provides a firmer empirical and theoretical footing for understanding what freedom means and entails politically, intellectually, and socially.


Book Synopsis The Subject of Liberty by : Nancy J. Hirschmann

Download or read book The Subject of Liberty written by Nancy J. Hirschmann and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2009-01-10 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book reconsiders the dominant Western understandings of freedom through the lens of women's real-life experiences of domestic violence, welfare, and Islamic veiling. Nancy Hirschmann argues that the typical approach to freedom found in political philosophy severely reduces the concept's complexity, which is more fully revealed by taking such practical issues into account. Hirschmann begins by arguing that the dominant Western understanding of freedom does not provide a conceptual vocabulary for accurately characterizing women's experiences. Often, free choice is assumed when women are in fact coerced--as when a battered woman who stays with her abuser out of fear or economic necessity is said to make this choice because it must not be so bad--and coercion is assumed when free choices are made--such as when Westerners assume that all veiled women are oppressed, even though many Islamic women view veiling as an important symbol of cultural identity. Understanding the contexts in which choices arise and are made is central to understanding that freedom is socially constructed through systems of power such as patriarchy, capitalism, and race privilege. Social norms, practices, and language set the conditions within which choices are made, determine what options are available, and shape our individual subjectivity, desires, and self-understandings. Attending to the ways in which contexts construct us as "subjects" of liberty, Hirschmann argues, provides a firmer empirical and theoretical footing for understanding what freedom means and entails politically, intellectually, and socially.


States of Injury

States of Injury

Author: Wendy Brown

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2020-05-05

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 0691201390

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Whether in characterizing Catharine MacKinnon's theory of gender as itself pornographic or in identifying liberalism as unable to make good on its promises, Wendy Brown pursues a central question: how does a sense of woundedness become the basis for a sense of identity? Brown argues that efforts to outlaw hate speech and pornography powerfully legitimize the state: such apparently well-intentioned attempts harm victims further by portraying them as so helpless as to be in continuing need of governmental protection. "Whether one is dealing with the state, the Mafia, parents, pimps, police, or husbands," writes Brown, "the heavy price of institutionalized protection is always a measure of dependence and agreement to abide by the protector's rules." True democracy, she insists, requires sharing power, not regulation by it; freedom, not protection. Refusing any facile identification with one political position or another, Brown applies her argument to a panoply of topics, from the basis of litigiousness in political life to the appearance on the academic Left of themes of revenge and a thwarted will to power. These and other provocations in contemporary political thought and political life provide an occasion for rethinking the value of several of the last two centuries' most compelling theoretical critiques of modern political life, including the positions of Nietzsche, Marx, Weber, and Foucault.


Book Synopsis States of Injury by : Wendy Brown

Download or read book States of Injury written by Wendy Brown and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-05-05 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whether in characterizing Catharine MacKinnon's theory of gender as itself pornographic or in identifying liberalism as unable to make good on its promises, Wendy Brown pursues a central question: how does a sense of woundedness become the basis for a sense of identity? Brown argues that efforts to outlaw hate speech and pornography powerfully legitimize the state: such apparently well-intentioned attempts harm victims further by portraying them as so helpless as to be in continuing need of governmental protection. "Whether one is dealing with the state, the Mafia, parents, pimps, police, or husbands," writes Brown, "the heavy price of institutionalized protection is always a measure of dependence and agreement to abide by the protector's rules." True democracy, she insists, requires sharing power, not regulation by it; freedom, not protection. Refusing any facile identification with one political position or another, Brown applies her argument to a panoply of topics, from the basis of litigiousness in political life to the appearance on the academic Left of themes of revenge and a thwarted will to power. These and other provocations in contemporary political thought and political life provide an occasion for rethinking the value of several of the last two centuries' most compelling theoretical critiques of modern political life, including the positions of Nietzsche, Marx, Weber, and Foucault.


Freedom Fallacy

Freedom Fallacy

Author: Miranda Kiraly

Publisher: Connor Court Publishing Pty Limited

Published: 2015-02-19

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9781925138542

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Taking on topics from pornography and prostitution to female genital mutilation, from womens magazines and marriage to sexual violence, contributors in this collection argue that the kind of liberal feminism currently rising to prominence does little to challenge the status quo.


Book Synopsis Freedom Fallacy by : Miranda Kiraly

Download or read book Freedom Fallacy written by Miranda Kiraly and published by Connor Court Publishing Pty Limited. This book was released on 2015-02-19 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Taking on topics from pornography and prostitution to female genital mutilation, from womens magazines and marriage to sexual violence, contributors in this collection argue that the kind of liberal feminism currently rising to prominence does little to challenge the status quo.


Feminist Freedom Warriors

Feminist Freedom Warriors

Author: Chandra Talpade Mohanty

Publisher: Haymarket Books

Published: 2018-06-05

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13: 1608468984

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Born out of an engagement with anti-racist feminist struggles as women of color from the Global South, Feminist Freedom Warriors (FFW) is a project showcasing cross-generational histories of feminist activism addressing economic, anti-racist, social justice, and anti-capitalist issues across national borders. This feminist reader is a companion to the FFW video archive project that is currently available online. Using text and images, the book presents short narratives from the women featured in the FFW project and illustrates the intersecting struggles for justice in the fight against oppression. These are stories of sister-comrades, whose ideas, words, actions, and visions of economic and social justice continue to inspire a new generation of women activists.


Book Synopsis Feminist Freedom Warriors by : Chandra Talpade Mohanty

Download or read book Feminist Freedom Warriors written by Chandra Talpade Mohanty and published by Haymarket Books. This book was released on 2018-06-05 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Born out of an engagement with anti-racist feminist struggles as women of color from the Global South, Feminist Freedom Warriors (FFW) is a project showcasing cross-generational histories of feminist activism addressing economic, anti-racist, social justice, and anti-capitalist issues across national borders. This feminist reader is a companion to the FFW video archive project that is currently available online. Using text and images, the book presents short narratives from the women featured in the FFW project and illustrates the intersecting struggles for justice in the fight against oppression. These are stories of sister-comrades, whose ideas, words, actions, and visions of economic and social justice continue to inspire a new generation of women activists.


Real Choices

Real Choices

Author: Beth Kiyoko Jamieson

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 2003-06

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 9780271022864

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A challenging new approach to thinking about liberty in the wake of decades of criticism of liberalism from feminists, communitarians, and conservatives alike.


Book Synopsis Real Choices by : Beth Kiyoko Jamieson

Download or read book Real Choices written by Beth Kiyoko Jamieson and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2003-06 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A challenging new approach to thinking about liberty in the wake of decades of criticism of liberalism from feminists, communitarians, and conservatives alike.


Liberty for Women

Liberty for Women

Author: Wendy McElroy

Publisher: Ivan R. Dee Publisher

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13:

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The contributors to this important new collection offer a vision of contemporary feminism that runs counter to and goes beyond the dominant attitudes of the feminist orthodoxy. Basing their arguments on individual rights and personal responsibility, the contributors offer surprising views on a wide range of issues that confront modern woman. Published in association with The Independent Institute.


Book Synopsis Liberty for Women by : Wendy McElroy

Download or read book Liberty for Women written by Wendy McElroy and published by Ivan R. Dee Publisher. This book was released on 2002 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The contributors to this important new collection offer a vision of contemporary feminism that runs counter to and goes beyond the dominant attitudes of the feminist orthodoxy. Basing their arguments on individual rights and personal responsibility, the contributors offer surprising views on a wide range of issues that confront modern woman. Published in association with The Independent Institute.