Feminist Contentions A Philosophical Exchange

Begun as a symposium on the issue of feminism and postmodernism, this unique volume presents a debate between four of the top feminist theorists in the United States today. The authors discuss key questions facing feminist theory and respond to each other's views, creating a genuine dialogue on the role of theory in current feminist thought.

First published in 1995. This volume presents a debate between four of the top feminist theorists in the United States. 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, making possible a conversation between these influential feminist thinkers. Begun as a symposium on the issue of feminism and postmodernism, the volume evolved into a discussion of broader issues such as the usefulness of postmodernism as a theoretical concept; the role of philosophy in social criticism; how historical narrative is best conceptualized; the status of the subject of feminism; and the political effects of different formulations of all these issues. Unlike many collections which assume a given topic and ask various thinkers to respond to it, this format enables the contributors themselves to articulate their own views on the key questions facing feminist theory and distinguish their views from others.

Introduction Essays 1 Feminism and Postmodernism 2 Contingent Foundations 3 False Antitheses 4 What Is Ethical Feminism? Responses 5 Subjectivity, Historiography, and Politics 6 For a Careful Reading 7 Rethinking the Time of Feminism 8 Pragmatism, Feminism, and the Linguistic Turn