The Subject of Liberty : Toward a Feminist Theory of Freedom.
Title:
The Subject of Liberty : Toward a Feminist Theory of Freedom.
Author:
Hirschmann, Nancy J.
ISBN:
9781400825363
Personal Author:
Physical Description:
1 online resource (263 pages)
Contents:
Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Chapter One: Introduction -- A Masculinist Theory of Freedom? -- Freedom as Political, Not Philosophical -- Feminism and Freedom -- Defining Feminism -- Why Not Autonomy? -- Chapter Two: The Social Construction of Freedom in Historical Perspective -- Locke: An Educated Freedom -- Rousseau: A "Well-Regulated" Freedom -- Kant: An Intelligible Freedom -- Mill: A Utilitarian Freedom -- Conclusion: A Masculinist Freedom -- Chapter Three: Feminism and Freedom: The Social Construction Paradox -- Social Construction and Political Theory -- Discourse and Reality -- The Social Construction of Freedom -- The Paradox of Social Construction -- Chapter Four: Internal and External Restraint: The Case of Battered Women -- Battering in Context -- The Thin (Black and) Blue Line: Institutional Contexts -- Constructing Violence -- Reconstructing Freedom -- Chapter Five: Welfare as a Problem for Freedom Theory -- Women's Freedom and Discourses of Welfare -- Freedom Theory and Conservative Discourse -- The Social Construction of Welfare Subjects -- Freedom, Care, and Welfare Rights -- Chapter Six: Eastern Veiling, Western Freedom? -- "The Veil" as Discursive and Social Symbolization -- Autonomy and Freedom in Contexts of Community -- Feminism and Freedom: Cross-Cultural Possibilities -- Chapter Seven: Toward a Feminist Theory of Freedom -- Changing Contexts: The Contribution of Foucault -- The Politics of Freedom -- Changing Contexts: The Role of Equality -- Constructing Feminist Freedom -- Notes -- Name Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y -- Z -- Subject Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- H -- I -- L -- M -- N -- P -- R -- S -- T -- V -- W.
Abstract:
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.
Local Note:
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2017. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.
Genre:
Electronic Access:
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