Feminists Read Habermas: Gendering the Subject of Discourse

Description

This important new collection considers Jurgen Habermas's discourse theory from a variety of feminist vantage points. Habermas's theory represents one of the most persuasive current formulations of moral and political notions of subjectivity and normativity. Feminist scholars have been drawn to his work because it reflects a tradition of emancipatory political thinking rooted in the Enlightenment and engages with the normative aims of emancipatory social movements. The essays in Feminists Read Habermas analyze various aspects of Habermas's theory, ranging from his moral theory to political issues of identity and participation. While the contributors hold widely different political and philosophical views, they share a conviction of the potential significance of Habermas's work for feminist reflections on power, norms and subjectivity. | Acknowledgments | | ix | | A Note on the Text | | xi | | Introduction | | 1 | | 1. | What’s Critical about Critical Theory? | 21 | | | Nancy Fraser | | | 2. | Critical Social Theory and Feminist Critiques: The Debate with Jürgen Habermas | 57 | | | Jean L. Cohen | | | 3. | The Public and the Private Sphere: A Feminist Reconsideration | 91 | | | Joan B. Landes | | | 4. | Women and the “Public Use of Reason” | 117 | | | Marie Fleming | | | 5. | From Communicative Rationality to Communicative Thinking: A Basis for Feminist Theory and Practice | 139 | | | Jane Braaten | | | 6. | Feminist Discourse/Practical Discourse | 163 | | | Simone Chambers | | | 7. | The Debate over Women and Moral Theory Revisited | 181 | | | Seyla Benhabib | | | 8. | Discourse in Different Voices | 205 | | | Jodi Dean | | | 9. | Autonomy, Recognition, and Respect: Habermas, Benjamin, and Honneth | 231 | | | Johanna Meehan | | | 10. | Discourse Ethics and Feminist Dilemmas of Difference | 247 | | | Georgia Warnke | | | 11. | Toward a Model of Self-Identity: Habermas and Kristeva | 263 | | | Allison Weir | | | Index | | 283 | | Contributors | | 289 |