Language, Discourse, Society: Feminism and the Category of ‘Women’ in History

Riley, Denise

Writing about changes in the notion of womanhood, Denise Riley examines, in the manner of Foucault, shifting historical constructions of the category of "women" in relation to other categories central to concepts of personhood: the soul, the mind, the body, nature, the social. Feminist movements, Riley argues, have had no choice but to play out this indeterminacy of women. This is made plain in their oscillations, since the 1790s, between concepts of equality and of difference. To fully recognize the ambiguity of the category of "women" is, she contends, a necessary condition for an effective feminist political philosophy.

Details

Published by: Palgrave Macmillan

Publication Date: 1988-10-28

Format: Paperback

ISBN-13: 9780333346136

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-19510-7

Dimensions: 216cm x140cm

Pages: 126