The subject of liberty : toward a feminist theory of freedom
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The subject of liberty : toward a feminist theory of freedom
Princeton University Press, c2003
- : pbk
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Note
Includes bibliographical references and indexes
Description and Table of Contents
Description
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.
Table of Contents
Preface ix Acknowledgments xv CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 A MasculinistTheory of Freedom? 3 Freedom as Political, Not Philosophical 14 Feminism and Freedom 23 Defining Feminism 30 Why Not Autonomy? 35 CHAPTER TWO: The Social Construction of Freedom in Historical Perspective 40 Locke: An Educated Freedom 41 Rousseau: A "Well-Regulated "Freedom 48 Kant: An Intelligible Freedom 55 Mill: A Utilitarian Freedom 62 Conclusion: A Masculinist Freedom 70 CHAPTER THREE: Feminism and Freedom: The Social Construction Paradox 75 Social Construction and Political Theory 77 Discourse and Reality 85 The Social Construction of Freedom 93 The Paradox of Social Construction 98 CHAPTER FOUR: Internal and External Restraint: The Case of Battered Women 103 Battering in Context 108 The Thin (Black and)Blue Line: Institutional Contexts 113 Constructing Violence 121 Reconstructing Freedom 131 CHAPTER FIVE: Welfare as a Problem for Freedom Theory 138 Women's Freedom and Discourses of Welfare 140 Freedom Theory and Conservative Discourse 146 The Social Construction of Welfare Subjects 154 Freedom, Care, and Welfare Rights 158 CHAPTER SIX: Eastern Veiling, Western Freedom? 170 "The Veil" as Discursive and Social Symbolization 175 Autonomy and Freedom in Contexts of Community 185 Feminism and Freedom: Cross-Cultural Possibilities 192 CHAPTER SEVEN: Toward a Feminist Theory of Freedom 199 Changing Contexts: The Contribution of Foucault 206 The Politics of Freedom 217 Changing Contexts: The Role of Equality 222 Constructing Feminist Freedom 233 Notes 239 Name Index 279 Subject Index 285
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