Suchergebnisse

A feminist critique of two models of radical democracy by John Keane (Democracy and Civil Society, London: Verso, 1988) & Ernesto Laclau & Chantal Mouffe (Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: Towards a Radical Democratic Politics, London: Verso, 1985). It is argued that in this modern/postmodern world, the potential for a radical reinterpretion of liberal-democratic theory exists, but feminist analysis must be fused into that theory. Principles outlined for such a reconstruction include: (1) the public sphere should not be thought of or built around terms of universals, & individual rights should be defined in terms of particularity, not neutrality; (2) particularity should be at the center of public debate, & diversity of the individual & the public realm must be accepted; (3) no issues or forms of expression may be excluded from the public sphere; & (4) universality & impartiality should be recognized as part of old power configurations & not pursued as goals themselves. 43 References. G. Castaneda

Assuming the polyvalence of the feminine being, problematic relationships between identity, cinematographic language, & asethetics are considered. While language establishes a conscious identity that questions the self, at the same time it is produced from the self. Creating a different aesthetics involves both the use of new elements & the reshuffling of old ones: space, perspective, color, & tempo. Selection of elements results from a type of sensitivity, personal & subjective, that questions stereotypes that have traditionally tended to make uniform the feminine experience. R. Jaramillo

The contemporary feminist movement that emerged in the mid-1960s originated in liberal women's rights organizations that pursued legislative & judicial reforms, & a radical movement. Here, it is suggested that both strains have been transformed in ways that reflect & complement US federalism. In order to influence legislative policy making at the national & state levels, women's rights groups have become professionalized interest group lobbies & have formed policy networks that pursue diverse agendas. Feminists also act at the local level through issue-specific women's policy networks composed of advocacy groups, women-run alternative services, & urban bureaucracies responsible for funding, delivering, or regulating programs that meet the special needs of women. Adapted from the source document.

It is difficult to speak about the discourse of love from a feminist viewpoint because the first is an individual, subjective experience, & the latter is a social movement. However, from the viewpoint of a feminism responding to the oppression of women specifically because of their gender, the loving experience of women appears to be different from that of men. Love operates in the so-called private space to which women have been historically & socially relegated, & women center their lives around love. Men, on the other hand, encounter their creative potential in the public space. Reciprocity, which is a key element in the feminist discourse, is missing in typical love relationships. Love should include the possibility of a relationship based on the independence & autonomy of both parties, who seek mutual enrichment. Women should have an equitable, vs equal, position in the relationship. For men, such a change would entail a renunciation of the gender privileges that they have socially & historically constructed, but it would yield a mature love in which communication & passion are balanced. M. Pflum

Analyses feminism's 'seduction' by the postmodern. 'Feminist postmodernism' (held to be an oxymoron) has emerged out of at least 4 sources: the deconstructive school of French Feminists; American feminist discourse; the epistemology question; and the breakdown of universalistic interpretations of women's oppression. Postmodernists share 1 common enemy: the Enlightenment, and as such they reject a modernist notion of objective reality. Argues that this mitigates against feminist aims. (SJK)

The author appreciates postmodernism for its 'playful seriousness'. Postmodernists take everyday experience as their starting point, but some feminists see the project as deeply suspect, attempting to demote women (as well as blacks, gays, ecologists, Marxists, Greens and religious fundamentalists) to a 'pet' status in the zoo of postmodernism. By referring to an encyclopaedia in Budapest in the year 2089, defends the postmodern perspective. (SJK)