Gender, Class, and Freedom in Modern Political Theory
Nancy J. Hirschmann

Paper | 2007 | $24.95 / £14.95
Cloth | 2007 | $69.50 / £40.95
352 pp. | 6 x 9

Shopping Cart | Endorsements | Table of Contents
Introduction [HTML] or [PDF]

In Gender, Class, and Freedom in Modern Political Theory, Nancy Hirschmann demonstrates not merely that modern theories of freedom are susceptible to gender and class analysis but that they must be analyzed in terms of gender and class in order to be understood at all. Through rigorous close readings of major and minor works of Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, and Mill, Hirschmann establishes and examines the gender and class foundations of the modern understanding of freedom. Building on a social constructivist model of freedom that she developed in her award-winning book The Subject of Liberty: Toward a Feminist Theory of Freedom, she makes in her new book another original and important contribution to political and feminist theory.

Despite the prominence of "state of nature" ideas in modern political theory, Hirschmann argues, theories of freedom actually advance a social constructivist understanding of humanity. By rereading "human nature" in light of this insight, Hirschmann uncovers theories of freedom that are both more historically accurate and more relevant to contemporary politics. Pigeonholing canonical theorists as proponents of either "positive" or "negative" liberty is historically inaccurate, she demonstrates, because theorists deploy both conceptions of freedom simultaneously throughout their work.

Nancy J. Hirschmann is the R. Jean Brownlee Endowed Term Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. Her book The Subject of Liberty: Toward a Feminist Theory of Freedom (Princeton) won the 2004 Victoria Schuck Award for the best book on women and politics from the American Political Science Association.

Endorsements:

"This book is bound to have a wide audience among both political theorists and feminists. One of its strengths is its analysis of the way in which the theories of freedom of Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, and Mill are gendered. Hirschmann argues pointedly with other feminist interpretations of these theories and she provides an unusually sophisticated feminist analysis of the canon."--Marion Smiley, Brandeis University

"This is a great book. Hirschmann's thorough discussion of freedom--though based on a close reading of only five theorists--will, in my opinion, change how we think about freedom. Hirschmann also demonstrates why all good political theory needs to be feminist--not ideologically, but methodologically feminist. Historians of political thought and theorists of freedom and feminism will find much to challenge and provoke their thinking."--Brooke Ackerly, Vanderbilt University

Table of Contents

Another Princeton book by Nancy J. Hirschmann:

• The Subject of Liberty: Toward a Feminist Theory of Freedom.

Link:

• Nancy J. Hirschmann's Home Page

Subject Areas:

• Political Philosophy
• Gender Studies

Shopping Cart:

For customers in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Asia, and Australia
Paper: $24.95 ISBN13: 978-0-691-12989-1
Cloth: $69.50 ISBN13: 978-0-691-12988-4

For customers in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and India
Paper: £14.95 ISBN13: 978-0-691-12989-1
Cloth: £40.95 ISBN13: 978-0-691-12988-4

Prices subject to change without notice

File created: 7/1/2008

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