From essentialism to another way of doing politics: resuming the transformative potential of the politics of difference
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5433/2176-6665.2010v15n2p166Keywords:
Politics of difference, Essentialism, Gender inequalities, Iris Marion Young. Anne PhillipsAbstract
This article aims at resuming and critically scrutinizing the debate on the politics of difference taken among liberal feminist political theorists. Firstly, I shall provide an overview of theoretical attempts to legitimate the politicization of collective-based subjects taking into account the problem of essentialism. Then I will argue that an exclusive focus on the relationship between essentialism and the conceptualization of collective-based subjects tends to overshadow the relationship between the politicization of differences and a new way of doing politics. I will defend the view that the politicization of differences is transforming rather than undermining the functioning of the polity and the possibility of real social justice. I shall evaluate the works of Anne Phillips and Iris Marion Young as offering new ways of reshaping the political sphere in order to enable proper institutional action against structural inequalities.References
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PHILLIPS, Michèle Anne. Democracy and difference. Cambridge: Polity, 1993.
PHILLIPS, Michèle Anne. The politics of presence: the political representation of gender, ethnicity and race. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.
TAYLOR, Charles. The politics of recognition. In: GUTMANN, A. (org.). Multiculturalism and ‘the politics of recognition’. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992. p. 25-73.
WELDON, S. Laurel. Difference and social structure: Iris Young’s critical social theory of gender. Constellations, Oxford, v. 14, n. 2, p. 280-88, 2007.
YOUNG, Iris Marion. Polity and group difference: a critique of the ideal of universal citizenship. Ethics, Washington, v. 99, n. 2, p. 250-274, 1989.
YOUNG, Iris Marion. Justice and the politics of difference. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990.
YOUNG, Iris Marion. Gender as seriality: thinking about women as social collective. Signs, New Brunswick, v. 19, n. 3, p. 713-738, 1994.
YOUNG, Iris Marion. Communication and the other: beyond deliberative democracy. In: BENHABIB, Seyla (org.). Democracy and difference: contesting the boundaries of the political. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996. p. 120-35.
YOUNG, Iris Marion. Ruling norms and the politics of difference: a comment on Seyla Benhabib. The Yale Journal of Criticism, Baltimore, v. 12, n. 2, p. 415-421, 1999.
YOUNG, Iris Marion. Inclusion and democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
BARRY, Brian. Second thoughts: and some first thoughts revived. In: KELLY, Paul (org.). Multiculturalism reconsidered. Cambridge: Polity, 2002. p. 204-38.
BENHABIB, Seyla. The liberal imagination and the four dogmas of multiculturalism. The Yale Journal of Criticism, Baltimore, v. 12, n. 2, p. 401-413, 1999.
BENHABIB, Seyla. (org.). The claims of culture: equality and diversity in the global era. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002.
BRAIDOTTI, Rosi. Nomadic subjects: embodiment and sexual difference in contemporary feminist theory. New York: Columbia University Press, 1994.
FUSS, Diana. Essentially speaking: feminism, nature and difference. London: Routledge, 1989.
GOLDFINGER, Johnny; JAMES, Michael R. Rethinking social group perspective. In: ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN POLITICAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION, 2005, Washington.
KYMLICKA, Will. Multicultural citizenship. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.
LLOYD, Moya. Beyond identity politics: feminism, power & politics. London: Sage, 2005.
MIGUEL, Luis Felipe. Perspectivas sociais e dominação simbólica: a presença política das mulheres entre Iris Marion Young e Pierre Bordieu. Revista de Sociologia e Política, Curitiba, v. 18, n. 36, p. 25-49, 2010.
MOI, Toril. What is a woman? and other essays. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
PHILLIPS, Anne. Universal pretentions in political thought. In: BARRETT, Michèle; PHILLIPS, Anne (org.). Destabilizing theory: contemporary feminist debates. Cambridge: Polity, 1992. p. 10-30.
PHILLIPS, Michèle Anne. Democracy and difference. Cambridge: Polity, 1993.
PHILLIPS, Michèle Anne. The politics of presence: the political representation of gender, ethnicity and race. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.
TAYLOR, Charles. The politics of recognition. In: GUTMANN, A. (org.). Multiculturalism and ‘the politics of recognition’. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992. p. 25-73.
WELDON, S. Laurel. Difference and social structure: Iris Young’s critical social theory of gender. Constellations, Oxford, v. 14, n. 2, p. 280-88, 2007.
YOUNG, Iris Marion. Polity and group difference: a critique of the ideal of universal citizenship. Ethics, Washington, v. 99, n. 2, p. 250-274, 1989.
YOUNG, Iris Marion. Justice and the politics of difference. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990.
YOUNG, Iris Marion. Gender as seriality: thinking about women as social collective. Signs, New Brunswick, v. 19, n. 3, p. 713-738, 1994.
YOUNG, Iris Marion. Communication and the other: beyond deliberative democracy. In: BENHABIB, Seyla (org.). Democracy and difference: contesting the boundaries of the political. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996. p. 120-35.
YOUNG, Iris Marion. Ruling norms and the politics of difference: a comment on Seyla Benhabib. The Yale Journal of Criticism, Baltimore, v. 12, n. 2, p. 415-421, 1999.
YOUNG, Iris Marion. Inclusion and democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
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Published
2010-12-01
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TOSOLD, Léa. From essentialism to another way of doing politics: resuming the transformative potential of the politics of difference. Mediações - Revista de Ciências Sociais, Londrina, v. 15, n. 2, p. 166–183, 2010. DOI: 10.5433/2176-6665.2010v15n2p166. Disponível em: https://ojs.uel.br/revistas/uel/index.php/mediacoes/article/view/8228. Acesso em: 8 jul. 2024.
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