Introducing Contemporary Feminist Thought
1. Edition April 2000
176 Pages, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
This introductory textbook offers a concise and lucid account of
the main developments in contemporary feminist thinking, and
demonstrates the centrality of feminist thought to all areas of
intellectual enquiry.
In a wide-ranging discussion, Evans argues that most accounts of
the world since the Enlightenment have been constructed in terms of
a distinction between the public and the private which excluded
women. Using both historical and more recent examples, she examines
the breadth and complexity of feminist thinking, focusing on key
themes such as the body, representation, engendering knowledge, and
the relationship between women and the state.
Evans argues that feminist thought seeks less to add to existing
theory than to re-theorize the social and symbolic worlds; no
contemporary account of these worlds, she suggests, is complete
without a discussion of the implications of gender difference.
This book offers a clear and coherent guide to contemporary
feminism for students of women's studies, gender studies,
sociology, social theory and literary theory.
Introduction.
1. Enter Women.
2. Public and Private: Women and the State.
3. Engendering Knowledge.
4. Representation.
5. The Body.
6. Feminism and the Academy.
7. Worlds of Difference?.
Notes.
Bibliography.
Index.
main areas of feminist thinking from the early 1970s up to the
present day. Mary Evans departs from other writing on feminist
thought, by avoiding sterile debates which categorize feminism into
different perspectives. Instead, she charts the changing nature of
feminist ideas into a number of key themes, demonstrating both
their wide-ranging and interdisciplinary character. The book shows
how feminism has been a simultaneously destabilizing and creative
force in intellectual and political life, arguing that it holds
rich possibilities for rethinking our social worlds. Introducing
Contemporary Feminist Thought is at the cutting edge of
feminist work in the area and will be crucial reading for those
wishing to understand contemporary debates and how they have
evolved historically." Mary Maynard, The University of York
"Mary Evans has provided a wide-ranging interdisciplinary snapshot
of the history of western feminism over the last twenty years. She
draws on a wealth of sources and locates many of the texts that
were influential in western feminism in their historical context.
As such, the book will be a useful addition to the range of texts
available for the beginning student of women's studies." Women's
Philosophy Review
