Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review“Drawing on Catharine MacKinnon, Pierre Bourdieu, and Michel Foucault, Clare Chambers argues that although all our choices are socially constructed, some are more in keeping with the demands of justice, equality, and autonomy than others. Focusing on choices by women in liberal cultures, she detects two troubling features—disadvantage and influence. When both are present, an injustice is likely to be done, warranting state intervention. An incisive, well-written book with a sustained, original argument.”
—Ruth Abbey,University of Notre Dame
“Chambers’s refreshing approach has the potential to expand the scope of conventional liberal theory by showing how liberals can (and should) directly meet the challenge of postmodern approaches and by demonstrating that feminist contributions are the well from which most innovations in liberalism are drawn.”
—Avigail Eisenberg,University of Victoria
“This book takes up an important topic in the political philosophy of liberalism: what is the state to do when individuals make choices that are socially constructed and disadvantageous to them? It insightfully and originally bridges the divide between continental and analytic political philosophy, combining the insights of Foucault, Bordieu, and Butler on one side, and those of Rawls, Raz, Nussbaum, Okin and others on the other side. The book contributes significantly to the literature of liberalism, autonomy, and feminism.”
—Ann Cudd,University of Kansas
“The argument is clear, and the review of the literature on liberalism, paternalism, and autonomy is thorough and succinct.”
—S. C. Schwarze Choice
“It is a very valuable contribution to many different bodies of work (liberal theory, multiculturalism, feminism, and social theory); equally important, however, it should generate interesting and further debates of the role of the state in promoting gender equality.”
—Cecile Fabre Philosophy
Table of ContentsContents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part One: Theories of Social Construction
1. Creativity, Cultural Practice, and the Body: Foucault and Three Problems with the Liberal Focus on Choice
2. Masculine Domination, Radical Feminism, and Change
3. Social Construction, Normativity, and Difference
Part Two: Liberalism, Culture, and Autonomy
4. All Must Have Prizes: The Liberal Case for Interference in Cultural Practices
5. Two Orders of Autonomy and Political Liberalism: Breast Implants Versus Female Genital Mutilation
6. Paternalism and Autonomy
7. Liberal Perfectionism and the Autonomy of Restricted Lives
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
