WMST 400, Feminist Theory, Fall 2005

Abstract

This course explores a few of the themes and dimensions of feminist theory in the last two centuries, focusing predominantly on theories arising within, or in contestation with, the European intellectual tradition. Our aim will be to examine some of the complex ways in which gender organizes our social, political, psychological and intellectual realms. To begin, we will problematize the terms of our endeavor—“feminism,” “women” and “theory.” We will then examine the emergence of different forms of European feminist thought arising from nineteenth-century Liberal theory of rights and equality. We will then look at twentieth-century critiques and revisions of these theories, especially those indebted to psychoanalysis, post-structuralism and post-colonialism. We will conclude by examining links and tensions between feminist theory and “queer” theory.