Feminist Theory Today: An Introduction to Second-Wave Feminism Book

This stimulating text presents a concise and accessible introduction to feminist theory today. It covers all the major variants of feminist political thought, offering a unique examination of the archive of modern feminist theory from the publication of The Feminine Mystique in 1963 to current postmodernist and legal feminist texts. It provides both an intellectual history and a political critique of contemporary feminism in the United States and in the United Kingdom. Judith Evans focuses on the divergence within, as well as between, feminist schools, and on protests from women marginalized by `the movement' - including those who are lesbian and those who are black. Feminist Theory Today contends that the early feminist demand for radical equality has gone, contributing to its drastic undertheorization. While brilliantly reconceptualizing this concept, the author documents the changes in socialist feminism from its revolutionary origins to its current focus on modifying liberal democratic forms. The book also provides a rigorous analysis of the consequences of the centrality of difference within feminism now.Students and teachers of women's studies, sociology and political theory will find this an authoritative and lively book of great interest. It will be essential reading for anyone seeking to understand why the women's movement is as it is today.Read More