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Feminist Political Theory

Module description

This course offers a broad overview of feminist theory and addresses questions such as “What does it mean to be a feminist?”, “Why do we need feminism?”, and “What role should feminism play in politics?” We will trace the emergence of feminist politics from the 20 th century to the present day and identify some of the debates that have arisen within feminism itself. We will illustrate the importance of feminist challenges to mainstream political theory (with a focus on feminist challenges to liberalism). Finally, we will explore a plurality of promising feminist approaches to politics and political engagement. We will touch on feminist approaches to a variety of disciplines, including political theory, political science, philosophy, and international relations. No prior knowledge of feminism is necessary, but some prior work in political theory would be useful.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module considers feminist theory from a variety of perspectives in order to convey to students the interdisciplinary importance of feminism. The module will encourage you to engage in close reading of influential feminist thinkers, such as Simone de Beauvoir, Iris Marion Young, Judith Butler, Carol Pateman, and Nancy Fraser. The course will proceed in three parts: 1) laying a conceptual foundation through close reading 2) using concepts learned to critique mainstream ideas and 3) arguing for practical solutions to contemporary political problems. The first part of the course will introduce you to a broad historical account of the emergence of the second, third, and fourth waves of feminism and will provide you with an opportunity to engage with the major conceptual insights of feminist theory, such as the historical privileging of masculinity over femininity, the tension between equality and sexual difference, the inescapability of gender identity, and the problem of intersectionality. The second part of the course will build on this conceptual knowledge through the application of feminist insights to contemporary political theory. You will look at the critiques posed by prominent feminist theorists of many of the central tenets of liberalism, including autonomy, property, the social contract, and human rights. The third part of the course will involve reading feminist theorists who offer alternative ways of understanding and practicing politics that have arisen as answers to the problems with mainstream political theory raised by feminism. These include care ethics, cultivating “epistemic justice”, and advocating feminist practices like consciousness raising. You will gain both a deeper understanding of the systematic inequality of women around the world and a practical toolkit for critiquing and ameliorating social injustice.  

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Understand the historical and philosophical underpinnings of a prominent political phenomenon.
• 2. Critically evaluate different understandings of feminism.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Perform close readings and analysis of complex theoretical texts.
• 4. Articulate complex theoretical concepts and apply these to practical political problems.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Engage in conversations with others about complex political problems.
• 6. Write a well-organized and well-argued essay defending a single argument.

Syllabus plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

Foundations of Feminist Political Theory

• What is Patriarchy?
• The Second Wave: Equality and Difference
• The Third Wave: Identity Politics and Gender Identity
• The Fourth Wave?: Intersectionality

Feminist Critiques of Liberalism

• Relational Autonomy
• The Social Contract and the Sexual Contract
• Feminist Critiques of Capitalism
• Human Rights and Women’s Rights

Alternative Feminist Politics

• Naming Injustice and Identifying Privilege
• Care Ethics and Emotional Labour
• Re-Imagining Political Theory

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e., a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Simone de Beauvoir (1949) The Second Sex
• Iris Marion Young (1990) Justice and the Politics of Difference
• Judith Butler (1990) Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity
• Nira Yuval-Davis (2015) The Politics of Belonging: Intersectional Contestations
• Jennifer Nedelsky (2012) Law’s Relations: A Relational Theory of Self, Autonomy, and Law
• Carol Pateman (1988) The Sexual Contract
• Nancy Fraser (1997) Justice Interruptus: Critical Reflections on the ‘Postsocialist’ Condition
• Susan Moller Okin (1999) Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women?
• Miranda Fricker (2007) Epistemic Injustice: Power and the Ethics of Knowing
• Virginia Held (2006) The Ethics of Care: Personal, Political, and Global
• Saba Mahmood (2005) The Politics of Piety
• Bell Hooks (2009) Belonging: A Culture of Place

Key words search

Feminist political theory, Feminism