The Subject of Liberty: Toward a Feminist Theory of Freedom

by Hirschmann, Nancy J.

• ISBN13: 9780691096254
• ISBN10: 0691096252
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-09-03
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

This book reconsiders the dominant Western understandings of freedom through the lens of women's real-life experiences of domestic violence, welfare, and Islamic veiling. Nancy Hirschmann argues that the typical approach to freedom found in political philosophy severely reduces the concept's complexity, which is more fully revealed by taking such practical issues into account. Hirschmann begins by arguing that the dominant Western understanding of freedom does not provide a conceptual vocabulary for accurately characterizing women's experiences. Often, free choice is assumed when women are in fact coerced--as when a battered woman who stays with her abuser out of fear or economic necessity is said to make this choice because it must not be so bad--and coercion is assumed when free choices are made--such as when Westerners assume that all veiled women are oppressed, even though many Islamic women view veiling as an important symbol of cultural identity. Understanding the contexts in which choices arise and are made is central to understanding that freedom is socially constructed through systems of power such as patriarchy, capitalism, and race privilege. Social norms, practices, and language set the conditions within which choices are made, determine what options are available, and shape our individual subjectivity, desires, and self-understandings. Attending to the ways in which contexts construct us as "subjects" of liberty, Hirschmann argues, provides a firmer empirical and theoretical footing for understanding what freedom means and entails politically, intellectually, and socially.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xv
Introduction	1	(39)
A Masculinist Theory of Freedom?	3	(11)
Freedom as Political, Not Philosophical	14	(9)
Feminism and Freedom	23	(7)
Defining Feminism	30	(5)
Why Not Autonomy	35	(5)
The Social Construction of Freedom in Historical Perspective	40	(35)
Locke: An Educated Freedom	41	(7)
Rousseau: A ``Well-Regulated'' Freedom	48	(7)
Kant: An Intelligible Freedom	55	(7)
Mill: A Utilitarian Freedom	62	(8)
Conclusion: A Masculinist Freedom	70	(5)
Feminism and Freedom: The Social Construction Paradox	75	(28)
Social Construction and Political Theory	77	(8)
Discourse and Reality	85	(8)
The Social Construction of Freedom	93	(5)
The Paradox of Social Construction	98	(5)
Internal and External Restraint: The Case of Battered Women	103	(35)
Battering in Context	108	(5)
The Thin (Black and) Blue Line: Institutional Contexts	113	(8)
Constructing Violence	121	(10)
Reconstructing Freedom	131	(7)
Welfare as a Problem for Freedom Theory	138	(32)
Women's Freedom and Discourses of Welfare	140	(6)
Freedom Theory and Conservative Discourse	146	(8)
The Social Construction of Welfare Subjects	154	(4)
Freedom, Care, and Welfare Rights	158	(12)
Eastern Veiling, Western Freedom?	170	(29)
``The Veil'' as Discursive and Social Symbolization	175	(10)
Autonomy and Freedom in Contexts of Community	185	(7)
Feminism and Freedom: Cross-Cultural Possibilities	192	(7)
Toward a Feminist Theory of Freedom	199	(40)
Changing Contexts: The Contribution of Foucault	206	(11)
The Politics of Freedom	217	(5)
Changing Contexts: The Role of Equality	222	(11)
Constructing Feminist Freedom	233	(6)
Notes	239	(40)
Name Index	279	(6)
Subject Index	285