The feminist thinkers in this collection are the designated "fifty-one key feminist thinkers," historical and contemporary, and also the authors of the entries. Collected here are fifty-one key thinkers and fifty-one authors, recognizing that women are fifty-one percent of the population. There are actually one hundred and two thinkers collected in these pages, as each author is a feminist thinker, too: scholars, writers, poets, and activists, well-established and emerging, old and young and in-between. These feminists speak the languages of art, politics, literature, education, classics, gender studies, film, queer theory, global affairs, political theory, science fiction, African American studies, sociology, American studies, geography, history, philosophy, poetry, and psychoanalysis. Speaking in all these diverse tongues, conversations made possible by feminist thinking are introduced and engaged. Key figures include: Simone de Beauvoir Doris Lessing Toni Morrison Cindy Sherman Octavia Butler Marina Warner Elizabeth Cady Stanton Chantal Akerman Betty Friedan Audre Lorde Margaret Fuller Sappho Adrienne Rich Each entry is supported by a list of the thinker’s major works, along with further reading suggestions. An ideal resource for students and academics alike, this text will appeal to all those interested in the fields of gender studies, women’s studies and women’s history and politics.

Winner of the 2018 Choice award for Outstanding Academic Title! The work of Simone de Beauvoir has endured and flowered in the last two decades, thanks primarily to the lasting influence of The Second Sex on the rise of academic discussions of gender, sexuality, and old age. Now, in this new Companion dedicated to her life and writings, an international assembly of prominent scholars, essayists, and leading interpreters reflect upon the range of Beauvoir’s contribution to philosophy as one of the great authors, thinkers, and public intellectuals of the twentieth century. The Companion examines Beauvoir’s rich intellectual life from a variety of angles—including literary, historical, and anthropological perspectives—and situates her in relation to her forbears and contemporaries in the philosophical canon. Essays in each of four thematic sections reveal the breadth and acuity of her insight, from the significance of The Second Sex and her work on the metaphysics of gender to her plentiful contributions in ethics and political philosophy. Later chapters trace the relationship between Beauvoir’s philosophical and literary work and open up her scholarship to global issues, questions of race, and the legacy of colonialism and sexism. The volume concludes by considering her impact on contemporary feminist thought writ large, and features pioneering work from a new generation of Beauvoir scholars. Ambitious and unprecedented in scope, A Companion to Simone de Beauvoir is an accessible and interdisciplinary resource for students, teachers, and researchers across the humanities and social sciences.

Lars von Trier's intense, disturbing, and sometimes funny films have led many to condemn him as misogynist or misanthropic. The same films inspire this collection's reflections on how our fears and desires regarding gender, power, race, finitude, family, and fate often thwart -- and sometimes feed -- our best democratic aspirations. The essays in this volume attend to von Trier's role as provocateur, as well as to his films' techniques, topics, and storytelling. Where others accuse von Trier of being clichéd, the editors argue that he intensifies the "clichés of our times" in ways that direct our political energies towards apprehending and repairing a shattered world. The book is certainly for von Trier lovers and haters but, at the same time, political, critical, and feminist theorists entirely unfamiliar with von Trier's films will find this volume's essays of interest. Most of the contributors tarry with von Trier to develop new readings of major thinkers and writers, including Agamben, Bataille, Beauvoir, Benjamin, Deleuze, Euripides, Freud, Kierkegaard, Ranciére, Nietzsche, Winnicott, and many more. Von Trier is both central and irrelevant to much of this work. Writing from the fields of classics, literature, gender studies, philosophy, film and political theory, the authors stage an interdisciplinary intervention in film studies.

This book explores the role that American pragmatism played in the development of social philosophy in 20th-century Europe. The essays in the first part of the book show how the ideas of Peirce, James, and Dewey influenced the traditions of European philosophy, especially existentialism and the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory, that emerged in the 20th century. The second part of the volume deals with current challenges in social philosophy. The essays here demonstrate how discussions of two core issues in social philosophy—the conception of social conflict and the public—can be enriched with pragmatist resources. In featuring both historical and conceptual perspectives, these essays provide a full picture of pragmatism’s role in the development of Continental social philosophy. Pragmatism and Social Philosophy will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working on American philosophy, social philosophy, and Continental philosophy.

This book is the first to examine the relationship between time and sexual difference in the work of Julia Kristeva and Luce Irigaray. Because of their association with reproduction, embodiment, and the survival of the species, women have been confined to the cyclical time of nature—a temporal model that is said to merely repeat itself. Men, on the other hand, have been seen as bearers of linear time and as capable of change and progress. Fanny Söderbäck argues that both these temporal models make change impossible because they either repeat or repress the past. The model of time developed here—revolutionary time—aims at returning to and revitalizing the past so as to make possible a dynamic-embodied present and a future pregnant with change. Söderbäck stages an unprecedented conversation between Kristeva and Irigaray on issues of both time and difference, and engages thinkers such as Simone de Beauvoir, Jacques Derrida, Sigmund Freud, Judith Butler, Hannah Arendt, and Plato along the way.

This cutting-edge and comprehensive fourth edition of Women’s Lives: A Psychological Perspective integrates the most current research and social issues to explore the psychological diversity of girls and women varying in age, ethnicity, social class, nationality, sexual orientation, and ableness. Written in an engaging and accessible manner, its use of vignettes, quotes, and numerous pedagogical tools effectively fosters students’ engagement, active learning, critical thinking, and social activism. New information covered includes: neoliberal feminism, standpoint theory, mujerista psychology (Chapter 1) LGBT individuals and individuals with disabilities in media (Chapter 2) testosterone testing of female athletes, precarious manhood (Chapter 3) raising a gender non-conforming child, impact of social media on body image (Chapter 4) gender differences in narcissism and Big Five personality traits, women video-game designers (Chapter 5) asexuality, transgender individuals, sexual agency, "Viagra for women" controversy (Chapter 6) adoption of frozen embryos controversy (Chapter 7) intensive mothering, integrated motherhood, "living apart together", same-sex marriage (Chapter 8) single-sex schooling controversy (Chapter 9) combat roles opened to U.S. women, managerial derailment (Chapter 10) work-hours dilemmas of low-wage workers (Chapter 11) feminist health care model, health care for transgender individuals, Affordable Care Act (Chapter 12) feminist critique of CDC guidelines on women and drinking (Chapter 13) cyberharassment, gendertrolling, campus sexual assault (Chapter 14) transnational feminism, men and feminism (Chapter 15) Women’s Lives stands apart from other texts on the psychology of women because it embeds within each topical chapter a lifespan approach and robust coverage of the impact of social, cultural, and economic factors in shaping women’s lives around the world. It provides extensive information on women with disabilities, middle-aged and older women, and women in transnational contexts. Its up-to-date coverage reflects current scientific and social developments, including over 2,200 new references. This edition also adds several new boxed features for student engagement. In The News boxes present current, often controversial, news items to get students thinking critically about real-life applications of course topics. Get Involved boxes encourage students to actively participate in the research process. What You Can Do boxes give students applied activities to promote a more egalitarian society. Learn About the Research boxes expose students to a variety of research methods and highlight the importance of diversity in research samples by including studies of underrepresented groups.

A pillar of African American literature, Richard Wright is one of the most celebrated and controversial authors in American history. His work championed intellectual freedom amid social and political chaos. Despite the popular and critical success of books such as Uncle Tom's Children (1938), Black Boy (1945), and Native Son (1941), Wright faced staunch criticism and even censorship throughout his career for the graphic sexuality, intense violence, and communist themes in his work. Yet, many political theorists have ignored his radical ideas. In The Politics of Richard Wright, an interdisciplinary group of scholars embraces the controversies surrounding Wright as a public intellectual and author. Several contributors explore how the writer mixed fact and fiction to capture the empirical and emotional reality of living as a black person in a racist world. Others examine the role of gender in Wright's canonical and lesser-known writing and the implications of black male vulnerability. They also discuss the topics of black subjectivity, internationalism and diaspora, and the legacy of and responses to slavery in America. Wright's contributions to American political thought remain vital and relevant today. The Politics of Richard Wright is an indispensable resource for students of American literature, culture, and politics who strive to interpret this influential writer's life and legacy.