American Feminist Thought

In this outstanding collection of essays, contributed by some of America's leading feminist writers, the current terrain of American feminism is charted as never before. Covering a broad range of subjects and a diversity of approaches, this volume demonstrates just how far American feminism has come in developing distinctive and sophisticated strategies for combining theory and practice.

While many of the writers represented have made their careers within the academy, their interests are never exclusively academic. Indeed, at the heart of this book lies a broad concern with the key social issues of our day. Thus, Catherine MacKinnon writes on sex equality under the law, Cynthia Enloe on international politics, bell hooks on cinematic representation of blackness, and Donna Haraway on the biopolitics of postmodern bodies.

The selection also includes important essays by Gayle Rubin, Tania Modleski, Rey Chow, Trinh Minh-ha, Sandra Harding, Judith Stacey and Barrie Thorne, Evelyn Fox Keller, Joan Wallach Scott, Linda S. Kauffman, Paula Treicher, Angela Davis, Gloria Anzaldua and Jean Bethke Elshtain.

This collection of essays from some of America's leading feminist writers presents an outstanding picture of current American feminism, provides important suggestions for new research that will continue through the next century, and covers a broad range of subjects and evaluates how far American feminism has come in developing strategies for combining theory with practice. 12 halftones.

Linda S. Kauffman is Professor of English at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is the author of Discourses of Desire: Gender, Genre and Epistolary Fictions and Special Delivery: Epistolary Modes in Modern Fiction. Also published by Blackwell are two collections of essays edited by Linda S. Kauffman: Gender and Theory and Feminism and Institutions.

Acknowledgements.

List of Contributors.

Introduction.

Part 1: Sexuality and Gender:.

1. Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality: Gayle S. Rubin (1984).

2. Seductive Sexualities: Representing Blackness in Poetry and on Screen: bell hooks (1990).

3. Cinema and the Dark Continent: Race and Gender in Popular Film: Tania Modleski (1991).

Part II: Theories of Difference:.

4. 'It's you, and not me': Domination and 'Othering' in Theorizing the 'Third World': Rey Chow? (1989).

5. The Language of Nativism: Anthropology as a Scientific Conversation of Man with Man: Trinh T. Minh-ha (1989).

6. Reinventing Ourselves as Other: More New Agents of History and Knowledge: Sandra Harding (1991).

Part III: The Status Of Science, Technology, Academic Disciplines: .

7. The Missing Feminist Revolution in Sociology: Judith Stacey and Barrie Thorne (1985).

8. Making Gender Visible in Pursuit of Nature's Secrets: Evelyn Fox Keller (1991).

9. The Biopolitics of Postmodern Bodies: Donna Haraway (1989).

10. Women's History: Joan Wallach Scott (1992).

11. The Long Goodbye: Against Personal Testimony, or An Infant Grifter Grows Up: Linda S. Kauffman (1992).

Part IV: Feminist Issues, Activism, and The National Scene: .

12. AIDS, Gender and Biomedical Discourse: Current Contests for Meaning: Paula A. Treichler 1988.

13. Outcast Mothers and Surrogates: Racism and Reproductive Politics in the Nineties: Angela Y. Davis (1991).

14. Reflections on Sex Equality Under Law: Catherine A. MacKinnon (1991).

Part IV: American Feminism in an International Frame: .

15. La conciencia de la mestiza: Towards a new Consciuosness: Gloria Anzaldua (1987).

16. Bananas, Beaches, and Bases: Cynthia Enloe (1989).

17. Realism, Just War and the Witness of Peace: Jean Bethke Elshtain (1990).