Multiculturalism without Culture by Anne Phillips

By Anne Phillips

Public opinion lately has soured on multiculturalism, due largely to fears of radical Islam. In Multiculturalism with out tradition, Anne Phillips contends that critics misrepresent tradition because the rationalization of every thing contributors from minority and non-Western teams do. She places ahead a security of multiculturalism that dispenses with notions of tradition, as an alternative putting participants themselves at its center. Multiculturalism has been blamed for encouraging the oppression of women--forced marriages, woman genital slicing, college women donning the hijab. Many critics opportunistically set up gender equality to justify the retreat from multiculturalism, hijacking the equality time table to perpetuate cultural stereotypes. Phillips informs her argument with the feminist insistence on spotting ladies as brokers, and defends her place utilizing an surprisingly vast variety of literature, together with political thought, philosophy, feminist concept, legislations, and anthropology. She argues that critics and proponents alike exaggerate the team spirit, distinctness, and intractability of cultures, thereby encouraging a belief of guys and ladies as dupes restricted via cultural dictates. competitors of multiculturalism might imagine the argument opposed to accommodating cultural distinction is over and gained, yet they're flawed. Phillips believes multiculturalism nonetheless has a tremendous function to play achieve higher social equality. during this ebook, she deals a brand new method of addressing dilemmas of justice and equality in multiethnic, multicultural societies, intervening at this serious second whilst such a lot of Western international locations are poised to desert multiculturalism.

Show description

Read Online or Download Multiculturalism without Culture PDF

Best feminist theory books

Organizing Women in Contemporary Russia: Engendering Transition

This publication deals a wealthy and clearly-written research of the women's circulation in modern Russia. It tells the enticing tale of the women's movement's formation and improvement in a rustic present process an intensive fiscal and political transition from communist rule. in response to wide interviews with the activists themselves, the booklet vividly records the explicit demanding situations dealing with women's teams in Russia, together with societal attitudes towards feminism, the trouble of organizing in post-communist nations, and the ways in which the overseas surroundings has affected the women's move.

Gender and Archaeology: Contesting the Past

Gender and Archaeology is the 1st quantity to severely evaluate the improvement of this now key subject the world over, throughout a variety of classes and fabric tradition. ^l Roberta Gilchrist explores the importance of the feminist epistemologies. She indicates the original standpoint that gender archaeology can carry to endure on concerns equivalent to department of labour and the lifestyles direction.

Reading between the Lines: A Lesbian Feminist Critique of Feminist Accounts of Sexuality

A serious research of feminist writings on sexuality from an intensive feminist and lesbian feminist viewpoint. A must-read for any critical feminist philosopher.

Third World Women and the Politics of Feminism

"The essays are provocative and improve wisdom of 3rd international women’s matters. hugely prompt. .. "―Choice". .. the e-book demanding situations assumptions and pushes historical and geographical barriers that has to be altered if girls of all colours are to win the struggles thrust upon us by way of the ‘new global order’ of the Nineteen Nineties.

Extra resources for Multiculturalism without Culture

Example text

There may be no great division at the level of official declarations, but there is still much disagreement between people; or there may be no great division between people on fundamental principles, but there is still almost endless scope for disagreement when it comes to interpretations. In the case of equality, it is evident that some of the endorsements are cynical, yet there are also heartfelt disagreements about meaning, even among those who genuinely support the ideal. It is often argued, for example, that equality means desegregation, and is at odds with separate spheres for women and men or separate enclaves for blacks and whites.

Reams have been written about how to do feminism without women: about why gender essentialisms should be rejected, whether it is possible to maintain a vigorous feminist politics without invoking women, whether the solution lies in a strategic essentialism, and so on. Biological essentialism of the kind that derives personality and intelligence from the shape of one’s genitals or the size of one’s skull is about as much discredited these days as parallel claims about race. ) But while switching to a language of gender not sex, culture not race, takes us away from the most contested terrain, it still leaves room for concern about what it means to define something by reference to its essential characteristics, those things without which X would not be X.

Is a schoolgirl Multiculturalism without Culture • 37 who believes that girls, but not boys, should cover their heads in public places denying the principle of gender equality? Or is she demonstrating her sense of her own equality by her willingness to defy the advice of her father and brothers? Is the mother who sends her daughter to a single-sex school, but her son to a coeducational one denying the principle of gender equality? Or is she trying to ensure that both her children get the best possible opportunities, regardless of their sex?

Download PDF sample

Rated 4.54 of 5 – based on 30 votes