Feminist Theory

This course provides a survey of feminist theorizing with a particular emphasis on social and political theory and on probing the impact of feminist theorizing on international practice. It explores questions such as how gender is constructed, the significance of diversity and intersecting status positions in gender constructions, how feminist agency and knowledge creation are possible within structures of masculine domination, the contribution of feminist knowledge to democratic and state theories, and the relevance of these questions to feminist activism and scholarship. The course is conceptualized as a seminar combining reading and discussion. The purpose is to teach students major currents of feminist theorizing, enable them to employ feminist concepts in critiquing contemporary scholarship and politics, and help them develop a scholarly standpoint in the context of such debates.