Mary Wollstonecraft’s Feminist Critique of Property. On Becoming a Thief From Principle
(2014) In Hypatia 29(4). p.942-957- Abstract
- The scholarship on Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) is divided concerning her views on women’s role in public life, property rights and distribution of wealth. Her critique of inequality of wealth is undisputed, but is it a complaint only of inequality or does it strike more forcefully at the institution of property? The argument in this article is that Wollstonecraft’s feminism is partly defined by a radical critique of property, intertwined with her conception of rights. Dissociating herself from the conceptualization of rights in terms of self-ownership, she casts economic independence – a necessary political criterion for personal freedom – in terms of fair reward for work, not ownership. Her critique of property moves beyond issues of... (More)
- The scholarship on Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) is divided concerning her views on women’s role in public life, property rights and distribution of wealth. Her critique of inequality of wealth is undisputed, but is it a complaint only of inequality or does it strike more forcefully at the institution of property? The argument in this article is that Wollstonecraft’s feminism is partly defined by a radical critique of property, intertwined with her conception of rights. Dissociating herself from the conceptualization of rights in terms of self-ownership, she casts economic independence – a necessary political criterion for personal freedom – in terms of fair reward for work, not ownership. Her critique of property moves beyond issues of redistribution to a feminist appraisal of a property structure that turns people into either owners or owned, rights holders or things acquired. The main characters in Wollstonecraft’s last novel – Maria who is rich but has nothing, and Jemima, who steals as a matter of principle – illustrate the commodification of women in a society where even rights are regarded as possessions. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4332001
- author
- Halldenius, Lena LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2014
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- independence, inequality, rights, property, Mary Wollstonecraft, Locke, feminism, economic independence, self-ownership, freedom
- in
- Hypatia
- volume
- 29
- issue
- 4
- pages
- 942 - 957
- publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000344329600015
- scopus:84912527806
- ISSN
- 1527-2001
- DOI
- 10.1111/hypa.12116
- project
- Mary Wollstonecraft and Feminist Republicanism
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 655d5755-5c4e-4ca4-bd1c-1e490f14d9c6 (old id 4332001)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 11:15:23
- date last changed
- 2022-03-27 23:30:40
@article{655d5755-5c4e-4ca4-bd1c-1e490f14d9c6,
abstract = {{The scholarship on Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) is divided concerning her views on women’s role in public life, property rights and distribution of wealth. Her critique of inequality of wealth is undisputed, but is it a complaint only of inequality or does it strike more forcefully at the institution of property? The argument in this article is that Wollstonecraft’s feminism is partly defined by a radical critique of property, intertwined with her conception of rights. Dissociating herself from the conceptualization of rights in terms of self-ownership, she casts economic independence – a necessary political criterion for personal freedom – in terms of fair reward for work, not ownership. Her critique of property moves beyond issues of redistribution to a feminist appraisal of a property structure that turns people into either owners or owned, rights holders or things acquired. The main characters in Wollstonecraft’s last novel – Maria who is rich but has nothing, and Jemima, who steals as a matter of principle – illustrate the commodification of women in a society where even rights are regarded as possessions.}},
author = {{Halldenius, Lena}},
issn = {{1527-2001}},
keywords = {{independence; inequality; rights; property; Mary Wollstonecraft; Locke; feminism; economic independence; self-ownership; freedom}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{4}},
pages = {{942--957}},
publisher = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
series = {{Hypatia}},
title = {{Mary Wollstonecraft’s Feminist Critique of Property. On Becoming a Thief From Principle}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/hypa.12116}},
doi = {{10.1111/hypa.12116}},
volume = {{29}},
year = {{2014}},
}