A defence of the category ‘women’
Gunnarsson, Lena LU
(2020)
p.99-113
- Abstract
Against influential strands of feminist theory, I argue that there is nothing essentialist or homogenising about the category ‘women’. I show that both intersectional claims that it is impossible to separate out the ‘woman part’ of women, and deconstructionist contentions that the category ‘women’ is a fiction, rest on untenable meta-theoretical assumptions. I posit that a more fruitful way of approaching this disputed category is to treat it as an abstraction. Drawing on the philosophical framework of critical realism I elucidate the nature of the vital and inevitable process of abstraction, as a means of finding a way out of the theoretical and methodological impasse that the ‘ban’ on the category ‘women’ has caused. Contrary to many... (More)
Against influential strands of feminist theory, I argue that there is nothing essentialist or homogenising about the category ‘women’. I show that both intersectional claims that it is impossible to separate out the ‘woman part’ of women, and deconstructionist contentions that the category ‘women’ is a fiction, rest on untenable meta-theoretical assumptions. I posit that a more fruitful way of approaching this disputed category is to treat it as an abstraction. Drawing on the philosophical framework of critical realism I elucidate the nature of the vital and inevitable process of abstraction, as a means of finding a way out of the theoretical and methodological impasse that the ‘ban’ on the category ‘women’ has caused. Contrary to many contemporary feminist theorists, I contend that, although the category ‘women’ does not reflect the whole reality of concrete and particular women, it nevertheless refers to something real, namely the structural position as woman.
(Less)
- author
- Gunnarsson, Lena
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2020-01-01
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- host publication
- Critical Realism, Feminism, and Gender : A Reader - A Reader
- pages
- 15 pages
- publisher
- Routledge
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85108749662
- ISBN
- 9781351621120
- 9781138083707
- DOI
- 10.4324/9781315112138-4
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 69531830-c42b-4634-8e1c-2ad5770516f4
- date added to LUP
- 2021-08-16 12:39:33
- date last changed
- 2024-04-06 07:25:36
@inbook{69531830-c42b-4634-8e1c-2ad5770516f4,
abstract = {{<p>Against influential strands of feminist theory, I argue that there is nothing essentialist or homogenising about the category ‘women’. I show that both intersectional claims that it is impossible to separate out the ‘woman part’ of women, and deconstructionist contentions that the category ‘women’ is a fiction, rest on untenable meta-theoretical assumptions. I posit that a more fruitful way of approaching this disputed category is to treat it as an abstraction. Drawing on the philosophical framework of critical realism I elucidate the nature of the vital and inevitable process of abstraction, as a means of finding a way out of the theoretical and methodological impasse that the ‘ban’ on the category ‘women’ has caused. Contrary to many contemporary feminist theorists, I contend that, although the category ‘women’ does not reflect the whole reality of concrete and particular women, it nevertheless refers to something real, namely the structural position as woman.</p>}},
author = {{Gunnarsson, Lena}},
booktitle = {{Critical Realism, Feminism, and Gender : A Reader}},
isbn = {{9781351621120}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{01}},
pages = {{99--113}},
publisher = {{Routledge}},
title = {{A defence of the category ‘women’}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315112138-4}},
doi = {{10.4324/9781315112138-4}},
year = {{2020}},
}