Gender, Class, and Freedom in Modern Political Theory
eBook - PDF

Gender, Class, and Freedom in Modern Political Theory

  1. 352 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Gender, Class, and Freedom in Modern Political Theory

About this book

In Gender, Class, and Freedom in Modern Political Theory, Nancy Hirschmann demonstrates not merely that modern theories of freedom are susceptible to gender and class analysis but that they must be analyzed in terms of gender and class in order to be understood at all. Through rigorous close readings of major and minor works of Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, and Mill, Hirschmann establishes and examines the gender and class foundations of the modern understanding of freedom. Building on a social constructivist model of freedom that she developed in her award-winning book The Subject of Liberty: Toward a Feminist Theory of Freedom, she makes in her new book another original and important contribution to political and feminist theory.


Despite the prominence of "state of nature" ideas in modern political theory, Hirschmann argues, theories of freedom actually advance a social constructivist understanding of humanity. By rereading "human nature" in light of this insight, Hirschmann uncovers theories of freedom that are both more historically accurate and more relevant to contemporary politics. Pigeonholing canonical theorists as proponents of either "positive" or "negative" liberty is historically inaccurate, she demonstrates, because theorists deploy both conceptions of freedom simultaneously throughout their work.

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Yes, you can access Gender, Class, and Freedom in Modern Political Theory by Nancy J. Hirschmann in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Social Sciences & American Government. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Contents
  2. Acknowledgments
  3. INTRODUCTION Gender, Class, and Freedom in Modern Political Theory
  4. CHAPTER ONE Thomas Hobbes: Desire and Rationality
  5. CHAPTER TWO John Locke: Freedom, Reason, and the Education of Citizen-Subjects
  6. CHAPTER THREE Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Force, Freedom, and Family
  7. CHAPTER FOUR Immanuel Kant: The Inner World of Freedom
  8. CHAPTER FIVE John Stuart Mill: Utility, Democracy, Equality
  9. CONCLUSION Rethinking Freedom in the Canon
  10. Notes
  11. References
  12. Index