Patterns of Dissonance

This book is an analysis of the relation between women and philosophy. It offers a critical account of a wide range of contemporary philosophical and feminist texts. The first part of the book examines contemporary French philosophy as practised by men, in particular by Foucault, Derrida and Deleuze. Braidotti examines the way in which these philosophers address questions that are central to feminist thought, and their use of the concept of the feminine in a way that has little to do with the historical experience of women. The second part is concerned with feminist thinkers in Europe and the United States. It examines the attempts by feminist thinkers to undermine the universalizing claims of male theorists, and the gendered nature of linguistic power games. It discusses the contributions of Luce Irigaray, Mary Daly and Michele le Doeuff to the understanding of sexual difference in politics and philosophy.