
Getting Specific
Postmodern Lesbian Politics
Shane Phelan(Author)
University of Minnesota Press
Will be published approx. on 1. December 1994
Book
Paperback/Softback
216 pages
978-0-8166-2110-1 (ISBN)
Description
The only book to debate lesbian political theory.
Whereas feminist theory divides between two strategies, one based on equality (or sameness) and the other on difference, this book proposes a new approach-specificity. We are neither simply "the same as" or "different from" one another, Shane Phelan observes, and any theory that assumes as much is mistaken and dangerous. Here Phelan offers an alternative, a "democratic identity politics," which recognizes the specifics of human experience and at the same time accounts for alliances and communities. Getting specific, she suggests, allows us to discover the networks of meaning and power that shape our lives and to discern and respect genuine individuality.
In particular, Phelan points out the pitfalls of a lesbian feminism that ignores the specificities of race. Drawing on the theory surrounding U.S. women of color, she shows how the failure of white lesbians to consider the role of race in their lives leads to inadequate social theory and political action. These failures in turn limit the possibilities for trust and cooperation across race, and thereby weaken all struggles for democratic change.
Along the way to formulating a democratic identity politics out of her critique, Phelan examines concepts of power, justice, community, interest, and liberation. In developing a new vision of coalition and alliance for lesbian feminism, she opens a new course for all political and social theorists.
Whereas feminist theory divides between two strategies, one based on equality (or sameness) and the other on difference, this book proposes a new approach-specificity. We are neither simply "the same as" or "different from" one another, Shane Phelan observes, and any theory that assumes as much is mistaken and dangerous. Here Phelan offers an alternative, a "democratic identity politics," which recognizes the specifics of human experience and at the same time accounts for alliances and communities. Getting specific, she suggests, allows us to discover the networks of meaning and power that shape our lives and to discern and respect genuine individuality.
In particular, Phelan points out the pitfalls of a lesbian feminism that ignores the specificities of race. Drawing on the theory surrounding U.S. women of color, she shows how the failure of white lesbians to consider the role of race in their lives leads to inadequate social theory and political action. These failures in turn limit the possibilities for trust and cooperation across race, and thereby weaken all struggles for democratic change.
Along the way to formulating a democratic identity politics out of her critique, Phelan examines concepts of power, justice, community, interest, and liberation. In developing a new vision of coalition and alliance for lesbian feminism, she opens a new course for all political and social theorists.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Minnesota
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-8166-2110-1 (9780816621101)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Shane Phelan is associate professor of political science at the University of New Mexico. She is the author of Identity Politics: Lesbian Feminism and the Limits of Community (1989).