The thesis attempts to construct a preliminary framework with which to understand: (1) the nature of feminism as a modern social movement; (2) the expansion of modernity to a global scale; and (3) the immanent institutional transformations opened up by the expansion of modernity which make possible a dialogic form of feminist politics. The thesis is divided into three main sections. The first section explores the nature of feminism as a social movement, sketches the relationship between feminism and modernity and explains how these interests relate to contemporary debates about globalization. The broad conclusions drawn from the discussion is that feminism is a modem social movement rooted in an Enlightenment project of emancipation and progress. However, modernity must be viewed as a matrix of tensions and critical potentials. The second section of the thesis considers the potential and limitation of a Global Political Economy (GPE) framework for making sense of feminism in the context of the conditions of modernity and globalization. It concludes that although it is a useful starting place for making sense of feminism as a social movement, critical GPE is not in itself sufficient. Having explored the potential and limitations of a GPE framework for understanding feminism in a global context, the third section turns to contemporary scholarship in the field of social and political theory. The brief concluding chapter of the thesis pulls together the main themes of the previous chapters and maps out tentatively how the relationship between feminist politics, the project of modernity and globalization can be understood
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:301162 |
| Date | January 1999 |
| Creators | Steans, Jill A. |
| Publisher | Keele University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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