This thesis is a study of selected themes in feminist rethinkings of the political. It explores connections between specific interpretations of the meanings and boundaries of the political, the problems of exclusion and the imagination of non-exclusionary alternatives. It traces, and responds to, shifts in these interconnected concerns that have transpired over the last three decades as feminists in western liberal democracies have moved from a preoccupation with gendered oppression, to relations of identity and difference more broadly conceived. The contrasting perspectives of Moira Gatens and Anne Phillips on political exclusion and their preferred political futures are discussed. Gatens' preferred future is a 'polymorphous, polyvocal and polyvalent body politic' but the institutional forms of that polity and its relation to actually existing liberal democracy are uncertain. Phillips apparently has more modest aspirations; for increased political presence for the politically marginalised (especially women); and for a revitalisation of the deliberative component of democracy. Although Phillips appears to hold the trump card of immediate practical relevance, the thesis questions this assumption. It argues that feminist analysis can only benefit from increased conversation between such divergent feminist responses to the problem of political exclusion. But further, it concludes that the least 'practical' may sometimes be the most important components of feminist rethinkings of the political / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/182205 |
| Date | January 2002 |
| Creators | Rossiter, Penny, University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, Education and Social Sciences, School of Humanities |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Source | THESIS_CAESS_HUM_Rossiter_P.xml |
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