Iris Marion Young: Gender, Justice, and the Politics of Difference (Routledge Innovators in Political Theory)

Iris Marion Young (1949-2006) was one of the most influential and innovative political theorists of her generation who had a significant impact on a wide range of topics such as democratic theory, feminist theory, and justice. She bridged many longstanding divides among political theorists, engaging in Continental and critical theory, but also insisting on the importance of normative argument: her corpus stands as a testament to the fruitfulness of engaging in both abstract theory and the 'real world' of everyday politics. This volume spans the several decades of her work, illustrating her intellectual development over time through three major areas of innovation. Gender : Maintaining that gender is both conceptually and politically meaningful, Young theorized gender in terms of structures that, in combination, position different people we call "women" in different ways, such that some women have some structures in common, without all women sharing all gendered structures in common. Justice : Young's early writings on a critical theory of justice evolved in her later and posthumously published works where she developed an account of justice that brought together her theorization of structure with her concern to respond to contemporary claims of injustice. The Politics of Difference : Young rejected universal and abstract theories of justice and maintained that justice instead required attending to the experiences of people marked by difference. This volume will prove useful to scholars and students working in the fields of critical and political theory, feminist theory, international law and public diplomacy Series Information Copyright Page Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: Iris Marion Young in Context Gender Justice The Politics of Difference References Part I Gender 1 Throwing Like a Girl: A Phenomenology of Feminine Body Comportment, Motility, and Spatiality I II III IV Notes References 2 Gender as Seriality: Thinking About Women as a Social Collective I II III IV V References 3 Lived Body vs. Gender: Reflections On Social Structure and Subjectivity I The Sex-Gender Distinction II The Lived Body III Is the Lived Body Enough? Notes References Part II Justice 4 Toward a Critical Theory of Justice I II III IV Notes References 5 Five Faces of Oppression I New Left Revision of the Concept of Oppression II The Concept of a Social Group Exploitation Marginalization Powerlessness Cultural Imperialism Violence III Conclusion References 6 Structure as the Subject of Justice I What Is Structural Injustice? II Conceptualizing Social-Structural Processes Objective Constraint Considering Position Structures Produced in Action Unintended Consequences III Structure as the Subject of Justice References Part III The Politics of Difference 7 Impartiality and the Civic Public: Some Implications of Feminist Critiques of Moral and Political Theory I II III IV Notes References 8 Difference as a Resource for Democratic Communication I Dilemmas of Difference II Disengaging Difference From Identity III Social Perspective V Group Difference as a Deliberative Resource Notes References 9 Responsibility, Social Connection, and Global Labor Justice I Global Connections and Obligations of Justice II Example of Global Injustice: Sweatshops III Structural Injustice IV Two Models of Responsibility: Liability and Social Connection Liability Model Social Connection Model V Parameters of Reasoning Power Privilege Interest Collective Ability VI Conclusion Notes References Part IV Interview 10 When I Think About Myself as Politically Engaged, I Think of Myself as a Citizen: Interview With Iris Marion Young Note References Index "Iris Marion Young (1949-2006) was one of the most influential and innovative political theorists of her generation who had a significant impact on a wide range of topics such as democratic theory, feminist theory, and justice. She bridged many longstanding divides among political theorists, engaging in Continental and critical theory, but also insisting on the importance of normative argument: her corpus stands as a testament to the fruitfulness of engaging in both abstract theory and the 'real world' of everyday politics. This volume spans the several decades of her work, illustrating her intellectual development over time through three major areas of innovation: Gender: Maintaining that gender is both conceptually and politically meaningful, Young theorized gender in terms of structures that, in combination, position different people we call "women" in different ways, such that some women have some structures in common, without all women sharing all gendered structures in common. Justice: Young's early writings on a critical theory of justice evolved in her later and posthumously published works where she developed an account of justice that brought together her theorization of structure with her concern to respond to contemporary claims of injustice. The Politics of Difference: Young rejected universal and abstract theories of justice and maintained that justice instead required attending to the experiences of people marked by difference"-- Provided by publisher Exploring Young's work through the themes of gender, justice, and the politics of difference, this volume spans the several decades of her work, illustrating her intellectual development over time.