Judith Butler: From Norms to Politics (Key Contemporary Thinkers)

Cover; Contents; Abbreviations; Acknowledgements; 1: Introduction; Feminism, identity and difference; From homosexual to gay and lesbian to queer; The influence of poststructuralism; Hegel and desiring subjects; Postscript; 2: Rethinking Sex and Gender; The trouble with women; Feminism and the sex/gender debate; Denaturalizing sex and gender; Cultural intelligibility -- contesting heteronormativity; From phenomenology to performativity; Performing gender; Women in/and feminism; Conclusion; 3: Towards a Subversive Gender Politics; From parody to politics; Subversive gender politics.;With the publication of her highly acclaimed and much-cited book Gender Trouble, Judith Butler became one of the most influential feminist theorists of her generation. Her theory of gender performativity and her writings on corporeality, on the injurious capacity of language, on the vulnerability of human life to violence and on the impact of mourning on politics have, taken together, comprised a substantial and highly original body of work that has a wide and truly cross-disciplinary appeal. In this lively book, Moya Lloyd provides both a clear exposition and an original critique of Butler's. Cover 1 Contents 9 Abbreviations 12 Acknowledgements 14 1: Introduction 17 Feminism, identity and difference 20 From homosexual to gay and lesbian to queer 23 The influence of poststructuralism 26 Hegel and desiring subjects 29 Postscript 39 2: Rethinking Sex and Gender 41 The trouble with women 41 Feminism and the sex/gender debate 44 Denaturalizing sex and gender 46 Cultural intelligibility – contesting heteronormativity 49 From phenomenology to performativity 52 Performing gender 58 Women in/and feminism 60 Conclusion 62 3: Towards a Subversive Gender Politics 65 From parody to politics 66 Subversive gender politics 67 Performativity and subversion 70 Free will versus determinism 73 Enter iterability 77 The ambivalence of drag 82 The matter of bodies 84 Politicizing abjection – making bodies matter 90 Conclusion 92 4: Psychoanalysis and the Gendered Subject 94 Gender Trouble and psychoanalysis 95 Rubin and ‘The Traffic in Women’ 96 Freud and Oedipus 98 Melancholic gender identifications 99 Melancholia and performativity 101 Lacan and Oedipus 104 Assuming sex 105 Locating resistance 107 Kinship matters 109 Psychic subjectivity 113 Passionate attachment and primary dependency 115 Resisting Butler 118 Conclusion 121 5: ‘Talking Back’ – Resignification and Politics 123 Words that Wound 124 The force of the performative 126 Opposing sovereign performatives 129 A linguistic account of subjectivity 131 Linguistic subjectivity and responsibility 134 Revisiting agency – politics and resignification 136 Against the state 142 Conclusion 149 6: What Makes for a Liveable Life? 150 Normative violence and questions of liveability 151 Corporeal vulnerability 154 Mourning and grief 157 Questions of recognition 159 What’s wrong with ‘desiring the state’s desire’? 162 The politics of radical democracy 164 Cultural translation 166 Conclusion 170 Notes 173 Bibliography 198 Index 213

With the publication of her highly acclaimed and much-cited book Gender Trouble, Judith Butler became one of the most influential feminist theorists of her generation. Her theory of gender performativity and her writings on corporeality, on the injurious capacity of language, on the vulnerability of human life to violence and on the impact of mourning on politics have, taken together, comprised a substantial and highly original body of work that has a wide and truly cross-disciplinary appeal.

In this lively book, Moya Lloyd provides both a clear exposition and an original critique of Butler's work. She examines Butlers core ideas, traces the development of her thought from her first book to her most recent work, and assesses Butlers engagements with the philosophies of Hegel, Foucault, Derrida, Irigaray and de Beauvoir, as well as addressing the nature and impact of Butler's writing on feminist theory. Throughout Lloyd is particularly concerned to examine Butler's political theory, including her critical interventions in such contemporary political controversies as those surrounding gay marriage, hate-speech, human rights, and September 11 and its aftermath.

Judith Butler offers an accessible and original contribution to existing debates that will be an invaluable resource for students and scholars alike.

With the publication of her highly acclaimed and much-cited book Gender Trouble, Judith Butler became one of the most influential feminist theorists of her generation. Her theory of gender performativity and her writings on corporeality, on the injurious capacity of language, on the vulnerability of human life to violence and on the impact of mourning on politics have, taken together, comprised a substantial and highly original body of work that has a wide and truly cross-disciplinary appeal. In this lively book, Moya Lloyd provides both a clear exposition and an original critique of Butler's work. She examines Butlers core ideas, traces the development of her thought from her first book to her most recent work, and assesses Butlers engagements with the philosophies of Hegel, Foucault, Derrida, Irigaray and de Beauvoir, as well as addressing the nature and impact of Butler's writing on feminist theory. Throughout Lloyd is particularly concerned to examine Butler's political theory, including her critical interventions in such contemporary political controversies as those surrounding gay marriage, hate-speech, human rights, and September 11 and its aftermath. Judith Butler offers an accessible and original contribution to existing debates that will be an invaluable resource for students and scholars alike. Lloyd explores Butler's core ideas and philosophical engagement, tracing the development of her thought from her first book to her most recent works