UNIT 3- Liberal Feminism: Nussbaum

Not all Liberal feminist positions are identical. Liberal feminism has some commonalities but is by no means homogenous.

Liberal feminism as a broad church

Third wave Liberal Feminists like Naomi Wolf focus on: o o Individual self-development as the political means or method. Upon de political aim or goal of equality of rational autonomous individuals.

Second wave Liberal Feminists are less focused upon individual self-realization and self-fulfillment as means to alter social hierarchy. They are more likely to concentrate on: o o o Legal and political reforms Institutional reform Social justice agenda

Both waves can also be seen as drawing upon some pre-twentieth century first wave concerns. Issues with which contemporary Liberal feminists are associated: o o 1.The notion of Reason 2.Assessment of the claims regarding womens equality and democracy 3.The focus on social reform

1. Liberal feminism, Reason and the Universal Human

Mary Wollstonecraft in her work A Vindication of the rights of Women (1792), argued for a particular version of Liberalism that highlighted womens position. This version rejected: o The divine right of Kings

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Hereditary power Fixed social hierarchy Arbitrary rule over any being who possessed reason

Wollstonecraft includes women in the notion of a universalized reasoning human being and rejects fixed/eternal rule over them. Wollstonecraft argued against the double standard applied to women in Enlightenment and Liberal thought, since women and men shared a universal human capability of reason, so women deserved the same rights and opportunities as men. This orientation is characteristic of Liberal feminism per se. Reason in this setting : o o Generates the capacity to be an individual Gives the freedom to choose rather than having to be told what to do Becomes a universal Truth of Human-ness( universal human essence) which is linked to political equality Becomes the means to argue for entry into the Human and the means to rights, justice and social fairness.

Martha Nussbaum, an academic from USA , puts forward a Liberal feminist position in these terms: o o She is against convention (custom) She is for Reason, as it overcomes the existing forms of power

Reason can persuade powerful people to act against their own interests, to give up power. Reasoning enables one to speak from a universal positioning beyond social power relations (social context) and beyond self interest. Nussbaum sees reason as the truth opposing convention and habit (those which disempower or oppress us. Reason enables us to throw off power, to throw off oppression.

Defends reason against a range of other feminist views ,particularly castigates Postmodern feminists( the most skeptical of feminist theorists regarding the claims of reason) Second wave feminists increasingly drew attention to the status of reason as a social term and saw the term as part of the social world and deeply imbued with its relations of power. If reason was part of the social world, it might be about power. Male biased. In contrast, first wave feminists argued for inclusion in this supposedly disinterested universal standard for all. Postmodern feminists are skeptical. They are sure that claims to reason promoted Universalist authoritarian absolutism the belief that one is absolutely right.

2. Liberal feminism and women as the text case of just society

Wollstonecraft argued that womens lack of rights was a domestic tyranny. She assessed the domestic authority of men over women as being destructive as the same way as was the royal tyranny of kings or slave ownership. Suggested that if women are not free, then no one is. Proposes that you can tell what a societys pronouncement mean and how to judge its claims to justice, by looking at the position of women. Martha Nussbaums book Sex and Social Justice (1999) and Women and Human Development (2000) make the case for the position of women as exemplary in terms of global justice. She argues for social justice on the basis of a gender-oriented Liberal feminism( using a language focusing on women) Asserts that the Liberal focus on the degendered human can be expanded, to include women on equal terms with men. Reason, the ability to choose , is once again central to the universal Human , to the truly human Gender equity must always come before the claims of multiculturalism ( of cultural sensitivity and cultural integrity)

Nussbaum says that is necessary to work out a list of capabilities and rights any person should have to live a truly human life. They represent the universal requirement not to be pushed around. Lists ten core human capabilities, ten essential requirements. They way to operationalise these fundamentals must be facilitative rather than imposed. Argues that the goal is to become a cosmopolitan- a citizen of the world- which means to gain universal point of view, a perspective that is objective, neutral, beyond power, beyond loyalties to any particular time or culture, including the west. Claims that her commitment to certain norms is not limited by her culture, is not a reflection of her position as a Western woman. Profoundly antagonistic to those who do not share her certainty, describing them as cultural relativists, who see ethical values as merely relative and not right or wrong. She is accused in turn of assuming she can speak for all , and as having a colonial mentality

3. Liberal feminism and reform

Wollstonecraft, argued that womens position of dependency diminished them as they were reduced to servility Liberal feminism as a whole has been characterized as seeking equality for women through reforms to existing institutional structures. Social transformation. Many other feminists have argued that this reformism amounts to little more than improving opportunities form middle class, white, educated women, rather than an interest in challenging social inequalities at the heart of Western capitalist societies. Liberal feminists themselves (also Nussbaum position) claim to be politically pragmatic and realistic about what is achievable in terms of social change. Liberal feminists like Nussbaum make us consider the question of what is the best political strategy for social change, what will actually make a difference to womens lives.

Nussbaum opens the door to many ongoing debates but this one concerning social reform versus transformation is more crucial because it raises the issue of what the field has to offer in the future.

Conclusion
Liberal feminism is a broad church but it retains certain characteristic features with regard to reason as the foundation of the universal Human, a focus on womens status relative to mens as the measure of society and the immediate importance of concrete practical social reform. In the case of Wolf, critics suggest that her approach is in fact restricted to white, class privileged North American women. In the case of Nussbaum, it is argued that her proposals are Eurocentric.