Harnessing the energy of provocative theories generated by recent understandings of the human body, the natural world, and the material world, Material Feminisms presents an entirely new way for feminists to conceive of the question of materiality. In lively and timely essays, an international group of feminist thinkers challenges the assumptions and norms that have previously defined studies about the body. These wide-ranging essays grapple with topics such as the material reality of race, the significance of sexual difference, the impact of disability experience, and the complex interaction between nature and culture in traumatic events such as Hurricane Katrina. By insisting on the importance of materiality, this volume breaks new ground in philosophy, feminist theory, cultural studies, science studies, and other fields where the body and nature collide.

Offers a robust understanding of materiality from a feminist point of view

About the Author

Stacy Alaimo is Associate Professor of English at The University of Texas at Arlington. She is author of Undomesticated Ground: Recasting Nature as Feminist Space.

Susan Hekman is Professor of Political Science and Director of Graduate Humanities at The University of Texas at Arlington. She is author of Private Selves, Public Identities and The Future of Differences.

Reviews

This richly layered collection of essays explores materiality from the perspectives of an international group of feminist theorists. The editors categorize the essays into three sections: Material Theory, Material World, and Material Bodies. In the introduction, the editors argue that feminist theorists tend "to focus on the discursive at the expense of the material." Rather than the concept of mind over matter, this work maintains that matter and mind are equal forces, and that there are real consequences to placing one above the other. After defining the theory, section two looks at nature, which the editors state is "entangled with the nature of philosophy, politics, literature, and popular culture." The third section grounds the other two, giving body to the theories of material feminisms. It is in this last section that readers can see how feminist theory can embrace matter without hierarchy. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, faculty.

-- K.G. Saulton * Choice *

. . . Material Feminisms . . . clearly charts new theoretical waters, demonstrating how feminist thinking about materiality suffuses multiple disciplines and keeps them in lively conversation with one another. . . . [It] provide[s] succinct and rich overviews of where feminist studies, especially feminist technoscience studies, stands today. . . . Material Feminisms includes articles that address race, ethnicity, and disability.

-- Olivia P. Banner * SIGNS *

. . . clearly charts new theoretical waters, demonstrating how feminist thinking about materiality suffuses multiple disciplines and keeps them in lively conversation with one another. . . . provide[s] succinct and rich overviews of where feminist studies, especially feminist technoscience studies, stands today.

-- Olivia P. Banner * University of California, Los Angeles *

This richly layered collection of essays explores materiality from the perspectives of an international group of feminist theorists. . . . Recommended.November 2008

-- K.G. Saulton * Capella University *



Book Information
ISBN 9780253219466
Author Stacy Alaimo
Format Paperback
Page Count 448
Imprint Indiana University Press
Publisher Indiana University Press
Weight(grams) 694g