Reconstructing Feminist Theoretical Practices

Abstract

<p>Struggles to carve out places in the academy for feminist studies have been long and hard-fought. Now, it seems, those places have been secured. However, just when academic feminist studies seem to be coming into their own, some feminists perceive a widening schism between feminist theories and feminist practices. These feminists maintain that much of what preoccupies academic feminists is remote from any feminist political practices beyond that sphere.</p> <p>Academic feminists, I believe, must take these criticisms seriously. Therefore, in this thesis, I suggest a way of bridging that divergence. Measuring the merit of theories on the basis of their usefulness to feminist practices, I assert, would repair the disconnection between feminist theories and practices. Reconstructing feminist theoretical practices in that way assumes a pragmatic view of truth. Appropriating pragmatism, I argue, would allow feminists to acknowledge valuable lessons realized in feminist political practices while remaining on the cutting edge in the academy.</p>