On civic friendship : including women in the state / Sibyl A. Schwarzenbach.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schwarzenbach, Sibyl A.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women--Political activity--United States.

Women.

Women's rights--United States.

Women's rights.

Feminist theory--United States.

Feminist theory.

Liberalism--United States.

Liberalism.

Democracy--United States.

Democracy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (361 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York : Columbia University Press, c2009.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Women have performed the vast majority of often unpaid friendship labor for centuries. Embodying the freedom, equality, and ideals of the Constitution, civic friendship emerges as a necessary condition for genuine justice. Through a critical examination of social and political relationships from ancient times to today, Sibyl Schwarzenbach develops a truly innovative, feminist theory of the democratic state. Beginning with an analysis of Aristotle's notion of political friendship, Schwarzenbach brings the philosopher's insights to bear on the social and political requirements of the modern state. She elaborates a conception of civic friendship that, with its ethical reproductive praxis, functions differently from male-centered notions of fraternity and, with its female participants, remains fundamentally separate from generalized, male-inflected claims of Marxist solidarity. Schwarzenbach also distinguishes civic friendship from feminist calls for public care, arguing that friendship, unlike care, not only is reciprocal but also seeks to establish and maintain equality. Schwarzenbach concludes with various public institutions-economic, legal, and social-that can promote civic friendship without sacrificing crucial liberties. In fact, women's entrance into the public sphere en masse makes such ideals realistic within a competitive, individualistic society.

Contents:

Introduction: Metaphor and theory change

The forgotten category of ethical reproduction

The liberal production model

The socialist turn : missing faculties

The possibility of a modern civic friendship

Women, democracy, and the U.S. Constitution

The state of feminist theory

Looking outward : beyond the national security state.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786613629562

9781280599729

1280599723

9780231519489

0231519486

OCLC:

826476137