Liberal Theory and Feminist Politics

Abstract

Abstract We live in an age where-whether we like it or not-questions of morality hold center stage and public attention. Those who do not speak in the language of constructive ethics are losing constituencies to those who do. In such an environment where good and evil are the dominant topics of conversation, liberal feminism, because it is not theoretically oriented toward such questions, cannot always participate in the central debates. I am not suggesting that liberal feminism should be thoroughly dismissed. Rather, if we are to increase the viability of feminist politics at the turn of the twenty-first century, liberal feminism cannot continue to serve as the dominant representation of the women's movement. Feminism in America is strong precisely because it is comprised of many different, sometimes competing strands of arguments, strategies, and ideologies. My goal in this essay is to demonstrate why liberal feminism is both important yet insufficient as the sole foundation for feminist politics.