Against the universal woman: Davis and Butler's contributions to feminist critical theory

Author(s)

Julia Secaf Bistane

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas
• Defense date: 2022-02-24

Examining board members

Monique Hulshof; Nathalie de Almeida Bressiani; Rúrion Melo

• Advisor: Monique Hulshof

Abstract

Taking Angela Davis' and Judith Butler's critique of the universality of the category "woman" present in feminism as a starting point, this dissertation aims to analyze the contributions that both authors bring to feminist critical theory. To do so, we will reconstruct the displacements provoked by both works in relation to the hegemonic positions they criticize. In Davis' case, the perspective of black women adopted in Women, Race, and Class highlighted the blind spots of radical and socialist feminisms. Butler, in turn, in writing Gender Trouble, pointed to the limits of the sex/gender distinction operating in feminism. Therefore, although the two authors come from different contexts, influences, and theoretical frameworks, we will emphasize how the two reformulate and update the diagnostic models of oppressive relations in feminist theory (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 19/01319-7 - Intersectionality on Davis and Butler: a possible alliance?
• Grantee: Julia Secaf Bistane
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master