Higher Ground by Sally L Kitch

Higher Ground by Sally L Kitch

Many feminists love a utopia - the idea of restarting humanity from scratch or transforming human nature in order to achieve a prescribed future based on feminist visions. Some scholars argue that feminist utopian fiction can be used as a template for creating such a future. However, Sally L. Kitch argues that associating feminist thought with utopianism is a mistake. Drawing on the history of utopian thought, as well as on her own research on utopian communities Kitch defines utopian thinking, explores the pitfalls of pursuing social change based on utopian ideas, and argues for a "higher ground" - a contrasting approach she calls realism. Replacing utopianism with realism helps to eliminate self-defeating notions in feminist theory, such as false generalization, idealization and unnecessary dichotomies. Realistic thought allows feminist theory to respond to changing circumstances, acknowledge sameness as well as difference, value the past and the present, and respect ideological give-and-take. An important critique of feminist thought, "Higher Ground" concludes with a clear, exciting vision for a feminist future without utopia.

Sally L. Kitch is Regents' Professor of Women's and Gender Studies and the founding Director of the Institute of Humanities Research at Arizona State University. She is the author of The Specter of Sex: Gendered Foundations of Racial Formation in the United States.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780226438573
ISBN 10	0226438570
Title	Higher Ground
Author	Sally L Kitch
Series	Women In Culture And Society
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	The University of Chicago Press
Year published	2000-07-01
Number of pages	320
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.