Feminist politics: The Feminist Party of Canada

The Feminist Party of Canada was founded in 1979. This discussion is based on my own and others' personal experiences as founding members. So far as it is possible to ascertain, this was the only organization of its kind thus far in Canada: an autonomous feminist political party, founded and run by women, with the aim of introducing feminist politics into the public arena. It arose out of a shared perception that party politics and the three main political parties in Canada did not adequately reflect women's concerns and that there was a need for such a party. Although the FPC is at present on hold, the time has come to assess this experience. It is, firstly, important to record this development, in order that it may not be lost from our collective memories. Secondly, it is useful to explore what can be learnt and what conclusions drawn from this event and the related issue of women and party politics.     

Laughing Medusa: Feminist Intellectuals at the Millennium

The role of the intellectual is traditionally gendered masculine, and women are excluded from consideration. Contemporary discussions of the 'death of the intellectual' noticeably make no reference to feminist intellectuals. On the other hand, women in academia have been reluctant to adopt the role of public intellectual as conventionally defined. There is an anxiety about the contemporary place of the intellectual, and about the necessity for the distinction made by some feminists between theory and practice, the intellectual and the activist, and where this might lead. In exploring the role of feminist intellectuals over the last two centuries, three paradigms of the feminist intellectual are proposed for consideration: Cassandra (the prophetess cursed with disbelief), for example Florence Nightingale; the feminist Messiah (the exceptional female saviour who would sacrifice herself to change women's lives), for whom the exemplar is Margaret Fuller; and the Dark Lady (the token woman in a community of men), such as de Beauvoir, Mary McCarthy and Susan Sontag. Indeed, Camille Paglia's rivalry with Sontag lends itself to being interpreted as evidence of her current desire to occupy this 'dark lady' role. In conclusion, after discussing contemporary, late twentieth-century feminism (Natasha Walter, Elizabeth Wurtzel, gurrl power, 'women behaving badly'), the role of Margaret Thatcher in changing perceptions of women's capacity for political power is proposed for celebration. Finally, there is Cixous's image of the feminist intellectual as the laughing Medusa, who turns men to stone, but turns laughter on herself.     

Self-determination: The Republican Feminist Agenda

This article defines a republican feminist agenda by reference to the key term ‘self-determination’, in its nationalist and its feminist meanings. It describes the activities of a republican feminist group, Clár na mBan, including a conference organized in March 1994, and initiatives taken since then.     

Feminist legal theory and practice: rethinking the relationship

This article aims to contribute to the question of how to conceptualise the relationship between theory and practice in feminist scholarship in law. It looks in detail at the implications of different issues raised in a recent debate between Anne Bottomley and Ngaire Naffine on the existence of a “legal feminist orthodoxy”. I critique the dominance of ethics over politics and join Bottomley in her attack upon “the ethics of respect for the other”, albeit from a different position. I then look at the ways in which the problem of “essentialism” is being rethought from a feminist perspective.     

Beyond defensiveness: Feminist research strategies

In the course of doing research for a book on utopian fiction by women, it became evident that my formulation of the project constituted a trap, for it affirmed the very thing I wanted to challenge: the assumption of the centrality of utopias by men and the ‘otherness’ of works by women. As I reoriented my research, I came to see that this contradiction pervades much feminist scholarship and is present as well in the very notion of ‘Women's Studies’. This essay describes the process by which I came to identify the problem; how the techniques of defamiliarization and reversal pointed toward a solution; and the two research strategies that evolved. These strategies, both of which depend upon reversal of the usual rules of relevance and irrelevance, can be applied to feminist research endeavors in other fields as well.     

Frontiers of imagination: Feminist worlds

New Feminist scholarship in diverse disciplines, including the social sciences, suggests a distinctive female reality which finds itsbesr literary expression in contemporary speculative fiction by women. Feminist utopias, in particular, delineate alternative societies in which ‘female’ values predominate. In novels by Marge Piercy, Doris Lessing, Ursula Le Guin and many other women, readers may discover holistic and dynamic worlds different from both our current reality and the patriarchal tradition of utopian speculation. When women imagine the ‘good society’, dualistic divisions, often ranked hierarchically in current power structures, tend to disappear, Feminist speculative fiction heals such schisms as those between male and female, matter and spirit, public and private rights, ends and means, even technology and ecology. Although these ‘utopias’ are not perfect, nor intended to be, their depiction of more balanced and integrated societies affords a fresh perspective on traditional political and cultural problems. Ultimately, then, the newly released female imagination may provide us not only a fascinating literature but substantive directions for actual change.     

Correction to: Feminist Judgments Projects at the Intersection

Feminist Legal Studies - In the original publication of the article, errors in the production stages resulted in Vanessa Munro being listed as sole author.